Turn off the lights?

[Grow 4 Food]

When do you suggest turning off or cycling the lights in your seed start areas? Mine is in a room in the garage so I have 100% control of lights, wind, and temp. The plants are up about 2 inches, so is it time to start flipping the switch? Had anyone ever used a plug in timer for the lights like they do for the sprinkler?

 

[lesa]

I have used a timer- it works out great. Are you leaving the lights on 24 hours, now? They need about 16 hours a day of light, and then dark...

 

[Grow 4 Food]

I have not turned off the lights yet but like i said to they are just starting to come up.

 

[lesa]

It is my understanding that most plants don't need light to germinate..

 

[patandchickens]

Very few kinds of seeds need light to germinate (the ones that do, there is no need to have it 24/7 and it needn't be super bright).

Once the seedlings are sprouting of course they do need light, but AFAIK it is better to go 16/8 light/dark than to have the lights on 24 hours.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[wifezilla]

I have lights on all the time in the beginning because I had alpine strawberries in the flats. I bought timers once they sprouted.

 

[journey11]

Grow4Food, I turned mine on immediately after I saw that they had sprouted. Brassicas are especially prone to get leggy without the light and I learned that the hard way last year. Now, I've done peppers and tomatoes and flowers without any additional lighting (while in the sunroom) and they did fine, but I think they'd do better with it. As soon as those cotylcedons are up they'll be looking for light and will stretch for it if they don't find it to their liking.

So yours are sprouted and are up 2" in height then.... I'd go ahead and put the light to them, 16/8 as mentioned (basically when you get up and go to bed, turn it on/off). And keep light on them until they're well underway. You can pretty much supplement light until you are ready to harden them off (which you start in shade at first...too much sun will fry them when they're so tender). The thing is, while they are inside, they can't get as much light as they would have if they were direct sown in the garden (or on the day-length cycles they would naturally recieve). They need the extra light to photosynthesize and make energy to grow.

 

[vfem]

I just turn mine off before I goto bed, and flip them on when I get up.