I was watching a PBS show the other night. It showed how botanists were taking a plant that normally matures in 9 months and by subjecting it to blinding light around the clock, with good nutrition and water, the plant was maturing in 90 days. I don't remember them mentioning any negative effects.

So I think it's possible to speed things up. Just depends on how much effort you want to put into it.
Ed

How much effort and how much money!!! Electricity isn't free.
I started seeds last winter indoors in February and by Sept some were trying to bloom. They never made it but I wonder what they would have done if our average temp in July had been over 70. Mine had 15-16 hours of light every day. I had also started some of my own on Dec 1 and they didn't get much further but I am hoping to start everything earlier this year anyways. It was so tempting to see scapes come the first year that I am going to try. I am afraid if I leave the lights on all night people will really think I have a grow op going down there!!!

Plants absorb light during the day, and at night, they fix the carbon and give off oxygen as a byproduct of this activity.

Up to 6% of plant genes are rhythmically expressed around a day/night cycle.

There are exceptions in young seedlings and arctic plants. Also, plants that require very strong sunlight that cannot truly be achieved artificially (marijuana plants being an example).

Why not do the experiment and find the optimum hours of daylight for your conditions?

Exactly, electricity is not free. But it'd sure be cool to see if something might help. Maybe I'll keep the light on for the Winter months (like Jan Feb March) and see what happens for first year bloom.

What is it, like $50 extra a month for your plants lights?

Dani

We've always used 18 hours of light using large amounts of flourescent bulbs of 6,500k color rating. Costs us around 75.00/month for burning 70 T-12 4ft. bulbs. We grow 1200-1300 seedlings under them planted 1 seed to a 16oz cup.

We use a bulb planter to make a perfect fit and just plop the rootball and soil in the ground. No disturbing the roots here.

With this amount of light we start getting blooms open on first year seedlings in August when the seeds are started germinating now. (3rd week of November). They are showing green the first week of December.

FWIW

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Grow Room

From the.. 'select the genetics that fit your climate school'... grow lights are a waste of time and money on sdlngs. My sdlng crop each yr is set out around the last week of May.. 1st week of June.. and almost all of them flower the next summer. There around 6-7 weeks of age then.. having been started in a cold frame with a heater to protect from freezing at night. All of the non flowering plants & non selected sdlngs are dumped after their first flowering summer... their 2nd summer growing. In this manner I select the genes that function well in z4 cool summers.

Can well understand the growing of sdlng indoors for a winter project... something to make the season move along. But it really does not accomplish anything.. in the northern tier you won't get bloom the first summer growing.. and anything worth continuing on with will flower in summer two.

northerndaylily - We are off grid so I need to find the best way to start things without using grow lights. I've been trying to figure out how to start my daylilies, my first year trying. Using grow lights would drain our batteries. I do have a sunroom and that is fairly bright. When do you start you seedlings inside? Do you soak them first? I've read that soaking helps with germination. Thanks for any advice. Marg

Marg.. I plant the boxes indoors around mid April.. when I see several spears appears I move them OUTSIDE into a cold frame. That frame is a rectangle of old storm windows that is only around 28" high... 5 x 10' for dimensions. It is screwed together tight.. will make 70's F even on a 40's day.. with sunshine. On warmer spring days the top must be left partially open to avoid overheating. 90's inside is my goal... the 30-40 shoe box containers warm and hold a good deal of heat. One electric heater keeps the temps from freezing on the coldest nites. One could go a step further and make the floor area capable of holding more heat... cement brick etc... rocks.

I do not soak seeds.. this is for over-dried poor quality seed. Mine are stored the winter in the fridge at 40F... I get over 90% germination on most crosses... a few have made 100%.. this for 80 some seeds. I have tried soaking some over dry crosses.. ones that I have purchased.. crosses from plants that produce sub par seeds. I am not sure this helps.. goes to what kind of mix you use for starting them.
My mix is reused annually.. a combination of good heavy soil AND some agent to lighten that mix and allow air in the soil. That is important.. too soggy makes for poor germination.. I've used coarse vermiculite, stryofoam via the bags I get at Lowes or Menards-- this used in concrete construction. I make sure the mix is wet enough... but not soggy.. learned from experience.

I cover the plastic shoe boxes (come with lids) I use.. having adopting the use of these containers from Melanie Mason's routine. I do not make drainage holes in these boxes.. the watering routine making sure to avoid getting too wet.. easily learned as the containers are clear color for soil observation. Lids of course are off when germination is well underway.. make sure NOT to allow the seeds to dry.. lite watering frequently is best.

I read comments per 'raisin seeds'... not good quality. Either harvesting too soon... from poor seed makers.. and/or over drying.

W/O measuring them.. seem to remember my boxes are 10 x 14".. max planting density is 81 here.. 9 rows of 9. At least one inch deep.. think mine go deeper most often. With some care one can tip the box over on a side and usually get the whole mass out w/o too much trouble. If your planting different crosses in rows... trim the tops in a pattern for indenification should they get mixed on the tip. I also have used paints for ID prior to tipping. With the airy mix I use shaking the plants apart is pretty easy.

My soil dries each yr in the garage.. bone dry.. I get no pests at this stage. Use the tree drench when watering early on it pests appear... that concentrate at 1/2 TBS per 2 gallons. I use a lite dose of Peters fert at each watering.. around 1/4 strength starting out... maybe 1/2 strenght later on.

THIS YR.. I am going to stradify some seeds/boxes.. their ready now. Planting the seeds just before freeze up.. covering and/or burying the covered boxes with soil.. set in a shaded area behind trees to avoid overwarming in thaws. A friend in NY z4 uses fall planting.. and sez 95% or so of what germinates in cold hardy. I am going this direction.. albeit in stages.

I lack the acres to do it much different.. space at a premium. But in the end my routines select what works well in z4.......

Marg.. RE your sunroom (I forgot).. sounds like a great area. One could cover the new sdngs overnite if it gets too cold too.

I've considered a frame on the southside of a building.. for the refracted and stored heat.. southern exposure.

northerndaylily - thanks so much for the explanation. I'm going to try both indoor sowing and some outdoor and see which one does best. I was reading Eliot Colemans last book and he wrote about how the French had used horse manure to heat their cold frames. Do you think that would work? Or should I just paint the blocks inside black to help absorb heat? Marg

Marg methinks it'd take lots of horse doo to get that done.. depends on how much heat/btu's your need I guess. I looked on the net and saw the promo for his book.. myself I'd like to see that system in operation and understand it's limitations and capacity before trying to construct that environment.

As for the blocks.. I have NOT done that. My thinking has been a layer of them sitting with the air ways upwards and then the boxes onto them.. mostly trapping that air space. How much heat again is retained... who knows... again a fuction of daylight and frame tightness... one lacking any air exchange to cool inside temps. I'm thinking heating water with solar energy would store more heat... the tradeoff some electricity to circulate the water. But like many simple ideas.. the cost to make them work often consumes any real $$ gains.. not counting the labor etc to make them work.

I have much respect for the organic side and ideals. But be sure this route is very labor/time intensive.. I have observed that first hand. In the organic book culture I see the core group making a living selling the ideas and that culture. How practical these routines are in the real world go mostly NOT analyzed from an objective view point.

Here is a link that might be useful: Organic Greenhouses