This is my first year trying to grow anything, I got a cheap seed starter kit from Amazon and some vegetable/pepper seeds from Burpee.

I put the seeds in three days ago and I have some stems coming up this morning that are around 1" high, do those need to be put under a light yet?  And when should I pull the cover off the seed starter?  I only have around 20/70 that popped up over night.

I usually take off the domes as soon as I see seedlings emerge. The lights should go on at the same time. I keep my lights about 2" above the seedlings at all times and I leave them on for around 16 hours per day. Make sure that you water from the bottom and not too often

Great, thanks. The peet pellets I used were a bit big for the cells, so they don't go all the way to the bottom of the cell...can I use a mister to water them, or does it have to be from the bottom?  The issue I see with bottom watering is some of them would have to be submerged in 1/2" of water while the others would be 1/2" away.

I would shy away from misting. Put water in the tray wait about an hour and pour out whatever water is left over.

What lights are recommended? I just put mine near a South facing window. Is that enough?

I used this one.

Plain 4' florescent shop lights will work fine.  Just keep 'em down close... really close... to the plants.  A small fan turned on them a few minutes a day does wonders to help strengthen the stems too.

Don't wait too long.  They'll be falling over before you know it.  Our seedlings go under lights as soon as they break through the soil.

Good advice with the fan. I forgot to mention that

It should be in every "how do I start plants under lights?" thread.
To some extent, flexing the stems can even compensate for not having enough light on the plants.  If the seedlings are busy strengthening the cell walls of the stem (their response to the breeze), they're not growing upward as quickly.  Yeah, you're actually retarding their growth somewhat, but that's better than having a flat full of seedlings lying sprawled out when they all flop over.

I think the air circulation also helps a lot with damping off and other baby-plant-killers that are related to "moisture management".

You are correct. It especially helps with damping off and preventing mold, mildew on the soil surface. It also helps in regards to hardening them off as the plants will also already be somewhat acclimated to a little wind.

A regular compact fluorescent light? How does that work?

4' fluorescent  "tube" lights, like this.

Hang them from chains so they are easy to adjust up and down.

I actually use high-output (HO) 8' fluorescent lights now, but not everybody has the room to devote to that kind of setup.  They work great, though.


(bad pic, but it's hard to pull back that plastic to allow a better shot)

We also have a couple metal halides we use for overwintering outdoor 'deck' plants:

So the T8 lights will work? Looks like hd has some specific grow tubes but they are all $40+, where as regular lights are around $8.

A little research showed some people suggesting to get two lights in the same fixture, one soft white and one bright white to get the full spectrum. Anyone tried that?

For new seedlings, the color temperature (spectrum) doesn't matter nearly as much as just getting as much light as you can on them.  They really won't be under the lights long enough to make much of a difference.

For plants that are meant to live their whole life cycle under lights, germination, growth, flowering, fruiting, then yeah, adjusting the light's color probably helps (I dunno, we don't grow anything permanenty under lights), but for bedding plants I'd take that extra money you'd wrap in "grow lights" and use it to buy more, or higher-output, standard light fixtures.

Sylvania et. al. may disagree, but I've been starting bedding plants indoors for about 20 years and all I can tell you is the plain lights work for me.

For the fan...do you leave it on 24 hours a day or just cycle it with the lights?

Ours is on a timer that runs it for fifteen minutes every two hours.  It really doesn't take much to convince the plants to start beefing up the stems... actually five minutes every couple of hours would probably be enough to trigger the response.  We only go for fifteen minutes because that's the minimum 'on' period for this particular timer, plus it doesn't hurt to run it a while for the ventilation aspect.

You can actually trigger the same 'strong stem' response just by blowing on the plants a few times a day, or lightly brushing your hand across the top of the seedlings.  Anything that flexes the stem a bit will work.  The fan is just more convenient, much easier if you have more than a few flats, and of course helps with the air circulation.

ETA:
I also like to use an oscillating fan, or at least move the fan around to different locations occasionally.  The plants strengthen the stems by size of the cells and  thickness of the cell walls to reinforce the stem against the wind.  If the wind always blows from the same direction, the stem will adapt to that.  I don't know that it makes all that much difference in the length of time the seedlings will be under the lights, but to me it makes sense to vary the airflow to ensure things happen evenly, all over and around the stem.

This particular plant response is called "thigmomorphogenesis".  Whipping that term out is virtually guaranteed to halt any further questioning by those asking what the hell you're doing with that fan on your baby plants.

ETA2:  Be gentle, though.  The goal is simply to make the stems move slightly.  Think "puff of air" not "leaf blower".

Sorry to keep hogging the thread, but would it be fine just being in a really bright room? It's in a South facing room with 4 larger Windows right now.

Today I took the whole tray outside for some fresh air.

I feel like I'm the one hogging the thread...  

