Hi all

I've had an heater in my (UK, NW region) polytunnel over a week now, that
fluctuates from 6 - 11 degrees C. My first seedlings are a week old and was
wondering if anyone could give advice on what best to do from now on. From
what I've read I'm letting the seeds germinate in my diy heated propagator,
removing them to the opposite bench without lids and giving them a couple of
extra hours artificial light (5-6am / 6-8pm)

a) Do I now transplant them to individual pots or leave them a little
longer??

b) Maybe you could give scenarios on what your procedure would be with my
set up. I'm sure this would help me a lot.

c) Do's n Don'ts.

I'm a complete newbie to this and would greatly appreciate some help from
the group from your experience...See below images.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...ymakerToms.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...hireOnions.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...undCabbage.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...9janpoly11.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...9janpoly10.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...29janpoly6.jpg

Regards
p.mc

"p.mc" wrote in message
...

Hi all

I've had an heater in my (UK, NW region) polytunnel over a week now, that
fluctuates from 6 - 11 degrees C. My first seedlings are a week old and
was wondering if anyone could give advice on what best to do from now on.
From what I've read I'm letting the seeds germinate in my diy heated
propagator, removing them to the opposite bench without lids and giving
them a couple of extra hours artificial light (5-6am / 6-8pm)

a) Do I now transplant them to individual pots or leave them a little
longer??

b) Maybe you could give scenarios on what your procedure would be with my
set up. I'm sure this would help me a lot.

c) Do's n Don'ts.

I'm a complete newbie to this and would greatly appreciate some help from
the group from your experience...See below images.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...ymakerToms.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...hireOnions.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...undCabbage.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...9janpoly11.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...9janpoly10.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...29janpoly6.jpg

Regards
p.mc

Great set of photos p.mc, but may I suggest the photo site I use? It allows
you to put photos into an 'album' on a subject and you just flick from photo
to photo. Here is one I did very recently on a Leylandii hedge
http://www.myalbum.com/Album=AYZGNMW6 and here is another one when I was
invited to the Bridge as Aurora, the P&O Cruise Liner, was making her way up
the Fjord to Olden http://www.myalbum.com/Album=NHADFEBU and as you can see,
on the left are comments.

Quite free and easy to use :-))

Mike

--

....................................
Don't take life too seriously, you'll never get out alive
....................................

"'Mike'" wrote in message news


"p.mc" wrote in message
...

Hi all

I've had an heater in my (UK, NW region) polytunnel over a week now, that
fluctuates from 6 - 11 degrees C. My first seedlings are a week old and
was wondering if anyone could give advice on what best to do from now on.
From what I've read I'm letting the seeds germinate in my diy heated
propagator, removing them to the opposite bench without lids and giving
them a couple of extra hours artificial light (5-6am / 6-8pm)

a) Do I now transplant them to individual pots or leave them a little
longer??

b) Maybe you could give scenarios on what your procedure would be with my
set up. I'm sure this would help me a lot.

c) Do's n Don'ts.

I'm a complete newbie to this and would greatly appreciate some help from
the group from your experience...See below images.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...ymakerToms.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...hireOnions.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...undCabbage.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...9janpoly11.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...9janpoly10.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...29janpoly6.jpg

Regards
p.mc

Great set of photos p.mc, but may I suggest the photo site I use? It allows
you to put photos into an 'album' on a subject and you just flick from photo
to photo. Here is one I did very recently on a Leylandii hedge
http://www.myalbum.com/Album=AYZGNMW6 and here is another one when I was
invited to the Bridge as Aurora, the P&O Cruise Liner, was making her way up
the Fjord to Olden http://www.myalbum.com/Album=NHADFEBU and as you can see,
on the left are comments.

Quite free and easy to use :-))

Mike

--

....................................
Don't take life too seriously, you'll never get out alive
....................................


Thanks Chris & Mike, I've immediately set my timers on the lights for 16hrs
a day (6am-10pm)

I got a real bargain on the lights at B&Q. They were in the damaged or
missing parts section...over £100 saving!
The tubes were already in the fittings and 20 Watts each. The three over my
D.I.Y heated propagator are T5s, and the
two on the sink top are T4s which are apparently more effective, I hope the
wattage is adequate.
Unfortunately the netting is woven inside the plastic, so not much I can do
about that.



