Any light will work. Some swear by a combination of a full spectrum and a cool light. I have two daylight bulbs in one fixture and regular cool bulbs in another. Of course once the plants are up, they love the sunlight bulbs. Don't buy the expensive plant bulbs though. They are not worth the cost. Just get the daylight bulbs.

I would put a weed mat down. For the 10 bucks or so it costs, it's cheap insurance in my mind.

Peat pots....until you have roots towards the bottom of the pot, I'd top water with a sprayer or something similar.

I'm growing in plug trays, but I leave about a 1/4" of a weak nutrient solution in the bottom. When I notice the tops get dried out, I spray with a cheap spray bottle.

I've read it's best to get one warm and one cool bulb. I haven't used mine yet, so I can't say from experience.

I didn't have much growing where I put my beds last year and I didn't use anything under them. I didn't have a weed problem. I'm putting a layer of newspaper under the beds I'm adding this year.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tales of a Transplanted Gardener

Don't buy the expensive plant bulbs though. They are not worth the cost. Just get the daylight bulbs.

Yes - and I got my plant bulbs as gifts, so they cost nothing. ;o)

I always put down weed fabric for my clients, with the caveat that in several years its effectiveness will be lessened due to the mulch breaking down into soil, but the weeds will be easier to pull when young. We have some at this house, and it is so windy that it does a good job of aiding the wood chips' flight around the yard and into unwanted places.

Dan

1) I am using one cool "kitchen/bath" bulb and one "daylight" bulb to hit both ends of the light spectrum. Both were cheap and seem to work fine.

2) I am for weed barriers, even if they're temporary like cardboard or layers of newspaper (I used landscape fabric for a bad weed problem). And I've never heard of any veggie with 10 foot root systems, maybe 10 inches. Roots will eventually grow through paper or cardboard.

3) Bottom watering is fine. They will wick up what they need without towels. I am doing that with my soil blocks which are similar to peat pucks.

Good luck and definitely ger those seedlings under lights 12-14 hours a day (2 inches from the tops of the plants) ASAP.

Enjoy the process!

Here is a link that might be useful: Sinfonian's garden adventure

Ok my husband went to the store for me. They didn't have a cool bulb in the right size so we went with 2 daylight bulbs. Hopefully he'll be able to get the seedlings under the light and off the window sill sooner than I will get off of work.

Its only 12-14 hours a day? I thought it was more like 16 hours.. Well that will save me some money I guess :P .

I'm so excited to finally have seedlings! Now I'm still waiting on the peppers and eggplants to germinate... I feel like I've started so late in comparison to everyone else on here but I'm starting when the package says, only based the date on 2 weeks after last frost. I'm shooting for a May 1st planting, and planted the seeds March 1st.

12-16 is just fine. They just need their downtime. And don't worry about starting later than us here. We are all in different areas of the country, and each area has there own last frost date. May 1st is safe for me, but is the heat of the summer for Southern California. Plant when it's appropriate for your climate. Good luck!