Hard to say about the room... you can always just give it a try.  Lots of plants are grown in greenhouses, sunrooms, etc. so it may be just fine.  You'll probably want to move them around daily, though, to keep the same side from facing the windows all the time.  Otherwise they'll start growing towards the light source and still end up flopping over.

After this thread stated I noticed they were all leaning towards the window...

This is the first year I have tried seeds, sounds like the OP is in the same position, so hopefully this will be a good experience!

Thanks for your help

For the best plants use as much light as possible.

I have GREAT success using 100w type DAYLIGHT CFL's about 2" above the plants. I run the lights on a timer 6am-10pm daily.

Just turn them around.

Even in the greenhouse, if you run a minimal supplemental light for one hour, the leaves will turn to the light. Don't sweat it.

Thanks for good posting

Exactly what I do. I have four sets of two T5 grow lights mounted side by side. This gives me about 36" of light that I can adjust the seed tray height up against the bottom of the lights. I then run a box fan on low nearby to keep the air moving in the shed. It helps harden the stems too. I run them 18 hours a day on a timer. Days I am at home, I take the trays outside to give them some natural light and let them acclimate to the outdoor weather.

Sadly I need more since I have 8 trays of 72 cells. Only four directly fit. :/

I use one 24 inch fixture for each 32" shelf.  I use (2) 18 inch fixtures side by side on each 36 inch shelf. They work just fine.

Home Depot Under Cabinet Light

I think I got mine at Walmart in the lights section.  Cost is about $10-$15 each. I got a couple of Walmart Lights of America brand Grow Lights but some of my tomatoes did NOT like the spectrum and I moved them under the regular fluorescent lights. They were OK under the grow light bulbs until they got to about six inches tall and then the leaves started turning like they were sunburned. Other plants have not seemed to care which lights I use.

As others have mentioned, keep the source of light about 2-3 inches above your seedlings.  I screw the fixture to a furring strip (1x2 wood) and then put a cup hook on the back at each end. I use plastic shelves (about $15-$20 at Walmart) and drill a 1/4 inch hole in the shelf above.  I use zip ties to suspend the fixture from the holes and hook the fixture on.  The zip ties can easily be adjusted upward but when you start a new batch of seeds or want to lower the light you'll need a new zip tie.

This set-up has worked well for me.  The two main problems I've had are (1) getting the seedlings adjusted to the outdoors, and (2) keeping them inside too long.

I guess the cause of my problem #1 is laziness.  It is a hassle to move plants in and out every day for a week to get them exposed to sunshine.

Concerning problem #2, the plants roots really grow beneath the surface and the plants will become starved and rootbound if you don't get them transplanted outside or into deeper pots soon after they sprout.

What would cause the seedlings stems to look like they are flattening out?

Here's the best pic I could get:

Here is an overall pic

They look to be stretching for the light, move it closer if possible.

Couple more questions on these...

The first set of leaves started coming out yesterday, so I figured I'll have to transplant them soon. When should I transplant them out of the peat pellets into a bigger container?  And I've read about doing a 1/4 dose of a fish emulsion fertilizer..when would you do that?

I grow through Hydroponics so take what I say with a grain of salt..

I do not transplant until I see roots emerging from my cubes.  My seedlings stay in my germinator for about 2 weeks before I move them into a bubble bucket to further develop the root system.  

You do not transplant them out of the peat pellets.  Those go in what ever potting mix you are moving them in to.  

I start hitting my seedlings with a diluted hydro solution (about 100 ppm) as soon as they emerge.  If you are set on the fish emulsion, I'd cut the directions by 1/4 and follow the bottle or bag.

Lighting is simple depending on what you are growing.  Be careful how close you get the lights to the plants, you will burn them if they are too close.

If it is green leaf vegetables, CFL will work just fine.  I have a spinach bed that is hydro grown with just basic off the shelf spiral CFLs.  T8, T12 will work fine for seedlings.  I grow tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers, a lemon tree, and some of my wife's tropicals under high pressure sodium in my basement grow room.  Everything else is under some type of fluorescent light (spinach, lettuce, kale, herbs)

Not to take from the OP's thread, but I have a related question if it is okay to ask within this thread?

I too have one of those greenhouse kits with the clear cover. My South facing windows do not get much sunlight cause of the trees. My East facing windows get a lot of sunlight, will getting too much sunlight hurt the seedlings before they sprout? Should I move them out of the window & under a light after they have sprouted?

The issue there is probably more about heat than light.  Personally I don't really like those little greenhouse lids... they don't enclose enough air to allow any kind of circulation, and it's way too easy to toast your baby plants.  They're marginally useful in maintaining high humidity levels until the seeds germinate, but I'd rather mist the trays a few times a day than risk the problems that accompany too little air movement.  If your seedlings have already broken the surface, I'd take the dome lids off.  There's really little justification for them once the plants have emerged.

Unless you have a curious cat, of course.

Others may feel differently.... just MHO...

I agree.  Unless you are cloning, my lid comes off after a day or so...