Hi

We recently bought a new house and inherited a lovely mature garden full of perennials. Last year was our first summer here and it really gave me the gardening bug so I decided I'd try and grow a few annuals, perennials and a bit of veg indoors from seed for this summer. I have done a lot of reading but I have been having a few problems and I think it would help if people would please be able to help me with my specific questions.

I'm having lots of success germinating seeds in sterile seed starting mix in 60 pot trays under a dome using a heat mat, my problems then come with keeping them alive. After germination the seeds are placed under lights (I have 2 sets; a single hygrofarm T5HO and a sunblaster with 2 T5HO lights) for 16 hours a day. My first batch of seeds were leggy and I was unsure why until I realised the room temp in the upstairs bedroom was 75F. The next batch I moved to the basement where the temp is about 67F and they seem to be doing a lot better. The lights are about 3 inches above the seedlings. I have a 12inch oscillating fan running for 16 hours a day, which is about 4 foot from the seedlings.

My first question is does anybody see any major problems with my current set up, I really don't want to lose this set of seeds so I'm trying to get expert advice before problems arise. Specifically does anybody have experience with T5HO lights, I've read lots of different opinions about distance from seedlings ranging from 1-6 inches and I'm not really sure if I'm at the correct distance.

My main problem is a white mold on the surface of the pots, that I have to keep scraping off. From what I have read I may be overwatering but I don't know how to judge this. The surface of the soil and as far down as I can feel is dusty dry before I bottom water. The pots are very small so I can't get my finger very deep, is there a better way to tell? Also if the soil fills 1 3/4 inches of the pot how far down should be dry before I bottom water? The height of the soil has dropped to about 1/2 inch below the top of the pot since planting would this be a problem for the short seedlings being so deep?

OK I think that is everything for now, sorry for all the newbie questions but your help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Paul