Seed Starting. Peppers and Onions. LED Lights. 1.25.19

Germinating Onion and Pepper Seedlings.  1.25.19

 Here are the seedlings so far.  I've been starting them in seedling 6-packs.  I put the 6 packs into a cheap bread-loaf sized plastic bag and sit them on a seedling warmer mat until they germinate.  Then they come out of the bag and are just under the lights.

Despite the weird color when the lights are turned on, the plants seem to be growing normally.  Turn off the lights, and the leaves are a normal green.

Germinating Onions Seedlings.  1.25.19

LED Seedling Set-up/  1.29/18

 I may set up one of the old CFL fixtures, because I don't want to spend too much on LEDs and I have more seedlings to start.

The onion varieties are Red Westerfield, Stuttgarter, and some old seeds from Blush Pink or something like that.  I also bought some WallaWalla seeds that I started a few days ago.

Seeds Planted Today.  1.25.19

 I planted some Tabasco and Thai pepper seeds earlier, which have partially germinated.  The seed warmer mat dries them out a little too fast for me, so I took that out.  If no additional Tabasco and Thai seedlings emerge, I think I have enough.

Today I planted additional pepper seeds - "Craig Jalapeno", a Jalapeno from the store, Banana, Ring Of Fire cayenne-type, and regular Cayenne, and a Korean Pepper. Most are from Baker Creek Seeds.

Above Onion Seedlings, Turned Off LED Lights.  1.25.19

The last photo shows some of the onion seedlings, just turning off the LED light to take the photo.

Nepenthes. 1.22.18

 I can't take credit for these tropical Nepenthes.
They came from growcarnivorousplants.com.  The are very different from American pitcher plants, which stay outside.  I never know if something will grow in my hands, but these will be very interesting.

I hope they grow and flourish.  Right now, most of them are in the sunroom.  The temperatures there vary a lot, nights in the 50s and days into the mid 70s.  In the summer, it's much warmer and they'll have to go outside.

Yamamoto Dendrobiums. 1.22.18

 I've had these Yamamoto dendrobiums for many years.  They bloom every winter.

 I also have some plants that I bought a year ago. They grew very well, had a few blooms during the year,  but none yet now.   I may have overfed them - they are very lush.  Eventually I think they will bloom after all.

These were bought, I think, at Trader Joe's some time around 2010, possibly earlier.

Cymbidium Orchids. 1.22.18

 These Cymbidiums have done amazingly well this winter.  The yellow one started blooming in November.

These are all no-name varieties, bought over the years at the grocery store.  I kept them outside in the vegetable garden all summer, on the edge of a raised bed in full sun.  These are not really organic - I used regular plant growth Miracle Grow, 1/4 strength, when watering them about once weekly.  The rest of the time they got well water.

In October or November, I moved them inside.  I started watering again when flower buds appeared, using 1/4 strength Miracle Grow Bloom Food.

Starting Seeds with LED Plant Lights. 1.14.18

Here is the LED light set-up that i bought through Amazon. I bought the 30 Watt unit, which I am guessing has more lumens compared to the 3 12-Watt fluorescent lights that I was using previously. LED has more light in the best wavelengths and wastes less of the Wattage on heat, so should be OK or better. The onion seeds have germinated so they will be an early test of the lights. The instructions state the lights should be 18 to 24 inches above seedlings or 12 to 18 inches above vegetables. This is between those heights. For onion seedlings I will time for 10 hours of light.