Baymule’s 2020 Garden

[seedcorn]

We had drought last year, that’s how my garden didn’t grow! LOL

& what does that matter? You don’t just dig hole, throw plants in and good luck. You have put a lot of energy into up grading your soils. Yes, weather trumps our best efforts. (Thank you Adam/Eve).

 

[henless]

I think it's all Adam's fault. He could have just said "NO".

 

[baymule]

My tomatoes are coming up! They are in the closet under flouresent lights. Two of my lights bit the dust, not sure how 4’ LED shop lights will do. Pouring rain here, got 5 1/2” since Sunday night and will rain all day. We got two more loads of wood chips yesterday and one of the trucks got stuck. Wood chips under the tires gave it the traction to get out of the hole.

@seedcorn I got pictures!

Starting to get leaves!

 

[Xerocles]

My tomatoes are coming up! They are in the closet under flouresent lights. Two of my lights bit the dust, not sure how 4’ LED shop lights will do. Pouring rain here, got 5 1/2” since Sunday night and will rain all day. We got two more loads of wood chips yesterday and one of the trucks got stuck. Wood chips under the tires gave it the traction to get out of the hole.

@seedcorn I got pictures!

View attachment 34324

Starting to get leaves!

View attachment 34325

Congratulations on the tomato plants! We all know I'm no expert, but from the little research I've done, individual LEDs just have very limited spectrum (although a combo of LED can cover all the spectrum). Hard to find regular fluorescent tubes anymore. Hoping you have the best of luck.

 

[baymule]

I have a LED spectrum upright little greenhouse on the porch. It glows pink. The LED lights were expensive, but it's a good seed starting set up. I also like the fluorescent shop lights, but sadly, they are going away. Oh well.

 

[digitS']

I realize that fixtures would have to be switched out ...

... that sounds like a real play on words , not intended ...

Anyway, there are "full spectrum" cfl grow lights. If'n someone wanted to continue with fluorescent. (Admittedly, I know little about indoor growing beyond a South Window and a greenhouse.)

Steve

 

[baymule]

I put new bulbs in my old shop lights, but the fixtures themselves are broke.

 

[Zeedman]

I started seeds under shop lights for close to 20 years, with OK results. Little by little my fixtures bit the dust too, and then good T12 bulbs became hard to find due to federal efficiency standards. Was about to give up on fluorescent lights entirely, until the plant where I work installed new high bay T8 fixtures - wow, those are bright! Of course, my first though was "wow, those would be great for plants".

Thought about purchasing some of those lights through work, but the fixtures they used were too expensive. It took me a long time (several months) to find some that were affordable, but finally found good 6-bulb T8 fixtures at Home Depot in a nearby city, for about $80 (no cord or bulbs). Good bulbs were hard to find too, all the ones in big box stores locally were too weak, and the high output T8s carried by an electrical supply were prohibitively expensive. Finally found some 32 watt bulbs on Amazon that put out over 3000 lumens, and bought a case. Changing out all of the lights still set me back about $500 (4 fixtures plus cords, bulbs, and a new mounting system) but it doubled the space I had previously, and the results have been worth it. I have space now for 12 trays, and the transplants grown under those lights are stout & healthy. Even the onion seedlings never got leggy. I'll post a photo once the transplants are growing, some time around late April.

 

[6884]

Looking good Bay, Lot of hard work as usual! That should make a huge difference in your garden this year.

 

[flowerbug]

I started seeds under shop lights for close to 20 years, with OK results. Little by little my fixtures bit the dust too, and then good T12 bulbs became hard to find due to federal efficiency standards. Was about to give up on fluorescent lights entirely, until the plant where I work installed new high bay T8 fixtures - wow, those are bright! Of course, my first though was "wow, those would be great for plants".

Thought about purchasing some of those lights through work, but the fixtures they used were too expensive. It took me a long time (several months) to find some that were affordable, but finally found good 6-bulb T8 fixtures at Home Depot in a nearby city, for about $80 (no cord or bulbs). Good bulbs were hard to find too, all the ones in big box stores locally were too weak, and the high output T8s carried by an electrical supply were prohibitively expensive. Finally found some 32 watt bulbs on Amazon that put out over 3000 lumens, and bought a case. Changing out all of the lights still set me back about $500 (4 fixtures plus cords, bulbs, and a new mounting system) but it doubled the space I had previously, and the results have been worth it. I have space now for 12 trays, and the transplants grown under those lights are stout & healthy. Even the onion seedlings never got leggy. I'll post a photo once the transplants are growing, some time around late April.

i have no idea what the comparison would be in energy efficiency, but to me a correct spectrum of light can be done with LED and any heat you are missing that used to come from the lights can be made up via heating mats.

for seed sprouting it is temperature, light, water, air and soil. if you are worried about plants being too weak you can set up a small oscillating fan to give the plants a bit of stress to strengthen their stems. i don't mind at all if the tomatoes get a foot or more high before planting out as i bury them deeply so they have more of a root system to contend with the heat/water issues of hot summer days.