"Going to be a tough time juggling all the plants under lights for the next month or so."

How many lights? You seem to have lots of enthusiasm in getting crops started. I would concentrate on those plants that you will grow and cull others so that you can selectively grow the best plants possible. You have the tools: 6-packs, trays, lights. I would not rush to transplant a new seedling into a pot; keep in individual cell 6-packs for the first month.

keep records of planting varieties, dates, number of plants. That way you won't repeat mistakes next year. So far I have started hottest peppers and tomatoes and peppers that will go in heated high tunnel. If you are going to use row covers or low tunnels it is still risky to plant out prior to May 1. You may need to keep basil inside until June 1 regardless of the cover.

Thanks for the input Barrie!

This year I am taking meticulous notes.

The peppers were transplanted at 1 month although I do suppose they are still a little small. I probably should have just thinned down to one plant per cell instead of separating and up-potting each plant. <jots down in note book>

My hopes regarding the low tunnels was to be able to maybe get half the tomatoes out on or around May 1, 14 day forecast dependent. I would target half the peppers on May 15. So basically trying to gain around two weeks for half the crop. The other half would go out two weeks later respectively, hoping to get a somewhat staggered harvest. Heck I may even try to push it a little earlier than that and keep back extra seedlings, lord knows I will have enough.

I actually just picked up two 8ft T8s (so a total of eight 4 ft bulbs) on clearance at Lowes this morning. I will mount those side by side on chains over a ~8 ft long x 18" deep counter in my garage and it should take care of all my tomatoes and peppers at least. Previously I had been using a hodge-podge of 2 ft / 4 ft T12s and a couple LED grow panels (32 true watts each) on a plastic storage shelving unit.

I dunno if this purchase is going to help me or just exacerbate my obsession with starting too many seeds! It'll give me something to mess around with until the weather breaks at least!

Here's my current setup with the new 8 ft lights. With a little more efficiency I should have plenty of room for all my starts

Looks like you have a nice setup going! One thing that concerns me is the distance from the lights to the plants on the peppers that are in those plastic tote boxes. It looks like there is a couple inches from the top of the totes to the plant height and then it appears the lights are 2-3" above the top of the totes. It would be better if the lights were just 1-2" max above the top of the plants.

If you can get more 1020 trays like you have the onions(?) in at the end of the bench it would make it easier. It can be tricky with plants of different heights to all be under the same light fixture but things like scrap lumber or old books can be used to prop up the trays containing the shortest plants. If you want to continue to use the totes, you can put something inside the tote to raise the plant heights.

LoneJack:

It’s funny because all your suggestions had been rattling in
my head but I must of just been lazy at the time. This weekend I made some progress towards
helping my 100+ new leafy friends. Thanks
for the motivation I needed!

I took your advise and got the peppers raised up closer to
the lights. Got a sweet deal on some
bulb crates this weekend that should really help with managing the ‘fleet’ (especially
when they need to be moved come hardening off time).

Now all 3 inch potted peppers are sitting on plywood shelves
cut to fit the bulb crates. Tops of
plants are within <2 inches and some are almost touching. I have scrap plywood and 1x wood underneath the
shelf that I can remove as needed to lower each individual tray, or I can of
course raise up the entire light bars if they all decide to grow at the same
time (not likely).

Also picked up some more 1020 trays. It’s a pity they don’t fit
in the bulb crates more efficiently. With one tray in the crate, there is still
about 4-5 inches of space on the long side and ~2 inches on the short
side. Without the trays I can fit around
30 three inch pots. With tray, around 22
(with 6 pots sitting outside the tray). But they will definitely come in handy.

One thing I am regretting and will fix – making sure all my
shelves/planting surfaces are level. My
garage floor is sloped and its causing my self watering trays to pool up on one
side/corner. I can fix it with shims in
some places but it would have been less overall work to have gotten the whole
surface level to begin with.

Looking good!!!

In your earlier picture it appeared that the lights are suspend by chains. Adjustable chains allow you to raise or lower lights rapidly. That is the method I use.

I use chains as well. They work well unless you accidently drop a fixture when changing the height and crush the plants. I usually raise the lights up about 4" above the current plant height and then use scrap lumber to prop up the plant trays to the proper distance from the lights. Then I can just slip out the 2x4s when the plants get too close and replace with 1x4s.

Right now they are simply supported using twine. I can untie and retie if I need to adjust heights. Chains would probably be more easily adjusted (and maybe more secure), but I don't have any on hand.

In the past I've used zip ties chained together. As I needed the lights to be raised I simply tightened the zip ties one by one. Worked well but obviously limited use.

I know how you feel! I used to think I had to "save" every seed that germinated! Now, I know exactly how many tomato plants I need to harvest enough to get me through a year, so I only keep that amount, plus a couple for backup...my neighbors gladly take the culls from me. They are still great plants, just excess for me...This goes with peppers, etc...I know how many of each vegetable I need, and give away the rest. I always have plenty to eat and share during the growing season. This is something that you will come to know as you take notes every year. No sense growing 30 tomato plants if all you really need are a dozen. The extra space also allows me room to trial new (to me) varieties every year.

