been wanting for ages - an indoor Growlight House.
This one is the Garland Grow Light Garden. It was easy to assemble. Aided by a good set of instructions, it only took me just over ten minutes.
In the past I have always struggled to produce good plant seedlings early in the year, simply because I can't provide them with sufficient light. This year has been particularly bad in this respect, with very few sunny days so far. Heat is no problem: the house is usually warm enough for germination anyway, and I sometimes give seeds a head-start by putting them in the airing-cupboard for a few days. But heat without enough light produces etiolated or "leggy" seedlings, like these:-
Those ones are Tenderstem Broccoli. They will probably be OK-ish, but they are not likely to produce strong plants, so I will probably re-sow and see how they do in the new Growlight House. The trouble is, there are lots of other seeds I want to sow too, such as my chillies and tomatoes!
As you can see, I have already put some of my very light-deprived seedlings under the lights. I have to go away on business for a few days on Sunday, so I think I will probably delay sowing more seeds until the following (Easter) weekend, but I'm expecting great things of this device...
I know that some of you have similar bits of kit, so can I ask you this please: how do you water your plants under the lights? Do they need more water than usual? Do you fill the base (or maybe the 4 separate trays) with gravel or something to help with drainage or moisture-retention? Any advice you can offer will be gratefully received!
Looking forward to seeing the replies to your closing questions!
ReplyDeleteI haven't decided to splash out on any yet - I'll be investigating the DIY possibilities of daylight bulb/SAD light/reflective foil first.
A very nice bit of kit though :)
very neat set up!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great present. I am so jealous.
ReplyDeleteI use grow lights all the time. No, they don't require any extra water. The lights are not that powerful to dry up the soil; rather I find the heat of my house dries them up faster if I leave them in certain part of the house. So, assuming that your house is not that dry with heat, just water them only when you find that the soil is getting dry and which does not happen that frequently. I water them from the bottom; the soil soak up all the water. So, your tray will be dry but the soil is moist. Then, I don't have to water until like after 3 or 4 weeks. But, again it is the dryness of your house that will affect and not the growlights.
ReplyDeleteI have a similar grow light set up that I got from Gardeners Supply here in US. Plants sit on a tray that wicks up water from below. Can't explain well so check it out here:http://www.gardeners.com/Compact-Tabletop-SunLite-%23174%3B-Jump-Start-Kit/40-162,default,pd.html?start=15&cgid=Seedstarting_Dept
ReplyDeleteI don't have a kit, but I do have fluorescent lighting to grow my seedlings. I bottom water. Though I remove the plants from the lighting area to do it and have a place to submerge the bottom of my soil blocks. They use less water I think than sunlight. The sunlight really can dry the soil out on warm days.
ReplyDeleteMine definately dry out a lot faster under the lights. Once they get going nicely I start watering from the bottom as well.
ReplyDeleteI'm very envious, I would love something like this but just don't have the room at the moment. I find my seedlings grow leggy if I start them off early, there just isn't enough light for them. Leggy seedlings don't make very good plants, so I'm trying to be a bit more patient this year. Saying that, time is starting to tick on, so I may start a few more things off this weekend and just hope they grow well enough. The peppers I started a few weeks ago are strong little seedlings. I use my son's bedroom windowsill, which is the sunniest in the house, though he's not happy about sharing his room with loads of seedlings. I shall watch with interest to see how your seedlings do under your new grow lights.
ReplyDeleteGreat kit Mark,with the leggy seedlings it might be worth re potting them up just a pot them deeper in the compost.Some will rot off depending on what seedlings they are but some will produce small aerial shots and actually make a sturdier plant-got to be better than giving up onthem
ReplyDeleteWhat a great gift and setup!
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly like our grow light and we bought the optional extra water tank. We lay capillary matting on the platform that came with the tank which is trailed into the tank part and we fill this with water. We filled it before we went on holiday on Friday and it is still watering the seedling a week later. Generally we just keep the tank topped up.
ReplyDeleteGrow lights are indeed amazing! These are so helpful in growing plants indoor. So awesome! Thanks for sharing this great post!
ReplyDelete-DanTheGrowMan.com
Keep up the excellent works guys I’ve included you guys to our blogroll.
ReplyDeleteled grow light