Closet Winter Glow out (and yes its tomatoes)

[Stepheninky]

Got the new light and added it in to my set up but could not run both as it was just too hot. The bulb on the 600W (125 actual watt) is flipping huge. It is about 2 feet long



here is the temp with just it running and the other one turned off



So just with the one light temps are 91 - 94 F so will have to get a fan going or something.

Thought CFL were supposed to run pretty cool but these bigger ones put out some heat

Oh almost forgot to post a pic of the sprouts lol they are growing

[Stepheninky]

Here is an update and some pics of the current set up. Got the fan in place today so now I can finally run both lights.





The esculentum x peruvianum seem to be doing ok, Started the seed when I started this post so almost 2 weeks out from seed.






The hirsutum x esculentum is either a bit behind the esculentum x peruvianum or its just not doing well, I can see true leaves developing but they look curled up, so will have to wait and see what happens with them. They are taller and the cotyledons are huge in comparison so it might just be I am worried over nothing.

Here is the image of the temps with both lights and the fan running.

[Stepheninky]

Got some good news and bad news to report about the Closet winter grow out.

First for the bad news, I ended up scrapping out all the plants I had going. Though trial and error the lights I am using are too intense (heat and light) for smaller seedlings, The seedlings just can not handle full exposer for 12 hours. The edges of the plants actually get damaged.

I have experimented with various time under light and so far 5 hours under the grow lights seems to allow the plants to grow with out the damage. I exposed the new plants to 5 hours a day for a week after sprouting trying to harden them off and get them used to the light, sat and sun day I gave them 8 hours and 10 hours and once again there seems to be minor damage occurring.

The plan now will be to give plants 5 hours per day under lights after work and the rest of the time they will be in a south facing window.

I also wanted to take a cutting and see how it did under the lights and it actually holds up much better.

Here is a pic of my cutting of Minnie's Pinstripe after 2 weeks under the lights the original cutting was 2 inches above soil when started, I put a coke can in the image as a perspective to current size



As other plants develop using the window light and the tanning sessions I will try and post picks.

Here is a pick of a OSU selection that someone sent me that is a week old after sprouting. It does have some slight damage due to the light intensity as mentioned.



Thats it for the update I have some very small plants of the two wild types I started with but going to see how the new method of window and tanning section works before I post out pics

[geeboss]

Atleast you can climatize the seedlings to the Dallas / Ft. Worth area at 84 to 91 degrees, with those hot bulbs.

George

[Stepheninky]

LOL it gets that hot here too, just we also get colder then a well diggers butt in the winter

[cleo88]

Do you know the room temp of your location when no lights/fans are on?

Originally Posted by Stepheninky

LOL it gets that hot here too, just we also get colder then a well diggers butt in the winter

[Stepheninky]

yes usually the room is kept at 70 - 75 degrees, no lights or fan and it returns to that temp range. I have seen the smaller of my two lights used as a pair to grow tomatoes and bell peppers they used the lights at a greater distance from the plants so that may be what I try next is to increase the distance to see if that will prevent the damage. The usual temps is about 85 with the lights of now.

[Mischka]

Do you have a CO2 source set up? I read the thread but I might have missed any reference to one.

[Stepheninky]

Originally Posted by Mischka

Do you have a CO2 source set up? I read the thread but I might have missed any reference to one.

No you did not miss it, it is a very well ventilated area so did not think really too much about adding one but will research it a bit.

Through trial and error, mostly error I have come to the conclusion that heat and light are not really the issue I am facing but rather Humidity seems to be awful in my house. My clone had sever leaf tip browning because of it.

I have recently added a vapor type humidifier to the set up to see if that might help. Will watch and see if the cloned plant will recover. Have planted some new seed to see if it helps them as well. The other day the outside humidity was 60% and my inside humidity was 27% with the humidifier I have gotten it up to 50% humidity so I am hoping results will improve.

One good thing with this winter grow experiment is that it is challenging me to come up with solutions and once I start seedlings for next years outdoor season I am hoping to apply what I have learned to get the best seed starts possible.

