Zone 5, still a couple of weeks away from starting seeds. We've started
various vegetables in seed starting mix a few inches from a north-facing
window for 2 years with mixed results. The trick seemed to be taking the
hardening off period really slow and getting them out in a cold frame if
possible.

This year we are going to have a larger array of vegetables and flowers from
seed, and are wondering if we should go ahead and use extra lighting. We
already have appropriate light in several planted aquariums (off topic but
an interesting parallel) and are pretty much aware of the benefits of light
in that situation.

So .. question is ... can we get good seed starting results with sunlight
alone?

Any attempt to start seeds indoors with only window lighting have been poor. I
bought a flouressent
light in the lamp dempartment at Walmart. They run 9.97. This has really
helped a lot and have saved qute a bit of money compared to those catalog
lights. I can fit ten peat pots under the light.

Tim B wrote:

Zone 5, still a couple of weeks away from starting seeds. We've started
various vegetables in seed starting mix a few inches from a north-facing
window for 2 years with mixed results. The trick seemed to be taking the
hardening off period really slow and getting them out in a cold frame if
possible.

This year we are going to have a larger array of vegetables and flowers from
seed, and are wondering if we should go ahead and use extra lighting. We
already have appropriate light in several planted aquariums (off topic but
an interesting parallel) and are pretty much aware of the benefits of light
in that situation.

So .. question is ... can we get good seed starting results with sunlight
alone?