The Orchid Garden

Grow Lights – How can I build it myself

Question:

I hung plain old fluorescent lights in an extra closet when I had an apartment .. they can be hung from clothes poles.  I built a box, lined it with clear plastic from the fabric store so it held water and put the plants in.  The lights can be raised and lowered according to how much light are needed.  I have also built "orchid" boxes .. very narrow ones 12 and 18 inches deep, where the fluorescent lights are screwed or hung from the box above.  Basically, they are boxes either 4′, 6′ or 8′ x 12" or 18" wide and 8 or 10" deep.  the bottom is plywood.  On the ends, or even on the sides, the boxes are screwed to 8 foot 2 x 4s.  The boxes are lined with plastic.  I have 3 boxes, they can be set at any height, but it is better to keep two of the boxes below the center so the center of gravity is low.  The top "box" (the forth) has cross pieces where I hung plants, and  I just laid the lights.on top of the cross pieces.  I took one apart (really easy) and moved it, dont have it together yet, but when I do, I will take pictures and post it.  I painted it black originally and it looked pretty good.  My mother (the crazy gardener) has my other one in use most of the year for her plants in teh basement greenhouse.  Ingrid I am interested in starting some seeds indoors this year for my vegetable garden.  Unfortunately, my apartment gets very little direct sunlight.  I don’t want to spend $120-$200 to buy grow lights from a catalogue,

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Response:

Sorry I dont have time to read the other responses to this thread… but I just finished a grow system for real cheap. It covers a 2 1/2 by 6 foot table which I now have over 350 seed starter cells goin on. -I bought 2  48" shop lites at Sears for $9.99 each. -4  40watt grow-lux (gro-Agra by Phillips light bulb co.) flourescent – wall timer $4.99 – multi-power strip $4.99 – ceiling toggle hooks (4) @ $1.29 ea – eye bolts (4) to suspend light frame by rope to ceiling – attractive nylon rope 30 ft   $5.00 -misc screws -drill w/ screw gun & bits -labor maybe 2 hours – handsaw for frame using the 1×4 lumber build a rectangular frame 48" long by 15". Attach shop light fixtures to the 2  48" sections. using rope & eyebolts (screwed into frame at 4 points) suspend entire assembly from 4 ceiling hooks. I kept my rope one long piece and snaked it thru all the hooks to acheive in effect a ‘poor man’s block & tackle’ so I can raise the light fixture up as the plants grow. this type of lamp produces very little heat. the lamp assembly should be kept approx 6" above the plants. always watch for plant dehydration. raise lights up highr if needed. I didnt do the math here, but this lil resoursful project would bring you in way under budget! good luck. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I am interested in starting some seeds indoors this year for my vegetable garden.  Unfortunately, my apartment gets very little direct sunlight.  I don’t want to spend $120-$200 to buy grow lights from a catalogue, so I was thinking about making it myself with materials from you could get at Home Depot or a similiar hardware store. Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions to do this?  Anyone have any plans to make one that they could post? Pierre

– Gardening is the art form in which life is the medium. Before you buy.

Response:

I went with the kludge setup using PVC pipe to construct the shelving. The 2 BIG PROBLEMS I encountered are: 1)   My only 2 tomatos never ripened. 5 plants were started. 2)   I cannot get Petunias to germinate. I’m using 4′ fluorecents, full spectrum etc. anywhere from 4 tubes to 8 per shelf. Regards,    J e r

I’ve never tried to grow petunias from seed, but some seeds need light to germinate, so you can’t cover them. Also, seeds need air as well as water, so you cant keep the soil soaking all the time. Moist is OK, but wet is not. Tomatoes are weeds. They’ll grow almost anywhere. That doesn’t mean they will set fruit successfully. If you have a cool season, tomatoes won’t do well. They like some warm weather. They do like lots of light, so the plants probably won’t do well indoors under lights. My approach is if I need 5 plants I plant 20 (seeds are cheap) and select the best plants from them.

Response:

This is a good link for grow light info: http://www.gardenweb.com/forums/load/propa/msg1016505925489.html?82 Latha – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I am interested in starting some seeds indoors this year for my vegetable garden.  Unfortunately, my apartment gets very little direct sunlight.  I don’t want to spend $120-$200 to buy grow lights from a catalogue, so I was thinking about making it myself with materials from you could get at Home Depot or a similiar hardware store. Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions to do this?  Anyone have any plans to make one that they could post? Pierre

Response:

I am interested in starting some seeds indoors this year for my vegetable garden.  Unfortunately, my apartment gets very little direct sunlight.  I don’t want to spend $120-$200 to buy grow lights from a catalogue, so I was thinking about making it myself with materials from you could get at Home Depot or a similiar hardware store…

I much prefer sunlight to grow lights, but if you don’t have the option, the lights will be necessary. The fixtures can be purchased fairly cheaply (look for sales in the weekly flyers). Any sort of shelves will do. Put as many light fixtures on the underside of a shelf as you can fit in. On the shelf below the lights, put a stack of newspaper to raise the plants to within 1-2 inches of the lights. As the plants grow, take newspaper out to lower the trays so the plants don’t grow into the lights, but keep them as close as you can. All this will look like a kluge, but it’s only temporary. If the decor of your apartment is more important than the plants (a concept foreign to me), you will have to spend the money (also a concept foreign to me) for a fancier arrangement.

Response:

I went with the kludge setup using PVC pipe to construct the shelving. The 2 BIG PROBLEMS I encountered are: 1)   My only 2 tomatos never ripened. 5 plants were started. 2)   I cannot get Petunias to germinate. I’m using 4′ fluorecents, full spectrum etc. anywhere from 4 tubes to 8 per shelf. Regards,    J e r

Response:

I bought a metal shelving unit from Ames (5 shelves, about 6 1/2 feet high) for $20 on sale, plus ordinary shop lights for $5-$6 each.  It spends three seasons in the garage being an ordinary unit to stash things on and the spring in my bedroom driving my poor husband crazy ("When are these plants going to be out of here?!")  I grew literally thousands of seedlings with this setup last year for very little investment.  The hardest part was putting the darn thing together! Maine Mom – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -I am interested in starting some seeds indoors this year for my vegetable garden.  Unfortunately, my apartment gets very little direct sunlight.  I don’t want to spend $120-$200 to buy grow lights from a catalogue, so I was thinking about making it myself with materials from you could get at Home Depot or a similiar hardware store. Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions to do this?  Anyone have any plans to make one that they could post? Pierre

Response:

This is the short/simple answer Set the plants on what ever is available. Hang a (Shop Light) $8.00 bucks from Lowes from any thing available. Richard – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I am interested in starting some seeds indoors this year for my vegetable garden.  Unfortunately, my apartment gets very little direct sunlight.  I don’t want to spend $120-$200 to buy grow lights from a catalogue, so I was thinking about making it myself with materials from you could get at Home Depot or a similiar hardware store. Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions to do this?  Anyone have any plans to make one that they could post? Pierre

Response:

I am interested in starting some seeds indoors this year for my vegetable garden.  Unfortunately, my apartment gets very little direct sunlight.  I don’t want to spend $120-$200 to buy grow lights from a catalogue, so I was thinking about making it myself with materials from you could get at Home Depot or a similiar hardware store. Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions to do this?  Anyone have any plans to make one that they could post? Pierre

Response:

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