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Canada

Ok as some of you may know this is my first year on growing large pumpkings. Ive already soaked my seeds for 24 hours keeping the temp in wet paper towl around 80. They were then transplanted into 6" wide x 12" deep containers after the 24 hour soak. They have been in the containers with soild since April 18th and been kept at a steady soil temp
of 87. Ok my questions are.

Once they pop up threw the soil do i remove the heat or keep the heat between 80-90 or does it matter?

secondaly do i keep them on a 24 hour light schedule or do
i set the timmer so they get say 14 hrs light and 10 hrs dark or do i just keep them on the 24 Light till they get transplanted out into the green house come May 1st? ( weather permiting)

Reason for asking this is because once they go outside they will on the 7am-9pm light and 9pm- 7am dark. thats why i ask if i should keep them at 24 light ( under fake light)
or should i gradually move them down to 12/10 light so they dont get stressed once set outside

thanks

dave

4/20/2004 12:12:49 AM

C N Y

the only thing i have time to comment on is---do NOT
cycle the light on and off at first. you want full,
24-hour, strong fluorescent light about 6 inches above the seed leaves. maybe some BP.com pros will have more to say, like when or even if beginning to accustom them to day and night is beneficial.....there is usually a lag in seedling development once they are put in the ground anyway, and after a week to a week and a half the plant(s) will get over their "hangover(s)" and start to take off, anyway.
if you cycle right off the bat, so to speak, your plants will get long and spindly, which is not good! there are ways around this if it happens, but it is all a pain!
24hrs. for starters! 'pal2
PS---good questions. ask a lot of them! good luck!

4/20/2004 1:38:52 AM

Cornwall UK.(50N 5W)300ft.

I also use 24 hour light for my plants it is simple because you don't need to provide any other source of heat like you would have to at night during a period of darkness also with the 400w Sodium bulbs I use they retain their brightness longer if you don't switch them on and off each day.I find 21ins. from the plant best for my type of light and at that distance the plants get 2000 Lux of light.Try to position the plants so that they receive maximum natural light as well.No need to change hours of light gradually.

4/20/2004 3:44:22 AM

Montoursville, PA

There will be a zillion opinions here. If you were in a greenhouse professionally managed nature would give you light and dark days....everything in between. If you were very large and competitive you would supply make up lighting. We do not have that skill or money in most cases.
....Get them out of the heat, dark and high humidity as soon as they emerge. Flourscent lighting very close to the plants will be fine. Use natural by a window to supplement. Twenty four hours a day will be fine. It is only for a short time.
....Within eight to ten more days get them into the cold frames where nature will handle the lighting just fine.
....You may need a shop light for heat for one night or two depending on "mother's" plan.
....Good luck on the grow.

4/20/2004 6:09:52 AM

Western Pa.

I personally believe that a plant does not get long and spindly by having a light cycle as mentioned above. If the plants are spindly they are simply not getting enough light! I believe that the daily amount of light a plant receives "triggers" certain aspects of plant growth. I also personally believe that by not giving the seedling a resting period of darkness, that the plant becomes confused and may never do as well as it has potential to. (Don't you need rest?) Shortening the light cycle will force the plant to produce flowers sensing that the time for it too produce offspring (it's main job),may be running out. I'm not going to potentially "confuse" my plants growth by abnormally keeping it lit 24-7. More light!

Just my 2

4/20/2004 1:53:53 PM

Garden State Pumpkins

I also don't think that the plants will be properly hardened off unless they are removed from the incubator and given a couple of days on the windowsill and a couple of wind protected outdoor exposure..artificial to real light can be brutal...harden em off!
Chuck

4/20/2004 4:17:18 PM

C N Y

indeed, the sooner they get out there in the patch the better, jeez, it might even be a good idea to set the plants out in their new environment immediately upon cotyledon break-free if the temperature permits or is adjusted via all the heating methods we have come up with. the only drawback to this would be that the
direction of the main vine will not yet be determined, which GENERALLY is in the OPPOSITE direction of the first true leaf. and generally the only reason other than the weather that we allow to hold us up in the first place....General Lee. Grant ed, lol, it might not always be, so some folks plant their seedlings at a right
angle to where they WANT the main to go, and direct it very early-on as the plant begins to vine, as it only has to be directed left or right, and never 180 degrees the other direction. so by combining elevated temperature in the lil' greenhouse with a right-angle-to-the-vine's-projected-path-planting scheme, as well as the natural day and night lighting, but only IN the patch,we should have the option to plant them out as soon as possible upon sprouting. veering, maybe. butoncourse

4/20/2004 7:32:54 PM

C N Y

sorry about being adamant about the need for constant light, but i know that year before last i had a half-dozen seedlings growing in my bedroom window, and they got to be nearly a foot long before i could actually plant them out.
and it was just in a few days (5-7)
i planted them into the ground very deeply at a
45 (or so, lol) degree angle and just draped the vine along the ground and staked it very well to avoid ANY wind or other disturbance. i had a decent season with those plants.

i think that the plants soak up the sun during the day and put on a few inches at night. it always seems that the plants growing in the patch are noticeably larger in the
morning, or maybe it just seems to take me longer now to get from one flower to the next! lol! good luck to all. 'pal2 PS-only use Captan as a seed-dip at planting.
do not inoculate your entire seed-starting mix with it, or use it in excess! LAST year's seedlings suffered from it. eg

4/20/2004 7:49:40 PM

C N Y

end of story for 'pal2. good discussion, fellas!

