I have used Pro Mix and Fafard for years with good results. They are quite similar with Fafard maybe having a touch more perlite.

john

Thank you for the quick reply.

Jeremy

LED's are not what they are hyped to be-yet. Give them a few more years, and they will be. I would not use a HPS or MH for young pepper plants, they will burn the plants up. 2-48" floros, either warm daylite, or even whatever you have are the absolute best to start plants with. Compact floros will work too, but don't have much coverage. After the plants are well established - 8-10" or so, you could switch to a metal halide for great amounts of vegetative growth. The HPS duplicates late season sunlight with more red and orange spectrum for flowering and fruiting. The cost of the electricity and heat are also an issue with the HID lamps. I would start the seeds 12-18" under the floros with a cycle of 18 on, 6 off. once the seeds sprout, move the floros down an inch a day until at 8" or so. The beauty of the floros is no heat = no scorched seedlings.

as far as planting mix is concerned. I would use any QUALITY mis as long as it does not have any fertilizers mixed into it. Fertiloam red label is my mainstay for all new starts.

Good luck TiMo

Good luck TiMo

12" pots are fine, but the bigger the pot the bigger the plant will grow.

Thanks to all for the quick replys. Looks like I will be passing on the LED's. I found a 4' T5 flourescent (4 bulb) for a good price so I think I will go with it.

T-5's are wonderful, and also more powerful than a regular floro, so give the young plants some distance and slowly move them up to canopy. Good Luck TiMo

The fluorescent tubes need to be RIGHT ON TOP OF your plants for them to be of any real value compared to a high intensity discharge lamp. And by 'right on top of' I mean directly touching, no more than 3/4" away as the output from a fluorescent tube falls off really quickly as you move away from the bulb. They're cheap, and commonly available. Good for sprouts and cuttings as they root, but otherwise, inefficient compared to a 400w HID lamp. At $0.21/kwh, it costs me $4/month to run a 400w halide.

If you just want lamps for early starting on the upcoming season, then sure, fluorescent lamps work fine. Once the plant gets more than about 6" tall, though, they simply don't have the output to penetrate the canopy of vegetation to reach the leaves underneath.

If you're looking to grow a plant indoors over time, then HID lighting is really your only choice.

Looking to start my seedlings indoors in late Dec or early Jan. Being in Zone 9 (Gulf Coast), our last freeze is usually mid to late Feb. I will be transfering outdoors no latter than March 1. Unsure how Large the plants can get in ~60-70 days.

Shelby,
I'd be interested in seeing the math for your $4/month calculation. At 8hrs/day for the 400W lamp you would be looking at $.67/day x 30days would be around $20.

Am I off? I used to have a reef fish tank when the Navy was paying for my power (living in Navy Housing), but have concluded that I cannot really afford the extra $$ for 2 400W MH's and the associated equipment based on the calculations at $0.16/Kwh here in TX.

Best,
Scott

Starting seedlings with a 4 bulb T5 flour (color: 5000K); how high above the canopy would you start? Would 30 inches be good moving down 1 inch per day until 2-3 inches above the canopy? Or would starting 20-25 inches be better?

Jeremy

Can power compacts be used to sufficiently grow plants indoors during the winter season? I've also got a 150 watt halide I could use as well but would rather avoid the additional electrical cost associated with running it. Also, what kind of photoperiod is best for pepper plants?

Thanks,
Scotty

I would start seedlings with a t-5 , depending on the # of bulbs, at 20". I wouldn't move down until first two sets of true leaves are out and healthy. Then an inch every couple days. I would not put t-5's directly over leaves until plant was 3-4" tall and then at 2-3" above highest leaf. There is enough lumens with a t-5 (dual) to take care of pepper plants until 8" or so. The goal is to try and keep internode spacing as compact as possible. While some of the spacing is genetically controlled, it can be kept down by keeping the light cycle on 18, off 8 or even on 20 and off 4. Also by keeping plant stretch down by keeping bulbs low enough to prevent stretch. Good luck!! Timo

Should I only install 2 of the bulbs in the 4 bulb T-5 fixture to start the seedlings, or just start off with all 4 bulbs?

Jeremy

I would say it depends on the number of starts you would have, and the coverage needed. Two should be fine up to and including the first 2-4" of growth, then maybe spread out and use all 4. A neighbor who uses t-5's brings in all their outdoor plants to winter in their basement, and they flourish under the T-5's and 14 hours of light. Timo

Quote: "Looking to start my seedlings indoors in late Dec or early Jan. Being in Zone 9 (Gulf Coast), our last freeze is usually mid to late Feb. I will be transfering outdoors no latter than March 1. Unsure how Large the plants can get in ~60-70 days."

Keep in mind some pepper seeds take 30 days (or more) to germinate. Several of the Habaneros and Jolokias I started this year took 3 - 5 weeks (and that was at 80F on heat mats). The general recommendation is to start peppers at least 10 - 12 weeks before expected planting date. You might want to factor that into your timeline. Of course, being on the Gulf Coast in Zone 9, your growing season is significantly different than my Z6, so lead time my not be as critical to you.

Good luck and have a great growing season.

Thank you to everyone who helped guide me with these issues.

Jeremy

Pro mix is a great starter soilless mix but contain no nutrients. Chemical fertilizers work fine with pro mix but I have found that tomato leaves turn purple when fertilizing organically. This year I will mix in a little worm stuff to help the organic cation exchange.

Your math is way way off.

21 cents per kw is 5 kw for dollar. /500 watts = 10 hours for 1 dollars for a basic 400 watt light. so if you run 10 hours per day your cost is about a dollar a day or $30 a month.

the 400 watts HPS uses more than 400 watts. all that heat is extra for one thing. the 400 watts only refers to the light bulb itself and not to the total system with ballast. I used 500 watts or half kw to make the math easier.

The 40 watts fluorescents also use more than the 40 watts total.

I still have not read anyone explaining correctly the use of lights. Lights are expensive and I have learned to grow without them.