Growlights

Copy write Food for Everyone Foundation

1) The planting medium must be "sterile", meaning it has never been used for growing things before. Use a mixture of sawdust, peat-moss, perlite, vermiculite, and sand - in any combination you like, but with sand at 25% to 35% by volume. All ingredients are not necessary - even straight sawdust can be used with sand, if necessary, but three ingredients work very well.

2) You can buy inexpensive plastic trays or flats that measure 11" X 20" in size. In many other locations around the world people make their own flats, and we recommend 18" X 18" X 3" deep outside dimensions.
For each 11" X 20" plastic tray, add one ounce or 2 level tablespoons of Pre-Plant Mix and thoroughly mix with the planting medium. Use ½ again as much if you are using 18" X 18" trays. For all fertilizer formulas, look under Fertilizers in the Learn section of the website at www.foodforeveryone.org, or in all of Dr. Mittleider's vegetable gardening books.

3) Using a 1" X 2" board or a ¾" PVC pipe 19"-long, make 6 shallow furrows in the tray. Plant seeds evenly spaced in the furrows, with no more than 600-800 seeds per tray. Cover with 1/8"-1/4" of planting medium.

4) Cover the tray with light-weight burlap or cheesecloth and water gently with plain water. Never use fertilizer on un-sprouted seed! Water often and heavy enough to keep the soil moist, but not soaking wet.

5) Place in a dark location with soil temperatures of 70 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. A thermostatically-controlled seed germination pad can be important to help maintain this temperature in a cool basement or garage. Warmer temperatures will help your plants sprout more quickly, so if you're in a hurry use a temperature near 80 degrees.

6) At the first signs of plants emerging from the soil, water with the Constant Feed Solution, consisting of 1 ounce Weekly Feed Mix dissolved in 3 gallons of water, then remove the covering, and place the tray under maximum light.
Remember to give your plants full light as soon as you first see any sprouts showing above the soil surface. Any delay at all, and the plants will develop long, skinny, weak stems as they search for that all-important light.

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7) A 4'-long twin-tube shop light (cord already attached), with one cool and one warm 40 watt tube, will give a decent spectrum of light. Use two shop lights for each four trays. Keep the lights only about 1" from the plants to maximize the light. Never use a light that is hot. Heat can very easily burn the tender new plants. Light should be applied for 16 hours per day.
A fixture with 6 metal 4'-long shelves can be purchased from Sam's or Wal mart for about $70, and two shop lights hanging above a 4'-long shelf can provide light for 4 10" X 20" plastic trays. So, with just one shelf fixture and 10 shop lights you can fill 20 flats and start 12,000+ plants! But, let's be real. At the first transplanting you need 10 times as many flats, so probably you should stick with starting just 2 flats, and transplanting them into the 20 flats that will fit on the shelves.

8) Water with Constant Feed Solution daily or as needed to maintain soil moisture - but do not over-water. Too much water can drown the plants, and can also lead to Damping-Off disease, which destroys the stem at the soil surface and kills the plant. Use Constant Feed Solution until plants are placed in the garden.

9) Change the plants' positions occasionally, to assure even distribution of light to all plants.

10) Maintain temperatures in the 65-75 degree Fahrenheit range for cool weather plants, and warmer for tomatoes, peppers, etc. The warmer it is, the faster your plants will grow, so to slow them down, lower the temperatures.

11. By the time plants have their second set of true leaves, you should be transplanting into pots, 6-paks, or other flats. Always mark flats, in order to space plants evenly. This assures even distribution of light, air, food, and water to all plants.
To build a marker, obtain a piece of 5/8" or ¾" plywood measuring 11" X 20". Drill 36 ½" holes in the plywood, with 4 rows of 9 holes. Cut 36 pieces of ½"doweling rod into 2 ½" lengths, and point one end of each piece. Glue doweling rod pieces into holes. Glue a ¼" piece of plywood onto back of original piece. Nail 2 - 2" X 2" pieces of wood 8" long across the back of the marker, about 12" apart. Nail a 14"-long 2" X 2" piece between the two previous pieces, in the center of the marker.

12. Always water both the plants in your flats, and the new destination planting medium before transplanting. If planting into the soil, watering immediately prior to planting may make the beds muddy
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13) Use a 6"-long "dibble (½" doweling rod with one end pointed), to loosen soil around plant roots. Carefully remove plant from the soil, holding by the leaf only, and place in a hole large and deep enough to accommodate the root ball and soil without crowding. Plant down to the crown or growing tip, but never get soil on the growing tip, which will kill the plant.

14) Using the dibble, assure that soil is in contact with plant roots, but do not pack soil tightly around plant stem and roots, as this will damage the plant. Water immediately, which will settle the soil around the roots.

15) Maintain maximum light, and immediately prune overlapping leaves or transplant into larger pots, to avoid plant stems "stretching" to seek light. Stretching will produce week, spindly plants that will never be as strong and robust as those which are short and stocky.

16) Before transplanting in the garden, place plants outside for 2-3 days to "harden-off", or become accustomed to the outside climate. Bring them inside at night if frost threatens, and do not transplant in the garden until it is safe to do so, unless plants are protected with "mini-greenhouses" or other coverings, and sufficient heat is available to keep them from freezing.