[drmoonshine]

hello peeps

Im making a sorta box for my veg seedlings to start seeding in. Then i can plant them out  I feel they will get the best start in life and also it gives me something to do

ok so the box is W27'' D18'' L18''

Its an old tv stand made from wood with 4 ply cardboard around it so its light tight. the door is a sheet of polystyrene witch fits snug.


ok so now you have an idea of what i have (*pics to come later'') for now its only going to be used to get VEG seeds going.

i was thinking of buying the LED lights and just mounting them at the top of the box..... BUT after seeing the price of them i thought i may as well just get a 150wat cfl and put that in there at least it will kick out soon heat also...... so what do you guys think will a 150watt cfl do a GOOD job ?


also just out of interest is there any pro's or con's of using 1 150 watt cfl. or linking 30watt bulbs up to reach the same wattage? will i get the same results?

[Aunt Sally]

Why do you want it to be light tight ?

[DD.]

May I ask what veg seed you're thinking about?

It's all very well getting them off to a good start, but the conditions have to be right to move them on to their final places.

Another couple of weeks and I'll be sowing indoors anway, so there's little to gain as far as I can see.

LED's will not put out sufficient light intensity, 5 x 30w lamps I would have thought would be more costly than a 150w one.

If you go ahead, don't forget to put them in parallel, rather than series!

[drmoonshine]

so when the the lights are off they know its night time  :blink:

some plants do part of there photosynthesis at night not sure if all veg need it but i would rather have a light tight box just incase

[Aunt Sally]

There are indeed two parts to photosynthesis :

- The light reaction which needs light energy to take place.

- The dark reaction which is a misnomer as it goes on all the time.

[stompy]

Seems like alot of trouble and expence to gain a couple of weeks growing time.
And as D.D. said you will have to be able to move them on when they start to take off, and if you've started them too early there will be nowhere to put them and they will become leggy with lack of true light.
Also, unless you've got a heated greenhouse you'll lose them to frost!

[drmoonshine]

thank you DD

yeah  parallel is no problem we dont want dim lights do we 

My main crop is chillis im a chilli growing. seller and also chocolate maker. and a few times in the year i go to events and do jacket potatos and chilli con carne. and a few other things. Im only a small-ish business but every bit of money on the side is a bonus. ''stop's self from posting URL'' lol. Would rather stay annon for the time being. As you probably know HOT chillis take along time before they give chillis. So the sooner i can start and get them in my greenhouse or pollytunnle the better for me really.... Putting my other veg in there would be a bonus. Even though it sounds like i would not be gaining to much from it. I would still like to give it ago. And once they are big enough i would again put them in the greenhouse untill ready for final planting out.

THANK YOU

[mumofstig]

Let us know how it works out 

[Aunt Sally]

Some pictures of it in use would be very interesting.

[Yabba]

You won't get many chilli plants in that area and you'll need a tad more than 18" of height once you take the pots and depth of bulb into consideration.

My current grow area is ( approx ) 4' x 2' x 2' which is *just* about big enough to hold 50 chilli plants to the first potting on stage. After that I'm going to be building a second growing area 4' x 4' x ... urm, whatever height my room is. With luck I'll just about have enough lit area to get them through to May when they can go into the greenhouses, unless your greenhouse is heated.

¥

[drmoonshine]

Some pictures of it in use would be very interesting.

ill sure get some pics up as soon as it gets underway its all decked out the front door is on just need to fit the lights and wiring then its show time. im working  stupid hours thursday but friday onwards ill get a pic up so you can see what it looks like so far.....

"yadda

the box is only going to be used for the very first stage of chilli growth ill be popping them in seed tray cells leaving them untill they outgrow the space and then moving them to the greenhouse... and then pollytunnle.....

ill not lose that much hight space as there only staying in seedtrays so whats that 2....3 inch at the most.... so im still going to have around 8inch of plant space at the most.....

ps yes my greenhouse is heated. only buy a paraffin heater though. it has to be topped up everyday to keep it going lol but hey ive had it years and it sure does the job it was made for

thanks all

[Yabba]

"Yadda"

No worries, just didn't want you making the same mistake as I did last year when I filled my space with 300 seedlings and then went "oops" when it came to potting them on for the first time

¥

[DD.]

That's about right.

Yadd, yadda, yadda.......

[Yabba]

My thoughts exactly

¥

[drmoonshine]

lol sorry my apologies