Navin R. Johnson wrote in message . ..
On Sun, 18 Jan 2004 11:35:33 -0600, C 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 for the info on how to use flourescent lights it really made a
difference in my garden. Tamme