Lights... Camera... Action!

Okay, the grow light I ordered came in, I've got this uber camera in my new phone, and its been 2 weeks since I started that one seed and I've concluded that between not being 100% sure on this halogen bulb being the best heat source for it and just wanting something I can see more easily, I've decided to start more seeds.

First up, the new grow light along with the first high res picture of the container.  Now these I did run through photoshop (well, technically paintshop pro) to reduce the size, because damn, this camera takes crazy high resolution photos!

The LED is pretty bright, but its entirely directional.  The arc on the LEDs is pretty narrow, so only things directly under it will really get the benefit.  So yeah, glad I'm building a setup that will offer more flood filling CFLs.

As for the other seeds I'm starting, I'm going to be using the baggie method.  For those that aren't aware of how this method works, here's what you need.

1 Ziplock Bag
1 Paper Napkin
1 Seed Heating Mat
X Seeds

The basic idea is to put your napkin in the ziplock bag, wet it, put your seeds on it, close the bag, and put it on the heating mat.  The napkin serves as a wick that keeps the moisture on the seeds without being soggy, the closed bag prevents it from drying out, and the overall thinness of the setup means it all stays a consistent temperature on the heating mat.

Here you can see I've put 4 seeds, one on each corner of the wet napkin.  I specifically put them in the corners because I have successfully used this method in the past and if you don't spot just about the exact instant those seeds germinate, you're not going to be able to take them off the napkin without damaging their fragile little roots.  There's no harm in just moving them to some soil with a small section of napkin though, so this way I can easily tear a corner of napkin off, trim off the excess, and put the scrap with the seed directly in some soil.

It also alleviates the problem I have with the current soil setup in that I can't see if anything is happening or not.  Considering I'm doing this half for the sake of the internet and half just to give me something to do over the winter, staring at a pot that refuses to boil for 2 weeks is getting to me.  Least this way I just look at it and see how everything is going.

We are currently scheduled for a fairly warm day on Sunday, so my hopes are to get the cabinet finished then (or at least all the woodwork) so I can disassemble it, bring it in, reassemble it, and get to work wiring everything up, especially now that my light came in.  Once thats ready, I can move my heating mat into it with these seeds and have everything tucked nicely out of the way.