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seeds Seedlings are sprouted and a few inches tall..... whats next?

Islander

Islander

I have a burpee seed tray that i replaced the pellets with the jiffy organic mix and almost all of them have sprouted and are slowly growing. I have them sitting in front of a south facing window with blinds about 1/3 way open. Watering them as needed to maintain a moist soil. What is the next step?
 
I'd recommend T5 HO lights.  For one tray you could probably use a 2 bulb 2ft fixture or a 4 bulb 2ft fixture.  Just the ambient sunlight from the window will make them stretch and you could have some broken plants when they get top heavy.
 
I have two of these in my grow tent and a 4ft 6 bulb one on my aquaponics but I have multiple trays
 
http://www.hydrogalaxy.com/growing-lights/flourescent-lights/sun-blaze-t5-ho-24-2-ft-4-lamp/?gclid=CJOGqJeJm70CFe87OgoddX8AEQ
 
having a sufficient light source means you can have bushy short plants that won't have difficulty supporting the weight of the canopy
 
20140315_101526_zps65cef786.jpg
 
A south facing window will not give you enough light. The seedlings will get longer and longer without producing real leaves until they start to fall over. Once germinated, they need pretty bright light straight away. You just need to cover the seed ray with lights. A cheap way to do it is buy some CFL bulbs at home depot - 4 x 26 watt are about $12. They need to be full spectrum. Look on the label for a "color" that is going to be either 2700K or 4000K or 5500K. 5500K will do, but 6500K is what you really want. Check this out and adapt as necessary!
 
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs_QRorECvo
 
So leaving them in the seed tray until transplant time is ok?

I have a 400 watt lumenbright mini reflector and 400watt pfo m80 ballast from my old aquarium is that overkill? How many hours of light and how many inches above the plants?
 
Not overkill at all. Just about perfect, as long as the bulb is 6500K. Most people do something like 16 on/8 off in a 24 hour cycle. Put the lights about 18-24" above the seedlings, but keep a close eye on temperatures. If the seedlings start to go a little bit purple, the light is too close. 
 
And Yes, you can leave them in there until transplant time, which is when they have 4-6 true leaves.
 
Now that I think of it, is your soil in individual cells or is it all in one tray?  I'm just thinking of this seeing that you mentioned the tray was for pellets...
 
spicymeatball said:
I read that 5500K is daylight. 6500K is overcast? Is that right? If you had a choice which one would you pick and why?
Click to expand...
 
6500K is a color temperature i.e. the color a blackbody irradient would be at that temperature.  The sun is a blackbody irrandient and it's temperature is 6500K.
 
This doesn't mean that your lamp will put out the same spectral frequecies as the sun.  It means the phosphors in the CFL are adjucted such that the color output is similar to that of sun light.  This normally means the correct ratio of blue to red light for plant growth.
 
Not sure about the overcast cloud business as it shoudln't shift color and should be more analagous  to turning the brightness down on your tv or computer display.  Either way 6500K is a very good color choice for you.
 
I picked up a 4200k 400W MH bulb and mounted my reflector 24" above tallest seedling. I will post some pics once i figure out how... lol
 
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