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Post by fusionfab on Sept 18, 2019 11:56:38 GMT -5
Hey everyone I am new to the forum and also Microgreens growing. I’ve done a few trial runs to familiarize myself with growing. I have experience in greenhouse gardening and outdoor fruits and vegetables as well as indoor cannabis cultivation.
My question is, I’ve noticed that the outside edges of my plants are stretching up likely reaching more towards the Center of the lights. I’ve looked into installing higher wattage LED lights but am wondering if added light will slow production with Microgreens because they’re aren’t stretching up? Or would the entire tray grow more evenly and faster?
Thanks everyone
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Post by tom 🕊 on Sept 18, 2019 12:21:08 GMT -5
am wondering if added light will slow production with Microgreens because they’re aren’t stretching up? Or would the entire tray grow more evenly and faster? I've no experience, but that is an interesting question. If microgreens are sold by the pound, then I think optimum lighting for growth would give the best yield whether or not the plants stretch upward. I did find this: Maybe taller growth is easier to harvest.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Sept 18, 2019 12:51:56 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum! While I can't help you with microgreens, I sometimes khave that same problem with the outer row of seedlings, reaching to the center of the light source. What lighting do you have over them, and what do you have them in? Standard trays - 11 1/2" wide - are what I start seeds in, and the lights are 4 t8 bulbs, around 3,200 lumens each, at 5,000k, and the outer ones reach in a little, but they don't seem to be any smaller by the end of the 4-6 weeks, and not at all leggy. Years ago, just two bulbs definitely did not do as well, and the outer plants were smaller, for sure - I often only grew 3, instead of 4 rows in the trays, so it wasn't as wide. This season, I got some of those cheap, 5,000 lumen shop lights from Harbor Freight, and tried a tray under just two, and they did well, with no plants getting leggy, but the light was less even - I think 3 would be better, and definitely brighter. As for your wondering if the brighter would cause less leaves, since they are not reaching for light, I don't think that you have to worry about that. Leggy plants have less leaves - just longer stems. The ones in brighter light not only get more leaves, but also seem to branch out more; I haven't done anything with microgreens, but this has been my experience with herbs, which I grow in hydroponics in the off-season. With those, I have two t8 bulbs in the center, and a t5 bulb on both sides, so a little more light than my seedlings, and they do great under those: Basils and a small parsley, in need of big time trimming! by pepperhead212, on Flickr
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Post by gianna on Sept 18, 2019 16:59:05 GMT -5
I've grown quite a few microgreens for home use, especially in the winter. Mainly peas and sunflowers. I grow mostly in small containers, about 5 inches square.
I have found that when they are slightly leggy, they are so much easier to harvest. With too much light, even when the seeds are sown 'high' in the container to make the stems easier to access for cutting, shorter, stockier is more difficult to deal with. After the seeds have germinated but before they've 'greened up', I put them in a closed dark box for a day or so in order to encourage the straight leggier growth. After that, I put them in light coming through S-facing wiindows with strong natural light, but not direct sun. You dont want them too leggy however, so they dont flop down to make harvest even more difficult. It's finding the happy medium.
I have used artificial lights 24/7 when I was encouraging them to grow faster or to green up faster. But just generic shop florescents.
They grow fast enough. Perhaps you could set up a few smaller experimental containers, giving them different amounts of light to see what the end product is, and which you prefer.
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