lighting in winter for seedlings

15 years ago

I've sown about 50 sarrs seedlings this year, but it was already May when I bought the seeds. I'm assuming the seeds were not stored very well(as in the fridge) or were not so fresh to begin with because up until now only 8 seedlings have shown themselves.(and yes, they were put in the fridge with moist sphagnum)I also have some VFT seedlings,7, that means I don't have all that many seedlings to take care of this winter. I would love to keep them inside but to do that I need a light for extra lighting. What I would want is a bulb that I can screw in a normal lamp so I don't have to buy a completely new setup.

Is there anyone here who can give me advise on this one?BTW ,I'm from europe so there's a good chance that US brands won't be sold over here.

The only lamp I've found so far is 160 watt MH lamp(mercury lamp) on ebay that claims to be ideal for cuttings and seedlings but there is no other information to be found on this one.

There's also talk about LED lamps with blue and red, would they be any good, or would the light not be intense enough?

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Comments (3)

hiddenjungle
15 years ago
ok so your not going to put them through dormancy, thats fine they can skip the first dormancy in order to get enough energy to survive the next time dormancy comes around, 160 watts MH lamp might work but usually people tell you to use grow lights or florescent tube or compact lights, at at least 40+ watts, sorry i have no advice on temparate seedlings next year i should though
woodnative
15 years ago
I have grown many Sarracenia seeds for up to two winters under regular, Cool-white fluorescent lights. They grow fast and stocky and have good color. No need for special, high output light. If you only have a normal lamp, those compact fluroscent lights may work (I have not personally tried them). However, you need to keep the seedling very close, say 10cm, away from the bulbs. It also seems that the seedlings grow well for a while than stagnate. At that point, repotting them into fresh media seems to jumpstart them again. -Chris
carnivoor
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks,Chris. I got the cheapest terrarium(free,actually I got two) and decided I might take a trip for some cool lamps after all. I might try a cool screw-in bulb for the small terrarium and try it with some new seeds I'm expecting.