This is what I use for my lights...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2PC-GROW-LIGHT-ROPE-RATCHET-HANGER-RATCHET-REFLECTOR-HANGERS-150lb-1-8-/121132823935?hash=item1c3414357f:g:BEUAAOxy~g5RyJO5

buy them once and you're good,...no need to wrestle with ropes, chains and twist ties.

AS a former Westmoreland County gardener, take those extra plants to a flea market and sell them...remember the more you plant the more you have to weed.

Wow, last year's garden is beautiful and you are much further ahead than I am this year. I got an attack of the lazies. Agree with suggestion to use chains. My husband built a simple two shelf rack with a top. Nails in the side hold 4' lights. I adjust one chain at a time so I don't think there's a possibility of dropping since there are still 3 other chains holding each light. I agree the lights needed to be closer to your plants. Mine are so close some leaves almost touch the bulbs.

Last year was my first year growing "exotic" peppers. I put a single seed in each cell so wasted space when some didn't germinate. Took a seed starting class where we put a pinch of seeds into something similar to a 3" pot then transplanted when first true leaves appeared. I transplanted to Solo cups with holes drilled for drainage. This allowed me to leave plants indoors under lights for longer periods. I started the longest days to maturity pepper on 2/09/16 so many were blossoming and trying to bear fruit by the time they went outdoors for hardening off mid-May (I'm in NH).

I've accumulated a few plastic pot trays from visits to different nurseries (although most have switched to putting your plants in cardboard boxes). The plastic trays for seed starting fit in these so provide some extra strength. I bottom water.

I gave plants away to two friends. One really deserved extra plants (his pepper plants were puny due to lack of watering) for past trades/favors. Also turns out he plants some community gardens as a volunteer. I originally planned to try selling or Craigslist.

I have a high tunnel where I planted sugar snap peas on April 9 last year. I've been keeping a basic journal for several years. This is handy for record of start dates and "first harvest". I'm basically only feeding 2 people so a 6-pack of broccoli seedlings is enough. I think most of us try for early but I think aiming for extending the season as long as possible is even more important. Around here, a lot of people stop gardening after labor day. Two years ago I got wonderful seedlings 4th of July week in a northern tourist town. Around here, seedlings were already very overgrown and pot bound but these were grown for summer home owners who were just starting their gardens. I have also found a portable low tunnel can provide enough frost protection for bush beans so I can get a late crop. Around here we get just enough of an early frost about 9/18 to kills plants that are just blossoming but if I can protect them for one or two nights, the nights turn warm again and there's time to get that last crop in late September.

I think it's hard to keep the enthusiasm for plant starting when you also have the outdoor garden going.

You didn't mention garlic. I plant garlic in late October. It's harvested in late July so I can use the space for fall broccoli or ? You also didn't mention potatoes. I would plant fingerling potatoes instead of a row of corn. Around here many places sell corn stalks. I wouldn't waste my garden space. We still have potatoes and winter squash in basement storage (although not for much longer).

@Cher - Hello from a fellow "yinzer". I am actually a stones throw away from Westmoreland Co. That's a good idea about the flea market... try to recoup "some" of my costs maybe (some being a very small %). I have quite a few interested friends, family, and neighbors and if they are willing to take them I am more than happy to give them away for free knowing they are going to a good place.

@defrost - Thank you for the kind words and sorry to hear you are not at the progress you wish you were this year. I feel like that all the time (hence the thread title). There seems like there is always something that I should have done yesterday or last week and I continually add more things to the list. Its what drives me though. Some may call it worrying I call it planning. The good thing is there is usually always enough time to get up to speed and always something else that can be done to get back on track!

I planted garlic but got it out late during a warm spell in January - more like a winter sowing but with the mild winter we've had I am seeing some positive growth on them. Maybe they will bulb up, maybe not.

Corn stalks are something the wife always wants to have in the garden. They never do all that well but happy wife, happy life. They do a nice job of providing a little privacy to/from the neighbors. Potatoes are something I've just never done... I try to keep with veggies that are rather expensive if bought in store (we can get a sack of potatoes for like $2-4 at Aldi), but I think I need to try them some time. I think its a little late this year.

I posted some of these on the gardenweb chat thread but here are some updated pictures.

Very nice low tunnel! Strawberries look terrific. Fingerling potatoes sell for $4.50/quart at the farmers market and seem to be prolific. It's way too early for potatoes here plus a neighbor said if I wait to plant until after June 1, the potato beetles won't find me. I think important thing is your potatoes can be grown organically with skins safe to eat. Commercial potato skins contain a lot of chemicals.

I'll catch up plus if Mother Nature is as generous as usual, there's some salad greens in the high tunnel that have grown on their own. I left mine unplanted this winter because of a vole problem. I also thought carrots were cheap at the store so why grow any but my husband wanted them. The flavor is really much better than store bought.

Happy gardening!

@KPR121 - garden is looking amazing! You will be the envy of the hood in no time!