Seed Starting 101 Step 2

There are a few other items that you will need or would be handy to have. Lights are probably the most important. Since the angle of the sun is not conducive to good plant growing this time of year artificial light is almost essential. It does not have to be a gro-lite just a florescent light. I use the 4' shop lights and 2' under the counter lights. Seedlings need 12 hours of light a day. The light should be no more that 2" away from the seedlings at all time. Many have been able to find lights on freecycle or the free portion of Craigs list or at yard and garage sales. I also have heat mats as bottom heat on most seed aids in germination. Heat mats are expensive so many have come up with shall we say home remedies such as an electric heating pad, a heated mattress pad and I sure others will give more ideas. A small but very important item is something to mark each flat of seed with so you know what you are growing. I use plastic markers made for that purpose but I have seen others cut up plastic milk cartons and I am sure others will have some advice. A few other miscellaneous items that I find handy are wood skewers, baby spoon and spry bottles. A timer is nice but not necessary. I also have a small note book that I use as my garden journal. I keep track of when I plant each seed, the daily weather (which might not be important this time of year but as you start outside it will prove invaluable next year) and crop yield.

I learned something from the people of Seoul, Korea when I visited there that their space is very limited so to accommodate their massive population they learned to build vertically rather than horizontally. Since I am limited for space in the house as well as in my greenhouses I have also gone vertical. This particular seed rack will hold a total of 9 flats under lights and each flat will hold 8 6 packs. Now that is a lot of seedlings.

Here is another setup that was posted on another board.