Keep it around 66-70 for lettuce. At least that has produced my best results. Gradually increase your nutes until you see no additional differences. This is where the journal is very effective. In "keeping it frugal", the minimum required for maximum effect is the goal I am after. The t5 should be effective. As you can see from the photos on my blog, keeping the lights about 2-4 inches from the plants is very effective, but you need a fan to move the air and prevent any heat build up. Here is a link that might be useful: My Indoor Growing Adventure

Dan Firstly, make sure that you are using Fox Farm Grow Big for Hydroponics. If it doesn't say for hydroponics you will run into calcium problems. Have a look at the ingredients, it needs to list calcium nitrate. If it doesnt have calcium you will need to use a calcium supplement. The store that you purchased the Fox Farm nutrient at will have something that you can use. Secondly, no nutrients = no growth/yield. You will need to use a nutrient to get your plants to grow. You can however begin your seeds with just plain water until about 1" tall after which you will need to start feeding your plants. I suggest using oasis cubes or rapid rooters (google it) to start your seedlings, perlite will work but can get stuck in the irrigation system, especially if you are not using some kind of filter. If you want to use perlite then I suggest that you place your pump into a stocking or a large sock to stop the perlite from entering the irrigation system. You can use a wick system to get the seeds started, I would rather top water them in the perlite until the roots grow into the gully. Use a dilution rate of 5-7.5 ml per gallon of water (for Fox Farm nutrients). If you are using a calcium supplement (in liquid form) use 2-4 ml per gallon. As for light, 12-16 hours per day will be sufficient. Use T8 fluorescent bulbs with a mixed spectrum of 2700k and 6500k type bulbs. If you have the cash then purchase a T5 lighting system (they can be quite expensive). Remember, no or weak light = no growth. Temperature requirements will depend on variety of bibb, however you will get great results if the temperature is kept between 65 and 75°F. Also keep an eye water temperature. Water temperature is as important as air temperature and should be maintained between 65-70°F. Good luck and dont forget to post your results.

Pink fruit potato leaf plant is true "Brandywine", aka Brandywine Sudduth strain. "Red Brandywine" is something else, unrelated. It came from [possibly the Amish] Landis Valley PA. "Brandywine" was grown by the Sudduth family in Tennesee. ******** I don't think I'd equate Brandywine with the Sudduth strain these days as being the TRUE strain b/c there are several other strains out there and more to the point just the name Brandywine doesn't equal Sudduth b/c the generic name Brandywine can mean any of several strains, not just the Sudduth/Quisenberry. Doris Hill Sudduth gave those seeds to Ben quisenberry and he gave his whole collection to SSE in 1980. While it would seem natural to equate with the Brandywine River Valley in PA, there's no documentation that says that. The information about Brandywine in the SSE catalog re Johnson and Stokes listing it is dicey since there's only a line drawing and no color is mentioned and those of us who have seed the info/picture from that catalog cannot confirm that what's shown is PL or pink and it's probably RB. ******* All of the pink ones are the more or less the same thing [same flavor etc] just with different strain names they picked up along the way depending on who grew the seeds. There are three "Red Brandywine"s on the market. The real one from Landis Valley, and two imposters, one regular leaf, and one potato leaf. The imposters made their way to a lot of, maybe most of, the seed venders out there. So if you have Brandywine, and it is pink, it is the real deal, and if you have Red Brandywine that does not say Landis on the package/tag it is probably not the real deal Red. ******* First, I've grown several different strains of Brandywine and just can't agree that they all taste about the same. Here's the story on Red Brandywine. It was first gotten out of the SSE Yearbook by Tom Hauch of Heirloom Seeds in PA who still considers it his signature tomato. He gave seeds to Steve Miller at the Landis Museum where they try to collect Amish varieties. It was Steve Miller who did the background work that led to our knowing that this is the only variety with Brandywine as part of the name that could be traced to the Amish in about 1885 as I recall. There are many sites with true RL RB, Sandhill Preservation is one of them and there are others so Landis does not equal the only true RB. Most of the discussion has centered on the situation at TGS where Linda did get her RB from the Landis Museum, but it isn't a strain, there are no strains of RB, and it isn't the only true RB being offered as I just indicated. So one can't equate Landis with true RB. And yes, at TGS if you want true RB you need to get the one with Landis as part of the name b'c as I and others have pointed out she also lists a RL and PL RB and neither are RB and the source was Seeds by Design in CA. I've urged her to say they aren't RB, but so far I haven't been successful, but I'll keep trying. ( smile) ******* The potaoleaf red is supposedly a decent tomato, and unusual for being a red fruit potatoleaf. Backlash from this marketing mistake may mean that if it does not get renamed it will be taken off the market and face extinction. Again, referring to primarily TGS, the main reason that Linda hasn't dropped the wrong PL and RL falsely named RB's is b'c many folks do like them. And no, it won't get renamed, heaven forbid, and it won't be taken off the market b'c Linda can have her subcontracter produce new seed any time she wants to. And there are other PL reds out there as well at different seed sources and also traded back and forth between some folks and also in the SSE Yearbook. I've known Linda since the early 90's and consider her a good friend and have sent many many OP varieties to her for trial. She's one of the nicest, most honest persons I've met in my heirloom tomato career. And I could make that same statement for the owners of a couple of other small family sites where I've known the owners for many years. Carolyn, no time to edit, have to go watch the Wimbledon Willians final. Bye. LOL

As Crystal says Arroya sweetwood, myrospernum sousanum is not considered a messy tree. Yes, it drops it's leaves in the fall and flower petals in the spring, but those episodes are brief. Nor does it drop sticks or small branches like some trees. What might be of concern is that if it is planted near a flower bed the seeds germinate easily and have to be pulled. Also of concern is that it doesn't grow straight up like an 'ordinary' tree which is the subject of this thread. Looking at the very first picture at the top of the page you see the form it often takes. If you wanted a more upright tree you could prune the limbs on the left of the photo and stake the more upright trunk for a while. The seeds from my trees this year are about half their usual size due to our extreme drought. I haven't tried to germinate them so don't know if they are viable. The usual rainfall in San Antonio is over 30 inches a year. This year we've officially had 8 inches. My neighborhood is in a rain shadow and has received even less. Many non native trees are dying, but even a few native trees like red oaks are succumbing to the extremely dry ground. However, the A. sweetwood trees are very drought tolerant and are doing well . Crystal, so sorry you lost your phone. Hoping you are able to find it or replace it soon.