[Stepheninky]

Been using a warm stream humidifier and it seems to have helped a lot with the brown leaf tips a lot. My humidity without it on has dropped as low as 20% and to prevent the brown leaf tip issue it needs to be above 40% With this vaporizer it runs in the 40% - 70% range. It is a cheaply one so the vapor generated is not as consistent but its working. (already owned it) Newer models might work better IDK, It uses 1 -1 1/2 gallons a day.

I did this experiment to learn so at least I know what to do next time. I had posted about putting plants in the window as well, The same problems I saw in the closet grow were issues in the window, Humidity seems to be that missing ingredient I was looking for.

Currently I have Armenian cucumbers growing well, my clone is hanging in there and putting on new growth but afraid the damage was already done. I also have a blue tomato plant that seems to be doing well that I started a couple of weeks ago so will have to wait and see how it does. Everything else pretty much died due to the lack of humidity.

So far I guess the closet grow project has been a rough one as far as results, but a lesson learned is valuable as well.

I am now trying to look at what I learned and go from there. Next time around am thinking of trying out the system using dwarf type plants or trying to find out if there are any low humidity tomatoes such as those people have grown in more arid climates. One I am thinking about is Al-kuffa or see if I can find another arid region one, So far Baker creek is the only source I have found for Al-kuffa so may have to wait for the seed to be more avalible as I will not purchase from them.

[rnewste]

Stepheninky,

I too am trying an over-Winter tomato garden this year:



Fortunately, this second floor window faces South, and we get a good amount of Winter sunshine here in N. California. I will be supplementing the natural light with a HydroFarm Super HPS 400 Watt light and Ballast system, with the intent of running it approx 4 hours a day from 4:00pm to 8:00pm.

I've got 12 tomato plants about a foot high from cuttings made from the outdoor plants still growing. I intend to have everything up and running within the next 10 days.

Raybo

[Stepheninky]

Saw that set up in the other thread and love the way you have that done, might be something for me to consider next year using my lights though in the set up. I have two of the shorter 2 foot wide 3 foot tall bakers racks currently, one in the closet grow and one in the window.

I am sure you will have an excellent grow. Temp and humidity gage is my only recommendation, the one I have pictured is $7 at most big box stores and it saves the highest lowest temps, they make some with more features though as well.

My plants did really well in till it got colder and the humidity dropped.

I am sure you already know this but for others reading best results will come from early varieties, dwarfs, and believe it or not Cherry types from what I have been reading.

Can not stress enough though how bad humidity levels hurt my project. I have my CFL lights much closer to the plants now as well and temps are in the 80s with lights on with no issues. From research and communication with some commercial green house growers 50% to 70% humidity seems to be the optimal range to grow tomatoes under.

Your SWC's might provide some or enough of an increase in humidity. If not something as simple as adding an air stone set up to them might help with that as well.

[Stepheninky]

Sorry some how I double posted

[rnewste]

Stepheninky,

I've got a small Ozone generator with single Airstone. I am planning on dropping it down the filler tube (pulled up 3 inches) and let it run for about 30 minutes, once per week. I'll do all 6 manually this way for this Winter.

Next Season, I am going to embed an individual Airstone in each of the 6 InnTainers, and connect each Airstone to a 6-port manifold, to the Ozone generator. I'll set it up on a programmable timer to run 5 minutes each day.

Our indoor humidity runs 50% to 60% typically this time of year - unlike the colder parts of the Country where you need to run the furnace a lot, which dries our the ambient air. I may mist the plants from time to time if I sense they are drying out. Lots of "experimental" stuff to work through on this project, but with the cool, damp Winter weather here, not much else to do to keep busy.....

Raybo

[Stepheninky]

Yea you should not have any problems then. Are you planning on PH testing / adjusting the water you are using in your system.

What I have been doing is letting tap water sit for 24 hours before use so some of the chemicals dissipate and I put a pinch of baking soda in the water as a buffer (we have very hard water here). Though if you PH test probably better to adjust with ph up or down from hydroponic stores, We don't have a hydroponics store here. Its government regulated that water districts test their water and make the data available so I just request that data and add the baking soda as a buffer to the water based on those test results.

Just wanted to mention Ozone is not good for plants.
http://www.indoor-gardening-guide.co...lications.html