Well it looks like this years Alabama’s gulf coast spring is going to come very late. I hope we are not looking at a winter season moving into a HOT summer, robbing us of our spring. Last night the outside temperature hit under 32 (28 average last week), brrr and it might warm up to 34 tonight. All the while I have my first bunch of seedlings poking their heads up, looking for the light of the sun.
Bright Effects 65W, 2700K 3900 Lumens CFL Monster
Our seed’s germination success rate is rocking. I am hitting around 90%. Not too bad when you factor in the three Bhut Jolokias, and the other habaneros I have bouncing in the mix. My trick is using jiffy seed starter, warmth (at least 70°F), a bit of humidity and patience. I saw this tip on another blog where you place your seed trays on a clothes dryer while doing your laundry, speeding up the germination time. It works!
Dual 23W, 6500K, Total 3200 Lumens CFLs w/ Aluminum Foil Pan Reflector
We folks on the gulf coast have a short growing period for tomatoes. Lower Alabama has to deal with the hot nights of July and the wilt and blight it brings, so normally at this time, we would be thinking about putting our tomatoes into our garden. Not this year.
So with a hundred plants ready to go, and the next batch (cucumbers, etc) ready to start, it looks like we are going to have to “pot them up” and keep them inside a whole lot longer. Ergo the flurry of grow light creation activity (Mad Scientist, that I be). I am working on a platform to cover up our big old bath tub. The next three to four weeks our plants will hang out in our bathroom.