Grow Lights

[Mike Maurer]

Originally Posted by Fusion_power

You can leave plants under grow lights 24/7 but it actually suppresses growth. Plants need a photo period to accumulate sugars and a dark period to expend them in growing.

My light stand holds 36 fluorescent 4 ft bulbs and can accomodate up to 30 standard trays 11" X 22" at a time. I usually turn the lights on and leave them on for about a month when I start tomato seedlings. I have up to 60 trays of plants and every 12 hours I swap the 30 trays that are under the lights with the 30 trays that are sitting on top of the lights. There is a big reason for handling each tray this many times. It allows me to look at every cell and seedling to see what is going on with the plants and from holding the tray I can tell if water is needed. I can handle the plants this way and totally avoid over watering or under watering either of which can kill thousands of seedlings in a matter of hours.

Once the seedlings are about 4 inches tall, I move them to the greenhouse and transplant into individual trays of cells. This is a fairly efficent way to produce about 50,000 seedlings in a year.

DarJones

I have looked for a reference to how long I should leave seedlings under the lights. You mentioned 4" and someone mentioned 2-3 weeks. How long is the recommended time?
Thanks, Mike

[Sherry_AK]

In my case, I have to start plants quite early indoors and I leave them under lights as long as possible ... until they outgrow the space. Ideally, they would stay under lights until it's time to move outdoors. Mine are too tall by that time, so are moved by a sunny window after they outgrow the lights.

Sherry

[Mike Maurer]

Sherry I am amazed that you can grow tomatoes outside at all, what part of Alaska are you growing in? And thanks for the quick reply.
Mike

[Sherry_AK]

Mike -- I'm in Wasilla (Matanuska Valley area). I grow most of my tomatoes in containers in a greenhouse, but I also can usually get a small crop from plants in containers outdoors. It's really a stretch for me to get anything from plants in raised beds though, but I just keep trying! And sometimes if it's a bad summer, I get almost nothing from the outdoor container plants. It's a crap shoot! Good luck with your garden.

Here's a link to some photos showing my light set-up, greenhouse (I've since added a second greenhouse) and outdoor containers.

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=775

Sherry

[bobberman]

I guess you are close to Sarah Palins Moms home! Do you ever go there!

[Sherry_AK]

Originally Posted by bobberman

I guess you are close to Sarah Palins Moms home! Do you ever go there!

Well, actually I've never been invited! (But we did sit next to her at an Alaska Day dinner last year.)

[Mike Maurer]

That is sure a super nice sunroom! I thought I had challenges in growing things, if you can do it in Alaska, I better quit whining and get busy.

[bobberman]

The reason I ask is her mom wrote me several times about the fishing bobbers I sent her. Sarahs dad has the bobbers hanging in the trophy room. Larry the Cable guy had a clip on Alaska moose and visited Palins dds house several weeks ago and th film showed my bobbers hanging ther. If you happen to see her ask about the bobbers. >>>
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I am interested in the time frame in growing plans in Alaska and how a green house works there! I guess with all the fish there you must have a lot of stuff for a compost! Palins said my bobbers worked great for Coho salmon Do you fish there? Are there alot of dead ish from the bears along the shores or are they eatten.
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Do you have to grow early tomatoes? Thanks!

[Sherry_AK]

Originally Posted by Mike Maurer

That is sure a super nice sunroom! I thought I had challenges in growing things, if you can do it in Alaska, I better quit whining and get busy.

Yep, you'd better get with it! (Thanks for the compliment on the sunroom. It's a big help at tomato time, even though we can hardly walk through there by mid-May!)

I am interested in the time frame in growing plans in Alaska and how a green house works there! I guess with all the fish there you must have a lot of stuff for a compost! Palins said my bobbers worked great for Coho salmon Do you fish there? Are there alot of dead ish from the bears along the shores or are they eatten.
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Do you have to grow early tomatoes? Thanks!

For heat-loving crops like tomatoes or peppers, a greenhouse is almost a necessity. I start my tomatoes first week of March and move them to the greenhouse at the very end of May. Even though we don't generally have frost until mid-September, the nights are darned chilly and things go downhill fast after the end of August.

I'm not much of a fisher-person, but my husband makes a few trips out of Seward each summer. He has strict instructions to do only the necessary cleaning before he brings the fish home. I fillet them and indeed use the skin and bones in the compost. Don't see dead fish along streams where bears live ... they eat 'em right up!

In the greenhouse I can usually grow early or mid-season tomatoes. But some years are better than others (like everywhere, I guess).

Sherry

[bobberman]

Thanks for the nice ictures. Big fish! If your husband wants to try a few free bobbers PM me and I will send them!