For years (actually Decades), I have always started seeds, then when about 4 weeks old, potted them up and sat them in the kitchen window, then transplanted them outside a few weeks later. They were always spindly, but struggled through.
But, after seeing Worth's photos in his "25 Days" thread, I finally bit the bullet and bought a T5 light. As I was limited to a grow table measuring 24" by 44", my options were restricted. I settled on one Hydrofarm "Jump-Start" 24 inch light. These were the seedlings when I set up the light on Jan 21:
But, the plants developed a sharp "lean" toward the single 23W fluorescent bulb:
I then adapted a second Jump-Start onto the base unit:
But again, the seedlings were quite distorted in their growth habit (Jan 28):
So, I then ganged 3 of the JumpStart lights together now totaling 72W at 6400 degrees Kelvin on Feb 4:
Today (Feb 11), the plants are between 10" to 12" tall, and doing pretty well:
The "moral" of the saga is that years (no, Decades) ago, I should have taken the advice of others and used fluorescent lighting on my seedlings.
Raybo
