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Seedlings should start getting light as soon as they appear.

When Should I Turn On My Grow Lights for Seedlings? SANSI LED grow lights over pepper and tomato plants. If you are germinating seeds at home to grow and eat your own sprouts in a jar, it’s recommended to keep them out of indirect light.

Ambient light from a room or next to a window will be enough. In nature, this is advantageous because small seeds don’t have enough stored energy to grow up through deep soil.ĭoes that mean you need a grow light to germinate these seeds? No. Even lettuce seeds, which are less picky, sprout better with sunlight.Īs a rule of thumb, you should plant seeds about two or three times deep as they are wide, so even if you bury tiny celery or lettuce seeds into the soil, about 1/4 inches deep is shallow enough to allow some light through. For example, celery is recommended to be surface-sown because the seeds are so tiny and germinate best with sunlight. These types of seeds can still germinate without light but sprout much better with light exposure. These are mainly flowers, herbs, or vegetables with very tiny seeds. There are some seeds that actually need light before they sprout. Do Any Seeds Need Light Before They Sprout? A sprout sitting on a rock or otherwise away from the soil would die even if it had the moisture and warmth to start the germination process. If you think about it from an evolutionary standpoint, in nature, seeds with the most success will be those sitting on or in the soil. In some cases, such as with seeds in the onion family, light can actually inhibit germination. Do Seeds Germinate Better in the Dark?įor most seeds, while they will still germinate with exposure to light, they germinate better in the dark. Germinating seeds at room temperature or slightly warmer is sufficient for most seeds, and some gardeners use a temperature-controlled seedling heat mat if they need extra heat. The only benefit of grow lights before germination is that they can provide extra warmth which helps speed up germination. However, grow lights are necessary for sprouted seedlings unless they are in a sunny window or otherwise getting direct sunlight. In most cases, any source of light is unnecessary before germination, and grow lights in particular are not really useful at all for germination.Īs explained below, light is not important for seed germination, with a few exceptions.