I'll start out with some background. Being a resident of California, I've never before had to worry about micromanaging growing conditions- I've always just stuck my seeds in the ground, kept them watered, and let nature do the work. However, I recently bought some more finicky seeds (alpine strawberries, watermelons, ground cherries, and a few mint varieties) and discovered that this strategy doesn't work as well with them.

So, now I'm trying to be a bit more careful, germinating them in flats indoors. I'm fully aware of what kind of grow lamps I should be using (4 40 watt 2' fluorescent bulbs, two daylight, two cool white), but the problem is, I have no way of mounting a fixture like that. I'm a college student living in a dorm, so I can't exactly put screws in the ceiling. So instead, I bought two desk lamps and put 40 watt daylight fluorescent bulbs in them, in the hopes that I wouldn't have to keep the seedlings inside for very long.

The system that I'm going by is:

1. Indoor flat with lamps and misting until most seeds in each 9x9 segment have germinated.

2. When most seeds in a segment have germinated, transfer it to a flat tray that I have sitting outside in the shade.

3. Once true leaves form and plant looks established, transfer to permanent pots in full sun.

So far, it's worked pretty well for germination, and I've been able to move the Phacelia and Grano Onion seedlings to the flat that I have outside in the shade without any shock damage. However, I'm a bit more worried about how my strawberries, ground cherries, watermelons, and mints will fare. From what I've read, it seems like watermelons are pretty sensitive to temperature, and the others are just so tiny after sprouting that I worry about how delicate they are. Though, I don't really want to leave them inside for too long, because I know I don't have enough light to keep all of them happy at once. So, this is all a delicate balancing act.

Doing it like this, am I going to kill my plants? I a bit unsure about when to transfer things outside, but I'm kind of rushed, since I won't be able to keep my lamps on everything if I have too many seedlings coming up at the same time. Nights are pretty mild here this time of year, about 60 degrees F.