A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum Vegetable Gardening No grow light?

Tomorrow's the day that I start my seeds! But the only problem is that I have no light for them. Is there a way to frow seedlings with out a light? Someone suggested to me that I take them outside during the day and stick them in the sun then bring them inside at night. Would this work?

depends on the temp, I guess? You wouldn't want to shock them too much.
until the seeds come up you don't need the sun though, right? So you probably have a week to figure it out.
I had my seeds indoors by a bright window until our temps got warm enough to take in and out. now, mine are out full time unless we get a late freeze.

A window sill might work for a while. If you have any florescent lights around they would be good. A lot of people have them in their laundry rooms, garages or kitchens. (I have them all over my house) You should leave them on all of the time though, pretty much.

I have seeds started on my kitchen table, under a window. They have all sprouted now, and I have to move the table around during the day to give them the most light, but they did fine without all that before sprouting.

Annette

All good advice, higher temps help with faster germination and more seeds germinating, but relatively warm (say, 55 degrees?) is fine for most things for daytime highs after germination, above 40 at night, I'd say, I've had success that way.

Probably true,, but the idea is to keep the temperature constant..

Dodge, that is not entirely true, see posts above, it is best to keep temps constant, for seed germination, but germ. can be near 100% and just take a little longer...it can also be diminished. I use a heat mat for some seed, others stay on front porch until germination, some years the ones outside do well...after germination, temps arent nearly as important, more light is available from the sun than any artificial light.

LOL

Steady temperatures may not be constant to you.
But no seeds have 100% germination.......Ask us farmers.

Also mom nature plays the greatest role in germination.
seeds appear to have a built in timer in seasons.. Not sure how to say it , but will try not to lie to you .

Trading seeds are not at 100% germination.. Far less when picked by us.
The processing of the seeds in the factorys is more complicated and accurate , than you an I.
Think about it .

I will say for scarce seeds I only have a few of I start indoors. I will sow a few indoors this year, some in a cold frame and others direct sown in what I call mini greenhouses( basically a version of the winter sown method) this year. There is pluses and minuses to each. With the two outside methods you eliminate a lot of the hardening off you go through with inside plants. Makes it a lot easier. I also feel the plants are hardier. Germination ran a little lower last year but not much. On the direct sown I ended up around 80%. Inside I was close to 90%. This is the first year I've used a cold frame for this but from reading the results of others feel it should run 75% or more. But also with weather conditions it can vary some from year to year.

I've noticed a difference in seed germination I've received from individuals. But I've also noticed that with commercial sources. It is like popcorn certain brands pop better than others. Quality of seed comes into play in my opinion. And the method used to save seeds.

I hope the OP has good luck however they end up doing it. If they have any outside protection and the temps are in the 50's or above she should be ok. Remember this seeds survived years with no one around to cultivate them. JMO. Jay

Do you count the seeds you sow?

I arent in it that deep........But there are also seeds that wont germinate at all for me.
Depends on the climate and weather in zone 5.. Were coldies here.
Cool weather crops grew well here .

Watched a series on tv one nite of how they do the seed thing for production.
Very expensice proceedure.

And yes, even the bought seeds, do not have 100% germination.. Some wont grow.

RIght now my hot peppers are germinating easlily, but the sweet pepper wont germinate at all?????????confusing, of course.

I have a sunroom, but, only part of it has enough light for plants. In areas that are dark, I have placed aluminum foil on the walls like wallpapper. It increases light rays that bounce around and aren't absorbed into dark wood walls. Also mirrors work good in small places to increase lighting.

I use the mirrow trick in my upstairs flower room.
and aluminum trays setting around ..

My neighbor made in the basement the cube type walls out of alum. for his seed starting.. Guess he has light an heat mounted also..

Talking about seeds germinating, I tried 2 different petunias side by side...also from the same company. One set is up and the other doesn't even look like they want to give it a try. Who knows what happens.

You are going to find lots of the in seeds.

Different types may act different...
Why dont they invent a germination meter?

I just received an email notice today that the company that I ordered my petunias from is sending me another package of petunias to try again. Thought it was pretty nice of them.

Rosepetal,

I am happy for you .......

Good luck again......I have really tiny petunias coming up. Someone sent me hanging ones.. Hope they make it .

I like..
b

Sorry for coming in late but I found a neat solution for plant lighting. We just use compact florescent lighting that you can buy at wal-mart or whereever.
Just get the daylight bulbs which is in the right wavelengths and get the highest watts you can find. Two bulbs cost roughly 6.00$. Hope this helps.---G

Thanks..

I am using gro lite from Lowes for the seedling starts.
But must be careful they do get hot.