light is too high up.
that light will only do a 6 foot square area max and that area should have reflective material on the walls.
emergency blankets are the best and cheapest.
Indoor growing in my opinion is for growing weed and all other plants will do best with the sun .
Indoor growing will most always fail due to infestation of some kind and running a 400 watt light almost makes buying what you grow cheaper.
now i may have jumped the gun here on saying you plan on growing indoors till harvest.
If you just starting stuff early than your setup will work .

have fun

shayne

Bill,

Your setup looks OK to me. Mylar mirror film is advantageous, but not really necessary. The emergency blankets that Shayne recommends are very good, but nowhere near as good as the mirror film. I've used both and am currently using the blankets. Personally, I prefer to keep seedlings in the upper 60s low 70s once they have sprouted. I can't honestly say that 85° isn't actually better. Just a personal experience thing.

WallyWorld sells an inexpensive oscillating fan on an adjustable stand that I highly recommend for toughening up seedlings. It only needs to be turned on for a very few minutes several times a day to be beneficial.

Assuming that you don't overfeed the seedlings they will quickly let you know whether or not your MH fixture is too far away.

Thanks for the picture. It sure makes it much easier to grasp what is going on.

jt

Looks fine to me...

If it were me though, personally I would remove the mat unless you are still trying to get more to germinate. Cooler temps means slower growing plants that wont get spindly/weak indoors under inadequate lighting. Your're not trying to get them to take off too fast before setting them out unless you have good space for bigger containers and the bomb light setup :D
Since I keep mine in a south facing window only, I have to keep them growing cool..between 60-65 day and 55-60 at night with feed and water kept as minimal as possible.

Good luck and have fun :)

Thank you all for your responses.

Shayne, I canÂt say that I have experience growing weed at least not the kind I think you were referring to! LOL. I am in fact trying to get a jump start on my 5a growing season. In the past, my summers / pepper production have been hit and miss.

JT, IÂll check out some local suppliers to see if I can get my hands on some Mylar mirror film. If not I will set up some emergency blankets as suggested. Check on the fan, I have one but the plant shelf is a little high. IÂm moving the boxes to a lower table this weekend and the fan is on standby. You cautioned against overfeeding. I really havenÂt ever fed my plants, according to the packaging my starter media has some feed in it already. What feed formula do you use / suggest.

Vera, you hit the nail on the head as to why IÂm still providing heat. IÂm trying to get some more seeds to sprout. I usually transplant to 3x3 inch pots when they grow enough. As mentioned above, IÂm moving the trays to a table this weekend so IÂll have space to work with. IÂm assuming my current light will be enough to keep them happy until I start hardening them off end of May.

Again, thanks for the feedback. YouÂve all been very helpful and encouraging.

Cheers,

Bill

Bill,

Here is where I bought my mirror film about 13-14 years ago. It has actually gone down in price I think. Worm's Way

And here is how the emergency blankets are packaged:

When I do fertilize it is with 15-30-15 Miracle Gro or an aerated compost tea. The MG is very reliable. Never more than 1/2 the recommended strength on the package and not as often as package says to apply. I'm strictly a container gardener. Don't pity me, it's a whole lot better than it sounds.

jt

jt,

Thanks for the links and input on feeding.

BTW, no pity, I grow some containers in addition to my garden patch.

Thanks again,

Bill