Comment

Comment by Earl Phillips on December 11, 2013 at 8:47pm

I have issues with system I put in my garage Mid October. I can get seedlings to start (radishes, turnip greens,

kale, lettuce, ) but t hen they get to a certain growth stage they seem to yellow and die off. I have 400 watt metal

halide in a low bay unit mounted 10' above the grow beds and some 1- 4 bulb 4'  fluorescent approximately 4'

above one grow bed and a couple 2 bulb fluorescent 4' fixtures resting on the edges (across) 2 other grow beds.

I have been running them 24/7.  I have tomatoes coming up in one bed and they also look like they are going to

yellow at about 1" high.  Temperature in room runs between 50 deg and 70 deg. Water temperature runs from

high 60's to sometimes almost 80 depending when I unplug the home made 1500W submersed heater.  I am

greatly anticipating your future advice .  I need lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers ASAP.  My grandchildren

would not leave the ones I raised in summer alone.  They ate  them like fruit.

Comment by Alex Veidel on December 10, 2013 at 6:31pm

Thanks Sylvia! That was "enlightening" :)

So, greens can actually handle more light than fruiting plants... Don't the extra light hours trigger bolting in plants like lettuce? All this time I've been basing my lighting hours on that assumption. What are your thoughts?