Regards
p.mc

"p.mc" wrote in message
...
"'Mike'" wrote in message news


"p.mc" wrote in message
...

Hi all

I've had an heater in my (UK, NW region) polytunnel over a week now, that
fluctuates from 6 - 11 degrees C. My first seedlings are a week old and
was wondering if anyone could give advice on what best to do from now on.
From what I've read I'm letting the seeds germinate in my diy heated
propagator, removing them to the opposite bench without lids and giving
them a couple of extra hours artificial light (5-6am / 6-8pm)

a) Do I now transplant them to individual pots or leave them a little
longer??

b) Maybe you could give scenarios on what your procedure would be with my
set up. I'm sure this would help me a lot.

c) Do's n Don'ts.

I'm a complete newbie to this and would greatly appreciate some help from
the group from your experience...See below images.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...ymakerToms.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...hireOnions.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...undCabbage.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...9janpoly11.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...9janpoly10.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...29janpoly6.jpg

Regards
p.mc

Great set of photos p.mc, but may I suggest the photo site I use? It
allows
you to put photos into an 'album' on a subject and you just flick from
photo
to photo. Here is one I did very recently on a Leylandii hedge
http://www.myalbum.com/Album=AYZGNMW6 and here is another one when I was
invited to the Bridge as Aurora, the P&O Cruise Liner, was making her way
up
the Fjord to Olden http://www.myalbum.com/Album=NHADFEBU and as you can
see,
on the left are comments.

Quite free and easy to use :-))

Mike

--

...................................
Don't take life too seriously, you'll never get out alive
...................................


Thanks Chris & Mike, I've immediately set my timers on the lights for
16hrs a day (6am-10pm)

I got a real bargain on the lights at B&Q. They were in the damaged or
missing parts section...over £100 saving!
The tubes were already in the fittings and 20 Watts each. The three over
my D.I.Y heated propagator are T5s, and the
two on the sink top are T4s which are apparently more effective, I hope
the wattage is adequate.
Unfortunately the netting is woven inside the plastic, so not much I can
do about that.



Regards
p.mc

B&Q Bargain :-))

The Gazebo here was dirt cheap because one of the principle bits of plastic
joints was broken. How much to replace? £7.00 :-))

http://www.myalbum.com/Album=WFNEFS7L

Mike

--

....................................
Don't take life too seriously, you'll never get out alive
....................................

On 29/01/2011 22:49, p.mc wrote:

Hi all

I've had an heater in my (UK, NW region) polytunnel over a week now,
that fluctuates from 6 - 11 degrees C. My first seedlings are a week old
and was wondering if anyone could give advice on what best to do from
now on. From what I've read I'm letting the seeds germinate in my diy
heated propagator, removing them to the opposite bench without lids and
giving them a couple of extra hours artificial light (5-6am / 6-8pm)

a) Do I now transplant them to individual pots or leave them a little
longer??

b) Maybe you could give scenarios on what your procedure would be with
my set up. I'm sure this would help me a lot.

c) Do's n Don'ts.

I'm a complete newbie to this and would greatly appreciate some help
from the group from your experience...See below images.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...ymakerToms.jpg

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...hireOnions.jpg

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...undCabbage.jpg

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...9janpoly11.jpg

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...9janpoly10.jpg

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...29janpoly6.jpg


Regards
p.mc

I think that you will find that you will find the light level from
standard strip fluorescent lamps is inadequate once the plants are out
of the seedling stage (ie more than 3 or 4 cm high). Not only that, but
although it may not seem apparent, these lamps produce heat as well as
light, and in close proximity to the plants that will have an effect.

Standard fluorescent lights produce 50 - 100 lumens per watt. If you
look at the link Chris Hogg gave, and get details on the Grolux lamps,
you'll see that these 400w lamps are rated at 58000 lumens (ie around
150 lumens per watt). They also produce a fair amount of heat, but as
they are usually at least a metre above the plants, that is not so much
of a problem.

I think you will find that it is not cost-effective for the amateur to
use artificial lighting to raise seedlings. If it was, we'd all have
been doing it for years.

--

Jeff