Right now – in the middle of February – I have mostly plants that are in the cabbage family, and onions growing under my lights. Those can go out into the greenhouse or cold frame as soon as they are big enough to transplant because they tolerate cold weather.

In early March I will be starting tomatoes, peppers and other warm season plants that will go into the garden after our last frost date in mid-late April. You need to time your planting based upon your local norms. If you don’t know what the dates are for various crops in your area I suggest that you ask the people in a local farm supply store or co-op. If that isn’t an option you can also get a pretty good idea here – http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/freezefrost/frostfreemaps.html

Great question. Good luck.

My only concern is what happens if we see too much success from this lighting and bottom-warming setup? That is, if the plants are a few inches tall in a month, will we be able to sustain them indoors for another 2 months without incurring harm? We’re willing to hang the lights from a hook like another reader suggested, so we should be able to light them even if they grow taller. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

My local pet shops didn’t have the temperature regulator so I ordered a seedling mat regulator. They have a sensor you put in the soil and an outlet. They claim to work with any mat and can handle “up to 10 mats’ or (I think) 1000 watts.