Hey- I did I mention that the site where I did my plans for my garden this year is also a good source of other info on growing veggies. I just found a great article which you may want to check out which addresses pretty much how I use my “lightbox” to get my seedlings started that I just planted on Mar.1. I use a lightbox instead of a greenhouse or hoophouse. Here is the link for the article at www.growveg.com. I made my own lightbox as seen in my previous entry but of course you can buy one at considerably higher cost. Your choice.
TIPS FOR STARTING SEEDS UNDER A LIGHTBOX
I’m waiting for my seeds to germinate. They are on a heat mat to help with germination and I cover them with a clear top which keeps the moisture in. After the seedlings germinate, I will move the lights down within 2″ of the baby seedlings and take them off the heat mat and take off the cover so they don’t stay too moist as that is a condition for a fungal disease called damping-off which kills seedlings. To help prevent this besides taking off the clear cover, I spray the little seedlings every few days with Chamoille tea which I just make up a pot of it (cool it) and put it in a little hand held sprayer and spray the seedlings AND soil every few days-it really works-no dead seedlings!