I've been looking at HD ad Lowe's and reading up on different lights. there's a Philips 2 ft T12 "Natural Light" bulb that is 9,000 lumens and 5000k. Though I can't seem to find a really cheap fixture. There's a single light fixture for $13.98. Would only one of these bulbs work? I've got about 18 tomatoes and 10 peppers. How many lumens would I need for all these seedlings? Theres a Metalux fixture for $18 that holds two T8 bulbs and I could get two T8 bulbs that are 1,400 lumens and 3000k or 1,275 lumens and 6500k. There's also 4ft lights that I could actually get cheaper (fixture as low as $13 and 2 pack bulbs for less than $10 - those bulbs up to 2,900 lumens and 6500k), but I'm not sure about being able to dedicate 4 feet of horizontal space. But I know the light should be right over the seedlings so I might not have a choice?? How many bulbs do you think I need for the amount of seedlings I'm starting? Sorry about all the technical specifics on the lights. I know that the higher kevlin the better for seedlings so if I could get a better idea on the amount of lumens I'd need and how many bulbs (considering that people say that should be right over the seedlings) then I think I could know what's best to choose.

Depends which one you got. They do need time but I would still try a plant or 2 if you have space You have to watch as they sometimes have different names. Seed of Aunt Molly is not hard to find. It is a nice low growing plant when pruned early. We ate the fruit off the ground till the frost came. Here is a link that might be useful: Ground cherry

The question really is whether you think you'll get a hard frost (e.g. the moisture in the soil actually freezes to any extent) or not. The tubers will survive in the soil with cool temperatures, just not frost. Remember, they are shallow root plants so you only need to freeze a couple of inches of soil and you'll kill or damage the roots. It would take several weeks of ground frost to kill the tuber (think about what happens at the end of the season.) I too am in Zone 5, and am on the side of a lake (which usually means our temperatures are slightly higher than others) but you are more daring than I. But my reason is that most of mine are 8" tall already and I don't want to have to bother with coverings for frost warnings. Most of my tubers took 15 days to go from nothing to a cuttable sprout. Were they in the ground, that sprout would have had a couple of sets of leaves above the ground and would have been highly susceptible to frost. The up-side of your plan, however, is that even if the above-ground part gets frosted, a root system should get established as well, so a new sprout should come up quickly. Good luck, and let us know how it works out for you. Cheers, Russ

Definitely cucumbers, beans, and squash can be directly seeded into the ground. In fact, I usually start a few of those indoors, 3 weeks ahead of last frost date (May 1st around here). When I put the cucumber, bean, and squash plants in the garden, I also plant some seeds farther along the row to sprout and be 3 weeks behind  this staggers the harvest, and IÂve found the plants die before the season is out, so I continue adding seeds to replace them. As for the tomatoes and peppers, you can get a decent size tomato plant in 3 weeks if you use a propagation (heating) mat and lots of light. If it were me, I'd start enough seeds for a few plants of each and then buy a couple plants that are bigger, and put them all in the garden maybe the first week in May -- conventional wisdom says plant tomatoes on Mothers Day :). The peppers will be smaller, but ultimately, everything grows outside when the soil gets warm (I use black landscaping fabric to get the soil warmer faster). Good source of propagation mat is Home Harvest Garden Supply on the web. I sent one to my brother in Gambrills and he had it in four days.