here is my setup.
I use trays with dome lids. I moisten the soil well before placing my seeds in the soil. I leave my shop lights on 24/7 because I have other flowers started. I start my seeds in a room around 68 degrees warm enough for germination. I do not water while seeds are in the germination stage unless I see no moisture on the dome lid. Once I see numerous seedlings coming up I take the lid off. I do have a small fan blowing occasionaly through the day. This is how I germinate seeds but you find other people with different ideas just like I did. Good luck

Take a look @ my blog. It shows my seed setup

Here is a link that might be useful: Gardening by the Seat of my Pants

Since you mixed your varieties in the tray you'll have very different germination dates. Once 1 variety has sprouted some of its seeds you have to remove them from the tray and keep the rest covered. The sprouts can't remain covered.

Rose is right - assuming your soil was moist when you planted, no additional water or even mist is needed unless there is no moisture on the lid or the soil is dry on top. Too wet soil rots the seeds and causes mold to develop.

No, as clear from the many discussions here, your west window will not be enough. Your plants will be very long and leggy with weak stems. Lights, 1-2" from the seedlings, are required but a shop light costs $9-10 dollars plus a couple of bulbs.

You don't need your ceiling lights on for germination and they are too far away to provide any heat so you can turn them off.

Be sure to check out all the FAQs here too. The clickable link to them is near the top on the forum front page.

Good luck.

Dave

Lights on the ceiling will help you find the trays, but will not be enough light to affect the seeds or seedlings. Cover your trays with clear plastic and eliminate the water spraying. Sixty eight is warm enough for most seeds to germinate. As soon as germination has started take off the plastic cover and get as much light as you can on the seedlings. If using the windows for light turn the trays daily to help equalize the light. Al

Thank you all for your tips and suggestions.
Woohoo... !! Petunia, Tomato, Pepper and Coreopsis have just sprouted today. Now I wait for Impatients, Salvia , Four o clocks and Spearmints.. I'm really thrilled to pieces.

And guess what !! I have a closet in the basement which has these shop lights already installed. There is a fixed rack which is about 6 inches below the lights. I have just moved my trays under this light. I'll wait till this weekend to remove the dome from the trays and expose the seedlings under light. Thanks again for your help. I'll keep you posted on my progress. !!!

Can I start following seeds indoor ? Or do they need to be directly sown on the garden after last frost ?

Garden Bean
Cauliflower
Okra
Water Melon

6 inches is too far away. 2" is the maximum recommendation. If you can't adjust the light chains down then you have to prop or raise the trays up on something like books so that they are no more than 2" below the lights. And be sure to uncover the sprouted ones. Leaving the cover on young seedlings cause damp-off and mold to form on the soil.

Dave

ycmahesh - you do better to start your own thread as all the answers to you will be auto mailed to the original poster. But yes, all on your list "may" be started indoors but only cauliflower will do well. The rest do better if direct seeded in the garden. If you do start beans and melons and okra inside then they must be transplanted to the garden before they develop the second set of true leaves.

Dave

Hey Dave, Thanks again for the tips. I'll raise the trays by keeping some books below. And BTW I am the original poster of this thread too.. So I wont miss the responses... :)

My neighbor starts his seeds early in 4 inch clay pots on a north facing sunny windowsill with no sun after about 2PM-no plastic covers. His apartment is not warm at all. He's done it this way for years. He has always had good, strong plants.

Why would the lights need to be no more than 2inches from the plants? Is it a matter of heat? or the type of light?

And BTW I am the original poster of this thread too.. So I wont miss the responses... :)

Oops! Good. ;)

Dave

Beatrice - it is all explained in detail in the Seed Starting Lighting FAQ here.

Last year I experimented a lot with starting seeds indoors and learned a few things in the process. I thought IÂd share a bit of what I learned through trial and error so that you can skip my mistakes.

LIGHT

The hardest thing to provide seeds started indoors is light. ItÂs almost impossible to use just the light from windows. Most likely youÂll need a grow light. You can use something as simple as an incandescent grow bulb that fits into a regular household lamp. They are available for purchase for between $5-$15. I have one such bulb in an old lamp that has a moveable arm.

YouÂll need to keep the light on for between 12-15 hours each day. The easiest way to do this is to use a timer that you plug the lamp into, which will turn the light on and off automatically. Timers are really cheap and can be picked up at a hardware store. Of course, you could also turn the lights on and off yourself. But seeds need both light and dark, so donÂt think you can get ahead by leaving the light on all the time.

SOIL

IÂve had the best results using peat moss mixed with perlite. IÂve also had success with Jiffy peat pellets. What hasnÂt worked for me is regular potting soil. I donÂt know why, but IÂve had trouble getting good germination results with the potting soil I use outdoors.

You should know that peat may not be the most environmentally friendly seed starting medium. A more eco-sensitive option is coir, which is made from the husks of coconuts. You should be able to get peat or coconut coir where ever you purchase potting soil.

WHEN TO SOW

The first thing you need to know is when your last frost date is. This is the day which is, on average, the last day your area can reasonably expect a frost. If you donÂt know your last frost date, this site will tell you the date for your area.

After you know that date, count backwards 4-6 weeks. That is the date you should sow your seeds indoors. The longer the particular type of seed you are growing takes to germinate, the more time you should allow. But a quick to germinate seed should be fine with 4 weeks. You can find out how long a particular seed takes to germinate by looking at the back of the seedÂs packet.

WATERING

In my experience, itÂs best to water seedlings and yet-to-sprout seeds from the bottom. By this I mean putting the container the seed/ling is growing in into a larger container that has an inch or two of water in the bottom and allow the dirt in the container to draw up the water through the drainage hole.

If you water from the top (i.e. the normal way) you are likely to disrupt the seed or damage a delicate seedling.

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