Well, we're snowed in today, (1.27.09) so it's a good time to prepare for starting the seedlings. We've cleaned the old trays, purchased new peat pellets, and seeds. This year we are using blue & red LED lighting panels. Although the purchase price is more than fluorescent lighting, the operating expense is much, much lower. Some users report less vigorous seedling growth under LEDs vs fluorescents, but I think it just a matter of getting the height correct above the seedlings which is 24".
Here is a close-up of one of the LED panels.
Here is a close-up of one of the LED panels.
Today, we fill the trays with the peat pots, and seedling mix, insert the seeds according to instructions, and turn on the lights. The lights will be on 12 hours per day. Although we are anxious to start all of our plants, it is still about 10 weeks to Spring, so we wil only start the plants that take about t 10 weeks to germinate and grow into transplantable seedlings. After the last frost date for our area, we will set them outside, later in the day, perhaps on an overcast or drizzly day.
Here is the seed starting setup.
2.9.09 Today we put in some lettuce seeds for testing our hydroponic growing system.
2.23.09 Mold has invaded the growing medium in our seedling trays. There are 2 simple solutions to getting rid of it.
1. Carefully remove as much of the mold as possible, and sprinkle the area with ground cinnamon.
Or,
2. Carefully remove as much of the mold as possible, and mist with a 10% Hydrogen Peroxide solution.
