On Mon, 19 Jan 2004 10:33:26 -0500, Navin R. Johnson wrote:

How close do fluorescent lights have to be to indoor propagation trays to
be effective? I would like to use the ceiling lights I have in the
basement. If I were to set up a couple of sawhorses with propagation
mats, do you think I could get by with the ceiling lights, or will I have
to lower them to within a foot or so of the seeds?

I start my plants with fluorescents every year. When I first tried this
(maybe fifteen years ago) I kept the lights 6-8 inches above the plants.
All those plants came up but quickly got tall and leggy - not good. The
second year I did the same thing with the lights but ran a fan on the
plants to help 'harden' them up. They all just fell over and still became
quite leggy. The next year I wisened up and put the fluorescents right on
top of the plants - within an inch. Initially I was afraid the heat from
the bulbs would hurt the plants but that's not the case at all. I now use
fluorescent 'grow' lamps which more closely mimic the full spectrum of the
sun. I also still use an oscillating fan to toughen up the plants about
two weeks before outside planting time. Just make sure to properly 'harden
off' the plants before you set them out in the garden. Good luck.

NRJ


Thanks.

I have GE Chroma 50 lamps. Although these are not gro-lites, they do
approximate midday color temperature. I would guess these will work just
fine. They are also considerably less expensive than the lamps being sold
as gro-lites.