I start seedlings under fluorescents and they grow fine, with rare
exceptions, and they are at least 12 inches from the bulbs at all times. It
is easier for me to have reflecting material around the structure than to be
moving the plants all the time. When the plants are surrounded by
reflecting material, like aluminum foil or white plastic, the illuminated
area stays the same no matter how far the plants are from the bulbs, and
with good reflectance, the brightness hardly diminishes.

"Dwight Sipler" wrote in message
...
Jan Flora wrote:

...Costco in Anchorage sells these "baker's racks" pretty cheap. They're
stainless steel racks that are perfect for starting seeds and rooting
cuttings.
I don't think you can move the shelves around. My neighbor, who is a
truck
farmer, starts all of her seeds on these things, with the lights hanging
over
each shelf...





In my experience, the standard fluorescent light fixture provides barely
enough light to start plants properly. For this reason it's important to
place the plants as close to the lights as possible. 1" is not too
close.

Rather than trying to move the shelves or the lights as the plants grow
to keep them from growing into the lights, I used to place the flats on
a stack of newspaper to raise them up to the lights. As the plants grow
I just took out a few sections to keep the spacing right. The newspaper
will also absorb moderate quantities of spilled water. The newspaper is
still recycleable after that.

If your growing area is in your living room or somewhere public, you
might want to use some other method, since stacks of old newspaper
aren't too attractive, but most people put their growing area out of the
way somewhere.

However, in my opinion, there's no substitute for real sunlight if it's
available. (Condolances to you guys in Anchorage or above).