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Question about what to do with seedlings

FlytrapGurl

FlytrapGurl

apple rings.. what more can i say?
Okay, first off, I have a whole bunch of seedlings sprouting from my seeds, which anyone who has read my post "My vft seedling journal" probably knows. Anyways, I was wondering what to do when the dormancy season comes around. It's August and already getting slightly cooler (80° instead of 100° LOL) around here (Florida). By November, it's gonna be 40° during the day and 35° at night. So, since seedlings can't take dormancy in their first year, I'll keeping them safe and warm inside, most likely either in my bedroom (not likely actually since I don't have much room for them in there) or the sunroom. But they won't get anything but through-the-window sunlight anywhere. I want to keep them under a growlight for the couple months they'll be inside. My friend has a spare 10 gallon glass fishtank with a full hood that I could use to put the seedlings in (in their containers, of course). All I need to know is this: what kind of lightbulb do I need to use? The local petshop sells 14 inch or something UV bulbs for 20 bucks. Will that work? The bulb will be roughly a foot above the seedlings. I'm hopeful this will work, for it is my only option for keeping them alive indoors for the fall/winter. God, I go into depth with the details in my posts... oh well. That's good. So, I need answers! Thanks in advance!

Thanx,
       FTG
 
Hiya FTG...

10 gallon fish tanks dont come with flourescent hoods that I know of (unless its some kinda custom setup) so if you plan to use a hood then you will have to find a suitable compact flourescent. I suggest you get a couple 24 inch standard flourescent balasts from Lowes or home depot and set them up to light the tank. I use 2 Philips Agro-Glo F20T12 20 watt bulbs on my 10 gallon right now (Im going to add a second balast soon to increase my light capacity). UV bulbs sound like "black lights" no good. If you can create a water tray for inside the tank, you can raise them off the bottom and get them closer to the lights. My plants (and their trays) sit on inverted plastic drinking cups which gets them to within 5 inches of the light tubes (its not pretty.. but it works). Also my tank is wrapped in reflective material (Aluminum foil) on 3 sides.

Good luck
Steve
 
Well, I'll just by the UV bulb. The UV bulb I'm talking about is not a blacklight. It gives off PLENTY of light, and a full UV ray giveout. It's made for reptiles like Anoles, which need both light and lots of UV. Now that I think of it, the ten gallon doesn't have a full hood. It's got no top, but my friend has a UV light fixture she always used with her Anoles, and I have a UV light fixture also. So I could put both of them on the tank, so it'll be double the UV exposure. The plants will be nine inches from the light. I was thinking, maybe I could just take them all out of the two huge watering trays, since they won't fit, and put them all on the bare bottom of the tank and pour a little water on the bottom for them.
 
hey ftg!
before you jump into buy lights, read the lighting article in the terrarium forum. there's a ton of info there!

when i had my 10 gallon, i had 2-24" lights on it. both were cool white, and they were 15watts each.

when i moved up to the 20 "tall", i went out and bought a 4' shop light, and 2-4' ,32watt cool white bulbs. this set up will run you about 10.00 total. i know that a lot of light is wasted, as the lights are 4' long, but i had good success with it!

enjoy!

technoracer
 
Hiya FTG..

Another question that comes to mind is: Why even bother with a tank at all? You should have decent enough humidity there. The only reason my plants are enclosed is because my cat will destroy them if she can get to them (as I found out the day I got them
mad.gif
). To be honest, I wouldnt even use the tank if I were you. Just set them in their existing water trays under a light of your choice and call it a day.

Just another way to look at it...
Steve
 
I know, but, the thing is, I have absolutely NO way to suspend a light over them.
 
I agree with Steve - you probably don't need to put the plants in a terrarium. Here's my solution to over winter seedlings and small CPs.

I took all the books off of a 5 foot wide bookshelf and mounted 4 foot shoplites to the bottom of the shelves and put my plants in trays on the shelves right below the lights. This has worked out extremely well for VFTs, Sundews, small Sarracenia and Darlingtonia.

At Walmart in the kitchen section you can find different sized Rubbermaid utensil trays that are white plastic, about 2 inches deep by 14 inches long in various widths. These work out great to set the plants in. I use both the 3 inch wide (holds five 3-inch pots or plastic cups) and 6 inch wide ones. The trays are about 2 bucks.

WildBill
 
What about that greenhouse you got for your birthday? You should have no problems mounting a light fixture on that somewhere. You will have a lot of plants that are on that now that will be dormant so that should free up some space for you.

Steve
 
Well, yeah, but that thing is outside, so it will be very cold anyway in the greenhouse. So, since it's outside, I wouldn't be able to keep them out there in the cold, nor would I be able to put a light out there. Hmmm... I'm in deep thought right now, trying to think of some shelves or something I could put them on... ***racks brain***
 
  • #10
I meant to roll the greenhouse inside.  The dormant plants wont know the difference from the greenhouse and the ground... they can stay outside on a table or something... When spring gets here then just roll everything back outside and pop the awakening plants back in their normal "homes".  
smile.gif


Steve
 
  • #11
Ohhhhhhhhhh... good idea! Now why didn't I think of that before? LOL... I'll probably do that...
 
  • #12
biggrin.gif
Glad I could help.
biggrin.gif



Steve
 
  • #13
Okay... so... here's the plan (I came up with it in thrity seconds lol): I'll put the seedlings in their trays on the second shelf. I'll put the lights on the top shelf, directly above them. All I need to know is this: How many bulbs to I need, and what kind, exactly? The space that will need to be lighted will be approxomately 2' x 2'. What brand of flourescent tube light will I need? I have a flourescent light fixture that holds a 15" bulb, and I can borrow another from the friend. The UV lights available at the petshop have 15 watts, 620 lumens, 5000°K color temperature, and 90 CRI! Looks like I got LUCKY! So, how many of these bulbs will I need, and will they work?
 
  • #14
Are the shelves of your greenhouse adjustable? You will want to get the plants as close as possible to the lights (adjustable shelves will be easiest but if not anything can be used to boost the plants closer to the lights (milk crates spring right to mind) I would say at least 4 tubes, 24 inch long should be plenty... Space them to maximize the ammount of light on the plants. I use Philips Agro-glo F20/T12 20 watt (aquarium and plant bulbs from Home Depot) so far all of the plants using that have done very well.

Steve
 
  • #15
4 tubes is 100 bucks!!! What's the bare minimum amount of lights that would keep them fairly healthy for two months or so???
 
  • #16
Steve your signiture is very comical!
 
  • #17
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (FlytrapGurl @ Aug. 13 2003,7:30)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">4 tubes is 100 bucks!!! What's the bare minimum amount of lights that would keep them fairly healthy for two months or so???[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Huh?? Wha?? ummm no.. I paid $7 apiece for mine... #### I could buy them here and ship them to you for less than 100 bucks...

Steve..
ps.. lmao ty Uglypho..
biggrin.gif

Steve
 
  • #18
The suitable 18" UV bulbs are 20 bucks each.
 
  • #19
Well if you can get all your pots under it then I dont see why it would hurt... its always a difficult trick to maximize value/ cost. I would still suggest you shop for bulbs similar to what I said. I have read that "cool white" bulbs work well and are also inexpensive. You still have a while before you need to worry about dormancy, so in the meantime you can keep your eyes open for the things you will need.

Steve
 
  • #20
Okay, but how many UVs do I need, minimum?
 
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