Has anyone ever grown seedling in a cold garage?

[digitS']

This is from the University of Nebraska:

I hope that chart is a clear enough. What it shows is optimal germination temperatures. I can have real problems with a good number of seedlings together that are germinating at different rates. That leads to crowding of late seedlings by those that are first off the blocks ..... Notice how optimal temperatures for what we usually want as transplants are often warmer than usual home temperatures. Germination can likely be improved by starting the plants in a warmer location than where you are thinking of growing them to transplant size.

(It's been quite awhile since 'Bill has been around and I hope he comes back to tell us if he ever grew those Maruba Santoh greens he was thinking about several years ago .)

Steve

 

[ducks4you]

It isn't just light. It is also heat and humidity and ventilation and watering that doesn't mold. Start with lettuce or spinach and see how it goes.

 

[plainolebill]

In the past we haven't been able to grow tomato, eggplant, pepper starts to a size that is suitable to flourish in our climate. Even a south facing window here gets a lot of 'not much' until it's way too late. Lettuce and other fast growing crops are fine.

I bought some foam board at Home Depot today along with some other supplies I'm going to need. Painting it white will definitely be on my list, a small heater with separate in-line thermostat too.

 

[SprigOfTheLivingDead]

Hi there 'Bill !

This is a super question for @SprigOfTheLivingDead who grows plants in his basement through the winter.

I have only a very little experience with supplemental lighting. I believe that this is what @catjac1975 does each and every winter. (Others start transplants under lights. You might think that after a lot of growing seasons, I would have experience with that but I tend to gravitate to South Windows and Exposures, instead.)

I did a little driving South(west), recently. Enjoyed being in Portland for Christmas. It has been a long time but I used to be down there, at least, a couple times each year.

Steve

Sorry, totally missed this call-out.

I have a 2x4 closet in my attached, uninsulated garage I'd like to use as a mini greenhouse to get some plants started that aren't available locally. I'm thinking of tomatoes, peppers and eggplant varieties that we have grown in the past but have been pushed aside for younger sexier varieties.

I live in the Willamette Valley Oregon, pretty mild 30-50 degrees usually in the winter but can occasionally get much colder. The garage is usually a little warmer but not much.

I'm thinking of using some light insulation covered with cast off mineral based ceiling board. I'm going to buy a grow light and maybe line the space with foil to reflect light all around.

My big questions are heating, ventilation, how far the light should be from the plants at various stages of growth. I think the primary users of this stuff is pot growers but that's not me. If anyone has any knowledge of this that they can pass along I'd appreciate it.

Thanks, Bill

Yes, I grow lettuce, tomatoes and peppers in my basement. However, I do that in a GGT 5x5. Inside that I have a 1000w Hortilux Metal Halide bulb inside a light hood that is air cooled with an inline canfan and hooked up to a charcoal filter, also inline.

2014:


That was a good learning experience. I surrounded the metal frame with mylar (reflective bubble wrap) and then hung some T4 bulbs rated for at least over the daylight color spectrum (3500k?). This did great for that year. We got some produce and it allowed me to experiment growing

I'd say my game changer was a flood table and a seedling bay, which has also evolved over time to a seedling closet

flood table:


Seedling Bay v1:


Seedling Closet (2020):

Plans for this spring are to put lights on the top and bottom shelves as well. Top and middle will be for normal seedlings while the bottom will be for my tree saplings (I own a tree farm)

So, your question about heat... ugh. Some plants just won't respond well without proper temps. If you're growing peppers they're not going to be happy with cold temps. Are you looking to grow to maturity or just for getting a jump on sprint planting? The heat is really supplied by the light, but will generally equal out with the surrounding environment. Got a cold garage? It's going to be a cold tent.

In a seedling stage you'll want them to be really close, but as they get older you can probably pull it away a little. HOWEVER, there are calculations based on the energy of the bulb that will show max distance for plants still getting proper photo-yumyums. Ventilation: just put some small fans in there. I've seen people use CPU fans as they get started and experiment. Once you get going you'll invest more and see what works best for you

Suggestions:
get the book Gardening Indoors With Soil & Hydroponics. There's a ton of great information in there to learn.

Current tent:

I would like to flip this out for a 4x9 at some point.

 

[flowerbug]

@SprigOfTheLivingDead what is the charcoal filter for?

 

[SprigOfTheLivingDead]

@SprigOfTheLivingDead what is the charcoal filter for?

If I was growing marijuana it would be for removing the sticky icky stank from the air but in my case it's so there's something at the end of the intake tube so I'm not blowing dust and whatever onto my bulb and then out of my tent.

 

[YourRabbitGirl]

Sorry, totally missed this call-out.




Yes, I grow lettuce, tomatoes and peppers in my basement. However, I do that in a GGT 5x5. Inside that I have a 1000w Hortilux Metal Halide bulb inside a light hood that is air cooled with an inline canfan and hooked up to a charcoal filter, also inline.

2014:
View attachment 34091

That was a good learning experience. I surrounded the metal frame with mylar (reflective bubble wrap) and then hung some T4 bulbs rated for at least over the daylight color spectrum (3500k?). This did great for that year. We got some produce and it allowed me to experiment growing

I'd say my game changer was a flood table and a seedling bay, which has also evolved over time to a seedling closet

flood table:
View attachment 34095

Seedling Bay v1:
View attachment 34096

Seedling Closet (2020):
View attachment 34098
Plans for this spring are to put lights on the top and bottom shelves as well. Top and middle will be for normal seedlings while the bottom will be for my tree saplings (I own a tree farm)

So, your question about heat... ugh. Some plants just won't respond well without proper temps. If you're growing peppers they're not going to be happy with cold temps. Are you looking to grow to maturity or just for getting a jump on sprint planting? The heat is really supplied by the light, but will generally equal out with the surrounding environment. Got a cold garage? It's going to be a cold tent.

In a seedling stage you'll want them to be really close, but as they get older you can probably pull it away a little. HOWEVER, there are calculations based on the energy of the bulb that will show max distance for plants still getting proper photo-yumyums. Ventilation: just put some small fans in there. I've seen people use CPU fans as they get started and experiment. Once you get going you'll invest more and see what works best for you

Suggestions:
get the book Gardening Indoors With Soil & Hydroponics. There's a ton of great information in there to learn.

Current tent:
View attachment 34097
I would like to flip this out for a 4x9 at some point.

That's a great idea. but it's a big deal where I'm at. and quite expensive too. and I don't know what type of plants ill start with.. can you give me any plant type that I can start with?

 

[SprigOfTheLivingDead]

That's a great idea. but it's a big deal where I'm at. and quite expensive too. and I don't know what type of plants ill start with.. can you give me any plant type that I can start with?

For beginning and learning I would try with something that's faster to see a result with, like Genovese or Thai basil. That way you can clip them and harvest without having to wait for 70+ days like peppers or tomatoes

 

[digitS']

I think that I'm posting for "other-than-plainolebill," but I thought this image from a study done on a cool-season plant might be helpful, as we think about starting out our starts.


(you can click on that and make it larger)

You see, it isn't a conclusive sort of thing. The plants photographed are at 38 days. Yes, the 57° plant is far behind and takes 54 days to flower. However, it has 31 blooms. The plant speeding along at 73° flowers in about half the time but has only 13 flowers.

The light was consistent and plant species was the same. Temperature does make a difference.

Steve

 

[Ridgerunner]

Steve, do you know if that was soil temperature, air temperature, or both?