Grow/shop lights

[materlvr]

Hello, can anyone tell me what lights I need to grow seeds?

Thank you🍅🍅🍅

[Spike2]

I have a shop light that I bought at either home depot or Lowes. They helped me with the lights I actually needed to use. Works perfectly!

[Lee]

Cheap 4" LED "shop" lights from HD or Lowes as Spike2 suggested work great.
No real need (in my opinion) for fancy bulbs or expensive "grow lights" unless you're planning to grow them beyond the seedling stage.


Good luck!


Lee

[DK2021]

Agree, with previous posts. LED shop lights work fine. If you want something shorter, there are inexpensive LED grow lights you can get on Amazon. I use these lights as I needed shorter lights to fit a 30" wide Metro 6-shelf unit on wheels which holds one 1020 tray per shelf and takes minimal floor space: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QFPBQDR These have worked well judging from my healthy seedlings, and have so far lasted 3 seasons (and starting a fourth) without any apparent problems.
In Temecula you should be able to get seedlings out under natural light pretty quickly though. I lived in La Jolla and we had probably way more June gloom than you do, and I mostly relied on getting seedlings outdoors as soon as I could.

[sic transit gloria]

I've been using 4' T12 fluorescent bulbs for close to 20 years and they work great. They're just shop lights. I have tried cool white and other bulbs, but I never noticed any big difference. Ballasts and bulbs last a LONG time. I think T8 ballasts and LED bulbs are more common now.

[MuddyBuckets]

Have had great success with these adjustable brightness lights from Amazon

(https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

Vented with a fan. Had to turn down the brightness rather than raise the light for some plants.

[Dark Rumor]

I started with two of the 2 bulb - 4 foot long T12 shop lights and my plants were leggy. I added a third shop light and the plants were not leggy this year, I would recommend a three light setup based on how well the 3rd light eliminated the leggy seedlings. The lights generate very little heat so the third light only contributed to the amount of light the seedlings were getting.

[Spike2]

I have a 4' shop light hanging in the laundry room, a 2 footer on top of the fridge and a 2 footer that sits on the coffee table. I bought the 2 - 2 foot shop lights and made stands from them with PVC pipe! All that to say that you don't need to buy fancy/expensive to get the job done.


All 3 are hung with a rope so they are all height adjustable.

[sic transit gloria]

Originally Posted by Dark Rumor

I started with two of the 2 bulb - 4 foot long T12 shop lights and my plants were leggy. I added a third shop light and the plants were not leggy this year, I would recommend a three light setup based on how well the 3rd light eliminated the leggy seedlings. The lights generate very little heat so the third light only contributed to the amount of light the seedlings were getting.

Interesting. I've never had leggy plants under shop lights, but I do follow two rules: 1. Lights should be above the full width and length of the planting tray, 2. I have chains and hooks so the height of the light is adjustable. This allows me to keep the light within 2" of the top of the plants. As the plants grow, I raise the lights to maintain 2" distance.

[materlvr]

Thank you all so much������

[Dark Rumor]

Originally Posted by sic transit gloria

Interesting. I've never had leggy plants under shop lights, but I do follow two rules: 1. Lights should be above the full width and length of the planting tray, 2. I have chains and hooks so the height of the light is adjustable. This allows me to keep the light within 2" of the top of the plants. As the plants grow, I raise the lights to maintain 2" distance.

With the third light I was able to keep the lights higher than 2 inches and the plants did not get leggy. I did try some plants in a window and they got so leggy I could not use them, so what I have concluded is if you get leggy plants add more light or perhaps stronger light. This is my observation for now, learning more each season.

[sic transit gloria]

Yeah, windowsills just don't get enough sunlight. I have heard of people planting leggy seedlings by digging a horizontal trench deeper at one end than the other. Then you bury the seedling on its side with the roots at the deep end of the trench, and the top sticking out of the soil at the shallow end of the trench. I think some people plant all of their seedling like this, even if they're not leggy. They remove all the leaves, except the top set, and trench them. I haven't experimented with this, but in theory you should get a larger root mass.

[materlvr]

Thank you all������

[Tormato]

Originally Posted by sic transit gloria

Yeah, windowsills just don't get enough sunlight. I have heard of people planting leggy seedlings by digging a horizontal trench deeper at one end than the other. Then you bury the seedling on its side with the roots at the deep end of the trench, and the top sticking out of the soil at the shallow end of the trench. I think some people plant all of their seedling like this, even if they're not leggy. They remove all the leaves, except the top set, and trench them. I haven't experimented with this, but in theory you should get a larger root mass.

I quit trenching transplants many years ago. The reason is in getting that larger root mass. With just the right amount of rain for a smaller root mass plant, that plant soaks up just the right amount of water, and the tomatoes taste great. With that same amount of rain, a larger root mass plant soaks up more water, and the tomatoes can often be bland.

[Dark Rumor]

Originally Posted by Tormato

I quit trenching transplants many years ago. The reason is in getting that larger root mass. With just the right amount of rain for a smaller root mass plant, that plant soaks up just the right amount of water, and the tomatoes taste great. With that same amount of rain, a larger root mass plant soaks up more water, and the tomatoes can often be bland.

I never thought about the plant taking in to much water.