4/20/2004 7:50:43 PM

northern indiana

You know they do make flourescent grow light bulbs. Got a pair of 24" tubes and a fixture at Menards last weekend. Near full spectrum lighting.
Eric

4/20/2004 10:33:26 PM

Eugene, OR

Ok, all this talk on lighting forces me to answer the question I've been trying to figure out myself. What artificial light source yields the best results? With my test plants, I've had a problem with leaf burning when using the fluorsecent lights so I've been looking into better light sources.

The expensive choice of nearly all hydroponic indoor growers seems to be the high pressure sodium systems but are they worth the price? What other options do us poor growers have other than the fluorescent "grow light" tubes.

4/20/2004 11:13:11 PM

Appalachian Mtns.

I use regular store bought "grow" bulbs. You know, the kind that are cheap and blue. They work fine and I only use them for a week tops. I also do as Eric, initially anyway. When the seeds pop, I put the bulbs about 8" away and leave them on 24-7 for 2-3 days until the stems begin to thicken. Then I start to gradually harden them off, keep the lights on when they're back in the house, and when I plant outside, that's that, they're short with thick stems and grow just fine from there.
Haven't had a problem since I started doing it that way. Any other method...window, cycling, etc., and they got long and leggy and that means trouble.

4/21/2004 12:04:33 AM

Cornwall UK.(50N 5W)300ft.

Brian,
I wouldn't buy a Sodium/metal halide lamp just for starting pumpkins my plants grow twice as fast when in under it but it is for such a small length of time sowing a few days earlier without one gets the same result.
If you do a lot of other gardening or want to grow a clone over the winter you will find it a valuable tool.

4/21/2004 2:48:29 AM

Colo.Spgs.CO. Pikes Peak Chapter @ [email protected]

When it comes to lighting , I feel the best and most economical way of doing so is get some shop lights that hold 2 4ft flurosent bulbs ( around $7.50 each ) and mount them beneath a piece of plywood with 2-3 sets of fixtures spaced approx 2 inches apart, which equals 4-6 total flurosent bulbs per lighting deck total,depending on how much space you have. Hang the plywood so that you can adjust the height between the plant and the light as needed, or raise the plant up or down as needed for optimum lighting conditions. Now there is the question of which type of bulbs to insert into the fixtures which is more $$ but is still a cheaper alternative to the high dollar sodium halide lighting. Myself I am out to get the optimum performance out of my cheap shop light fixtures by trying to get every spectrum of light that plants need especially the ones that us humans can not see. I have found that the best way to obtain this is to mix up the types of bulbs, as different bulbs also put out different spectrums of light that most plants need, ( which is usually indicated on the bulbs package ). The best mix up of bulbs to cover the different spectrums that I have found is to mix up a cool-white, warm-white,and a chroma-50....bulbs, and stagger them in your fixtures so that your plant will benefit from the spectrum differences. I used this method for 2yrs in a row to keep clones/cuttings alive all winter with great success. But there is one draw back the bulbs do become weaker with age and must be replaced if being used for long periods of time.And also a timer for the lights is also a must especially if you are doing any kind of long term propagation of your plants,as it becomes a burden to keep things on the correct timing...hope this helps James K.

4/21/2004 3:21:04 AM

Colo.Spgs.CO. Pikes Peak Chapter @ [email protected]

Oh and on the subject of dark vs light, I feel the plants are at a very much so disadvantage to putting down roots when your lights are on vs. when it is dark, or at least this is just my obeservation when it comes to cloning/cutting, and propagating for long periods of time in controlled conditions. Seems a newly propagated plant with few roots needs more darkness to get a strong root hold.But it seems different with plants from seed stock from my experience,as they just want to grow like crazy no matter what, especially if you feed the plant lots of light and the correct growing medium......

4/21/2004 3:33:16 AM

Colo.Spgs.CO. Pikes Peak Chapter @ [email protected]

Forgot to mention this setup is excellent for peppers and tomatoes also if you do not hog all of the light with your big pumpkin leaves....

4/21/2004 3:40:29 AM

Caceres, mid west of Spain

Dave, once they pop up threw the soil remove them from the heat. After that, they are better in a 70 ºF environment.

Carlos

4/21/2004 12:08:21 PM