Transplanting....

Different people do things different ways.  I have fallen into this pattern of using dollar store keg cups for transplants so that I can move them around easily and keep them healthy until it is time to go outside.

I use a mix of 75% Light Warrior and 25%Ocean Forest by Fox Farm for this stage of the game but it can get pricey if you have a lot of plants.  I choose this time and time again because of the crazy amounts of food already in this mix as well as the ridiculous air/soil/water ratio it holds.

Here is where you want to be diligent.  You want to get your plants into a larger container before the seeds become root bound or run out of food.  If you are using peat pellets or seed starting medium this can wait for a week but with my Rapid Rooter cubes the tap root shoots out the bottom pretty fast and I like to get them into something more substantial before that gets out of hand.

This is also the stage where I start introducing light to the little boys and girls.  You can use whatever is at your disposal but I would suggest at minimum at least a good Fluro or CFL collection with good blue spectrum.  I use a Philips AgroMax 400w HPS hybrid bulb with my new Lumatek digital ballast (yes I love this thing).  This is all set up in a custom mylar lined box with 180cfm inline exhaust fan and various air circulator fans.  Do not feel the need to copy this setup as it is largely overkill but I own this and always put it to use when possible.  Light schedule is now 18 on and 6 off because I want them to grow grow grow.

This is another stage where you want to temp and humidity on the high side.  The plants that are not so heat tolerant will not start to be effected until about another week of growth when the humidity dome comes off anyway.  Right now we have Tomato (6 varieties), Greens, Salad, Onion, Eggplant, and Peppers started.