I had this exact experience, only a little more complicated. The HD worker told me that a clamp lamp w a fluorescent bulb would be ok. Not so! So I took it back. Then I bought a 2 foot fixture, and found out it had no cord. It was also twice the price of the 4 foot model. When I finally did figure it out, I was frustrated and a little uneasy about setup. But you're right, it's as simple as getting the bulbs in there and hanging it up. I hung mine inside a clothes drying rack, and it's working great. I was so proud of myself once I got it all set up. ;)

Great job!

I am glad seed starting is an exciting experience and not a frustrating one for you!

Let us know how your plants are going, keep us posted ha ha ha.

I have convinced my boyfriend to let me get one of the wire rack shelving units and do shop lights on it. I wish we had the cabinet space to put some under the cabinet lights.

We even have some built in bookcases that would be great for that... If only we didn't have so many stinking books! hehe.

Anyway, your system sounds awesome!

what kind of bulbs did you get and how many per enclosure. Anyone tried the daylight at 6500K

Sounds similar to my setups... I have one shoplight hanging from plant hooks in the ceiling, over my dresser. I just hang it with twine at seed-starting time and tie it off at the height I want as plants grow. That one gets taken down when tomato/pepper-starting season is over each spring. The white plant hooks are a nice permanent way to hang the light that looks fine in a bedroom!

I also just added two shoplights hanging from a couple of nails in the basement rafters, over our worktable, with lightweight chains to adjust the height. These can be raised up high to serve as utility lights when I'm not starting seeds... I'm loving that they're multipurpose that way!

I'm trying to do the same thing! Thanks for the post it inspired me to try it out! I went to HD and got a 4ft lamp and talked to the department manager and he gave me a deal on the "natural sunlight" bulbs. $6 a piece and he gave me a set for $7.

nutcr0cker-

I just used Philips brand "Natural Sunshine" 40-watt bulbs. Two of them fit into my light fixture, which says "Lithonia Lighting Shoplight" on the box. Hope this helps!

I really lucked out! I got 2 4' florescent lights from freecycle. My DH emptied a closet downstairs and lowered some shelves (so far 0 $)
I did spend $25 on a heat mat/starting system, won't have to spend on that ever again.
I have saved tons of 2-3" pots to transplant to.
All I have left is the seeds that I get now from a free seed bank and a local garden exchange!
I should be spending less than $20 on seeds/plants that I don't have!
I'm hoping to save some seed to give forward for next year, but that is another project!
Happy Gardening!

$21.67:

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- Steve

Steve,

You are going to need more light or a lot of sunny days if you don't want real leggy plants.

Mike

wordwiz,

i was thinking the same thing. the plants look like they are stretching towards the window even with the cfl above them.

Yea, that was right after I put the lights up. They're stretching a different direction now. =) 75 watts a piece.

Steve,

Are you talking about a 75 watt equivalent CFL or a 75 watt CFL? Big, big difference.

Mike

Thanks for this information. Here's a question for anybody experienced in "Growing under lights" What if your garage where you were thinking about setting up a light system may be too cold(stays around 40 in winter)what is the other alternative? I know my husband won't allow it in house. Our Sunroom would probably be the perfect place as far as temperature goes, but we have to keep the mini-blinds pulled until late afternoon when the sun has gone down because of the glare on tv. No other place to move tv in that room. We live in that sunroom all day, eat our meals there, as well as watch tv. Any suggestions? Have two cars parked in garage so space is at a minimum.

My light rack is in the garage, and doesn't take up much room. It stays about 40deg at night and that has not been a problem.
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grow-anything: That's an awesome setup. I could fit something like that in my storage closet off the deck & the wife wouldn't complain as much! ;-) Any chance we could get you to list out the parts for it (with cost & location bought)? =) =) =)

- Steve

I don't have lots of time right now, but I will look at it again tonight. It is very cheap because I just took 6 or 8 2x4s and split then into 2x2s and the only other parts are some screws to hold it together. Then there is the lights... The wooden shelf unit could be built for less than $25.

OK, the shelves are 60" wide and plenty of room for the 48" lights. They are 12" deep and 72" tall. I think it was all built with six 2x4s which were 8' long. They are about $1.25 ea and it are much cheaper that buying 2x2s. I just split them all on the table saw which gives me about 80 feet of 2x2s. The rest is just cutting all the correct lengths and screwing it together. I think the photo shows it better that I can draw it. If you really want the sizes of each piece then I will try to draw it out. I just made a ruff sketch of what I wanted it to be.

Nah, that should be enough. Thanks! I'll have to go to the father-in-laws garage to make it, cuz he has all the tools. I have nothing! lol. The measurements should be enough for me to craft something like it. Did you get all of the light fixtures & bulbs at Home Depot or someplace like that?

- Steve

Yes, all the lights are just HD & WM fixtures. The bulbs are just a mixture of everything. I do remember that all the short pieces that hold the front and back together are 10". You should be able to cut all the pieces first then put it together. Use some glue with the screws to keep it together.

cool...thanks. =) I will probably build it this Spring for use early next year with my seed starting.

Great, good luck!

grow anything, Do you have 4 bulbs per shelf? Can you do a closeup of your light set up. How did you connect the light units to each other?

Yes, four bulbs per shelf. They are connected with cheap "brackets" from HD.
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neat. Thanks.

OK, it looks to me that there are two light fixtures on the bottoms of each shelf also. Is that correct and are they used for bottom heat? Do you worry about getting water into the bottom lights? Are they covered by a thin clear plastic piece to prevent water leakage and to support the
trays?

This looks like something I can make myself with my basic hand tools except for ripping the 2x4s into 2x2s.

Thanks for the idea sharing and the photos.

Bobbie

There are two light fixtures on the bottom that are used for bottom heat. I normally use cardboard over the bulbs and the trays sit on them. I don't water the seedlings again after I place them on the lights. Most all of them sprout within 4-5 days or seven at the most. As soon as they sprout I remove the plastic dome, water them and move them to their outside greenhouse. I don't worry about the water getting on the bulbs, but I am sure others would. It has worked for several years for me. Cheap bottom heat and helps keep the entire light rack warm, since it sets in my unheated garage.

Grow anything..how cold does your garage get? Have you monitored the temp on the set up at all? We still get some 15-20 degree nights here (garage is unheated and drops to 25-35 degrees overnight. I'm thinking similar set up with insulating material flaps around it so that I can use it for germination and continuing to grow the transplants. otherwiase it'd have to go in the basement. This is a really cool set up...I think my hubby just got something else added to his list:)

Yes, I did monitor the temps around the garage. It has been 10F-15F at nights, but the temps in the garage stayed above 35F. With all the lights on the stand the temps there were plenty high enough to germinate all my seedlings. A thermometer setting directly on the cardboard and between the seedling trays stayed around 75F. I started 1000 seedlings this year over a period of about 30-40 days. They are all outside now in the full sun and in a small heated, portable GH. I take the doors off the GH when the temps get +50 and cover the whole thing with a solar pool cover at nights if the temps are going below 25F.
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