Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
FIGURE 2.7
European cucumber seedlings 14 days old ready to transplant to
final growing system. (Courtesy of CuisinArt Golf Resort & Spa, Anguilla.)
SEEDLING TEMPERATURES
I am aware that it may be difficult to maintain optimum temperatures for
your seedlings when growing them in your house, as it is not feasible to
keep one room where your plants are located at different temperatures
from the rest of the house. The only exception may be in your basement.
The second difficulty is that you will be growing all of your plants in one
area; therefore you cannot have different temperature regimes for different
crops. I will, however, give you this information, so that you can use it as a
guideline. Tomatoes require from 77°F to 79°F (25°C to 26°C) during ger-
mination. As they grow you can lower the day temperature to 73°F (23°C)
and the night temperature to 68°F (20°C) for the seedling stage.
Cucumbers like slightly higher temperatures. They take about 2 days to
germinate under a day temperature of 79°F (26°C) and night temperature
of 70°F (21°C). Upon transplanting to the growing blocks the temperatures
may be lowered by about 5°F (3°C) to give a day temperature of 73°F
(23°C) and night temperature of 68°F (20°C). That is about the same as
for tomatoes.
Germinate peppers between 77°F and 79°F (25°C to 26°C). As the seed-
lings emerge lower the temperature to 72°F to 74°F (22°C to 23°C). After
transplanting use the same temperature regime as for tomatoes.
Lettuce germinates well under temperatures of 59°F
to 68°F (15°C to
20°C). Temperatures in excess of 73°F (23°C) may cause seed dormancy.
If dormancy is a problem germinate them in a refrigerator at 61°F (16°C).
