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Growing from Seed

More Seed Starting Talk

14 years ago

Lesson learned from last year...smart enough to buy a timer for my shop lights this year. Also needed some bottom heat. The directions I have say to give seedlings artificial light for 18 hrs/day. Should I plug the heat mat into my timer with the lights or should the heat stay on 24 hrs/day until germination?

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Comments (2)

sleepy33
14 years ago
I leave the heat mat on all the time, and run lights for 15 hours a day.
digdirt2
14 years ago
Heat needs to be constant. Lights are debated. Some use 12 hours, some 16, some argue for 24 hours. Experiment and see which works best for you.

All I can attest to is what I do: stuff in the greenhouse gets Mother Earth's time - approximately 12 on and 12 off when she is in a sunny mood and 16 hours of fluorescent when she isn't. Things in the house get 24 hours on. Works for me.

Dave
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