Early germination and increasing light

Thought I'd share something that I'm sure lots of people do already.

I like to start off tomato and pepper seeds around early February time but don't have an extra lamp to provide the increased light levels or a heated propagator (that works lol). Seedlings can grow leggy in this situation and unless you rotate every few hours they will all grow toward the nearest window.

So I've found a good alternative - after sowing the seeds as normal in trays, using a very small plastic greenhouse (you know the ones, a couple of feet tall, two tiers with a zip up the front) I line the sides and back panel with something bright white (paper, polystyrene etc) leaving the top and front clear. If you place the tray on the top tier, zip up the cover and face the 'house' to the window then the light floods in the front and reflects down onto the seedlings. The increased light reduces legginess and the seedlings also don't all bend toward the window as the light is now all around them The 'house also provides heat at night time which is an added bonus!

I have mine on the floor in the dining room which is east facing and the seedlings are looking good and healthy!

 

The only thing you need to be careful with (using a mini-greenhouse on a windowsill) is fast rising temperatures, I was checking the temperature behind my south facing patio doors on Sunday last and it soared up to over 30 deg C, too hot for my current batch of seedlings. So keeping the zip open on sunny days is needed

 

I've applied the same principles to the greenhouse in the garden too - left over poly packing sheets from furniture now line the back walls!

John - Noted about temps! It's based on a stone floor so shouldn't be too bad down there but will keep an eye out