Sorry, forgot to mention:

I will put the plants outside to mature and fruit in mid to late May. The grow box would only be a supplemental light and heat source until our temps get high enough for the outdoors.

hi, if you have a spare cupboard
avail. fine but its not needed.
if thyey are getting leggy get the
light closer and train them down with ties.
i really bush my peppers out before going
outside.
and give the plant a solid foundation for
planting outdoors. As for buying shoplights,
i suggest 4ft bulbs as far as value goes,
plus you'll be able to fit at least 6-12
pots under (2) 40watt tubes in an
open space. (plants stay within 1-4 inches from bulbs of course.)

My first flouro setup was
1 (3bulb) 4ft40watt cw tube fixture mounted below a shelf which was there already and i just used things to keep the pots close to the lamps rather than bring the lamps down on an expensive adjustable hood. This works just as good if not better, just be sure to keep a very nice breeze on your plants whether it be an oscilating fan or an open window with a good natural breeze (if not too chilly)

hope this helps

btw: radiant heat from the bulbs in an enclosed box will not help but hinder your chiles progress by possibly burning them and causing environmental imbalances within the confined space. Only way to counter this is an open box or air exchange/exhaust system (not worth the hassle)

" I grow only chile peppers and I grow them on the balcony. This year I started them a bit earlier than last year( Feb. 25th) as our growing season is a bit short for chiles. They have nearly all sprouted and sit in a sunny (when it is not cloudy-lol) south facing window, and they are starting to get a bit leggy"

Peppers like heat. They also don't do all that well in shade.

You can deal with the leggyness by using a small fan to give the seedlings a little exercise.

You could also get a fluorescent setup and put it behind the plants to supplement the light they get and a little extra heat.

The previous poster is right about air circulation. Enclosed grow boxes are touchy, although there ARE people who know the ins and outs of them.

Ok, thanks for the replies. I have had good results in the past with mother nature and so I will continue with them in the natural light. Happy Easter!
Tom

Happy Easter to you as well Tom.

You can always supplement the window with a shop light or two. I have a west window that the grow lights are in front of. On sunny days, they benefit from the bright light. On cloudy days or early/late in the day, they benefit from the artificial lights. It's a win/win situation, unless your lights are in a place where they shade the plants from the sun too much.

I'm having an issue with the Florida climate (tampa area).

It gets windy, which I'm sure is good, but the bigger leaves die every time when that happens, and the rain drowns them right after they've healed from the last drowning.

I was considering keeping them on my screened lanai, but the sunlight there is about 10% what it is in the front.

Since I'm in a townhome neighborhood, the local children commonly attempt to water/mess with the peppers, making it difficult to grow. Many times I've gone out there to wonder "I know I didn't just water it, but it looked dry before" in a location out of reach from the sprinklers. The lanai is the best option.

My issue is that I don't want to pay $200 for a light. I know there are other UV lights, but does anyone know the best option for plants to get light without having to buy a $200 light from the garden center? or is there little choice? I'm just having difficulties finding this info. (ie- is a regular UV light as effective as a hydroponics-specific UV light)...lol

Ok, thanks ^_^

UV = ultraviolet light. Not what you want for growing. Peppers want so much sun that you're going to have trouble growing them to maturity under grow lights unless you buy very large, very expensive grow lights, and they shouldn't be in a location where they could get rained on (not sure how rainproof your lanai is).

Go with the natural sunlight and figure out a way to deal with the neighborhood kids. (Dog? Fence? Windowbox? Balcony? Become the evil neighbor lady who yells at the kids for messing with her plants? Not sure there is a great solution.)