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Category: Indoor Lighting With LEDs | Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2012 9:24 pm

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As of today, my seeds have been planted for a week. I kept them in my kitchen, the warmest room in the house, until some plants broke the surface. The first ones to appear, on Day 4 (Jan. 19), were Derby Bush Beans, Collard Greens, Kale, Mustard, Space Saver Spinach and Turnips. I removed the plastic cover and put the seed starter in my sewing room. My husband rigged up a light stand with sand bags and we attached the grid LED. It's 2' above the plants. The first day I had the lights on for 7 hours. The fans are not very loud, they don't throw a lot of heat and cast a gorgeous magenta color. At bed time I replaced the clear cover to keep the seed starter moist -- it's SO dry here in Colorado, especially in the winter when the furnace is running. I also planted some Greek Oregano seeds today.

Day 5 (Jan. 20) brought forth Calabrese Broccoli, Summerlong Basil, Green Onions, Bloomsdale Spinach. The first plants grew taller. I had the lights on for 12 hours.

Day 6 (Jan. 21) I added, at a friend's suggestion, a heating pad under the tray although I don't think it was necessary. I ran the LED's for 12 hours again and also set up a oscillating fan for 3 hours to strengthen plant stalks. I didn't want to dry out the soil so only did 3 hours. More plants surfaced today: Bright Lights Chard, Bush Beefsteak Tomatoes, Kumato Tomatoes (beautiful chocolate tomatoes, seeds self-harvested from Wholefoods tomatoes); Cutie Tomatoes (sweet grapelike tomatoes, self-harvested from King Soopers tomatoes; I grew them in patio pots a couple of years ago and they are PROLIFIC producers). Only 5 more seeds need to germinate: Butterhead Lettuce, two types of peppers, White Sage (seeds given to me by a friend, I have a HARD time getting them to germinate), Brown Tomatoes from seeds I saved from a big gorgeous chocolate tomato I ate in an Arizona WholeFoods.

Day 7 (Jan. 22) The pepper seeds are about to sprout. I'm surprised about the lettuce taking so long. Running lights 12 hours again today.


LED Setup ( photo / image / picture from Farmer Deb's Garden )






Seedlings, End of Week 01 ( photo / image / picture from Farmer Deb's Garden )






Last edited: Sun Jan 22, 2012 9:25 pm

This blog entry has been viewed 267 times

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cherylad wrote on Sun Jan 22, 2012 11:47 pm:

Do you think the LEDs are working faster/better than conventional grow light?
Looking pretty good for one week!

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Farmer Deb wrote on Mon Jan 23, 2012 1:16 am:

Too hard for me to judge yet, but I'm sure they will work faster/better. I have some tomatoes that I've started using my typical method so fairly soon I'll be able to tell if the LED tomatoes leave them in the dust.

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sewNsow wrote on Tue Jan 24, 2012 4:08 pm:

I just read another person's observation that the LED's were definitely better.Can't remember who said it but I made a mental note to look for some LEDs.

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Farmer Deb wrote on Tue Jan 24, 2012 5:57 pm:

I bought mine through Amazon. The one I bought is a grid and was more expensive than those UFO ones, but I have a friend who is a MM caretaker and he's used both and says the grid is amazing. He was growing tomatoes next to his MM and I could swear she said the tomato plants were 3 weeks old and they were almost a foot tall with big beautiful green leaves.

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