Seed Starting Setup - Shelving, Lights the works

[TNTiger]

Originally Posted by matilda'skid

The seed starting set ups are very expensive in my opinion and not necessary. I have no skills and I start too many seedlings inside for the garden I have outside. I use shop lights from Lowes with the cheapest 40 watt fluorescent bulbs (not plant bulbs) hung with chains and hooks. For storage I bought a heavy duty metal shelf at Sam's very heavy, sturdy and easy to put together. That is what I will use next year. If you are a Sam's member or know someone who is, go look at their heavy duty shelves. The shelves are longer than four feet if you are short on space you might not like them. The advantage is they can come apart and be moved and anyone would want them for storage if I get out of the seed starting hobby. I was able to get them in the basement because they come apart. I am a 68 yr old woman and I moved them in and put them together.

I'm impressed - I think you just threw down the gauntlet! I'm a 51 year old woman so I should be able to do this too right? I am a Sam's member and will check these out however it might be a little too big for the space I have.

Yall have inspired me to look past the kit type set-ups and just get what i need to do it with shelving and my own lights.

Thanks for all of the great tips! I'm still paying attention if anyone has more to recommend.

[tlintx]

You can get lighter but less sturdy shelves from Home Depot or even Target. My MIL has the ones from Sam's -- I put them together for her and, while not effortless, they weren't too difficult. Easier than a tricycle, for sure.

Another thread I've found useful:

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=30124

[Tom A To]

I used a few cedar fence boards and cheapo fluorescent fixtures from Home Depot. Was very easy to screw together.

http://www.goldfinch-acres.com/greenhouse.html

[RJGlew]

Originally Posted by TNTiger

Thanks - have you used this set-up?

Absolutely not, I was simply answering your question.

For myself, I bought the cheapest 2 * 48" fluorescent shop lights & bulbs from HD and mounted them `evenly' on a 10" wide piece of plywood (the width of a standard 1020 tray). This allows me to place 2 * 1020 trays lengthwise with very good light intensity over each. I set up the unit next to a south facing window and I move each 1020 tray up & down (independently) by changing the spacers under each.

I use an inexpensive digital timer programmed to give the plants 16 hrs of light a day. I manually turn this off on sunny days from 11:00am until 2:00pm if I am at home.

I purchased an inexpensive seed heating mat through Kijiji. I highly recommend these - this spring all my tomato seeds sprouted between 3 and 7 days.

I purchased a bunch of 2"square plastic pots from an eBay seller. This size allowed me to place exactly 50 pots in each 1020 tray, giving me the potential to start 100 plants with my setup. This spring I did 50 tomatoes & 50 zinnias (Magellan & Dreamland), hence why I needed to be able to move each tray up & down independently. Bottom watering is easy - just take out one of the pots, pour in water then slip the pot back in.

I planted the tomato seeds directly into the 2" pots, each one filled about 1/3 with soil, covered the trays & put them onto the heating mat. The low soil depth allowed me to mound up soil around the seedlings as they grew upward. I replanted the seedlings into 4" round pots during week 6 and left myself the following note for 2014 - "Potted all into 4" pots (May 11). Plants in 2" x 2" are becoming rootbound, optimal re-potting would have been 1-2 weeks earlier into 2.5" square. Interestingly, potato leaf varieties are behind & not at all rootbound - next year, consider starting them (Stupice, Matina, Kimberley) a week earlier."

I have purchased a bunch of 2.5" square pots for 2014 which are 1" deeper than the 2" pots to allow me to do a deep first transplant. I also went dumpster diving at the local garden center and came up with a few hundred 4" square pots & trays for the final transplant next spring.

I follow Wayne Schmidt's sage advice for soil selection - http://www.waynesthisandthat.com/pottingsoil.htm

So that's my story...

rg

[matilda'skid]

TNT I took the shelves out of the box in the back of the truck and took the parts one at a time to the basement. The boy at the store put the box in the truck. I couldn't have lifted the box myself but where there is a will there is a way.

Also I start my tomatoes too early and they get too tall. Plan ahead on how much space you are going to need between shelves allowing a few inches for the lights themselves. You can lower the lights on chains or you can put something under the little tomatoes to raise them close to the lights.

I also have the lightweight shelves and they work well. Changing the height of the shelves with those plastic pieces drives me crazy but I do it. I always have tomatoes too tall for my lights but you won't have that problem if you don't start too early.

[feldon30]

I also use the Home Depot fluorescent 4' light kit, 40W bulbs, a chrome 4 shelf rack, and Ferry Morse seed starting trays. Less than $100 and no problem starting 150 plants (the year I sold them at the farmer's market).

Once they germinate, I use empty CD cases to raise and lower the seed starting trays as the plants grow.

[RJGlew]

Originally Posted by feldon30

I also use the Home Depot fluorescent 4' light kit, 40W bulbs, a chrome 4 shelf rack, and Ferry Morse seed starting trays. Less than $100 and no problem starting 150 plants (the year I sold them at the farmer's market).

Once they germinate, I use empty CD cases to raise and lower the seed starting trays as the plants grow.

The FM 5234 is identical to what we call the 1020 here. Using CD cases to raise/lower the trays is a great idea - many thanks for sharing this.

rg

[cythaenopsis]

On a related note... is it just the optimal thing to do having 24 hour lighting on seeds? If you go with natural lighting but just use a heat source to regulate temps, how many days/weeks advantage do you lose over 24 hour lighting?

[nnjjohn]

Any use the new Led grow bulbs yet? I read about them and decided ordering a couple on ebay. Two for just under 10.00! Low 2 watt so very energy efficient ordered 110v screw these in the 2 round drop light fixtures and clamp over the preferred distance from the seedlings

[nancyruhl]

I got my set up from Harris Seed, and I am still thrilled with it after several years of use. I wanted a system with easy raising and lowering of the light fixtures. I had played around with the homemade ones and wasn't happy, so for Christmas one year I asked for one from DH.
I also bought the clear tent to go over the system for humidity retention. Right now, the trays are so full of saved geraniums and other hard-to-find or expensive plants I can't part with. it may be a blustery 17 degrees out there, but my basement is a mini garden of Eden. The challenge will be to find the space for seed starting come March.

http://www.harrisseeds.com/storefron...cessories.aspx

[nnjjohn]

I and going to eventually customize my own mini green house for when the seedlings need bigger cups and protection from the cooler earliest weeks before planting the beds.. 2X2 x 8 OR 1X2 x 8 pine are less 2 dollars each and drop over and staple heavy see through plastic .. perhaps the kind used for bed cover sets would be ideal. Whatever I try making will keep the small plants much better protected/shielded from wind rain as well as temperate changes

[MrBig46]

Originally Posted by Tom A To

I used a few cedar fence boards and cheapo fluorescent fixtures from Home Depot. Was very easy to screw together.

http://www.goldfinch-acres.com/greenhouse.html

I love aquarelles.
Vladimír

[nnjjohn]

Vladimir, thanks for the link. ...could be something I might do but, right now thinking something portable , like the size of a play doll house ..deck area space about 3×4ft made with siding foam board say 3/4 inch on a 1×2 skid frame (idea is keeping it ridgid yet light weight) one or two of these portable units should do the trick for a 72 starter tray of seedlings. I will build one once I get some scrap materials from my handyman business. Cheers, John

[tnpeppers]

Be careful with that set-up...the 'wrong person' sees grow lights coming thru the garage windows, and you have the police on your doorstep.

Originally Posted by tlintx

I've been wondering the same thing, since starting outside seems to be less than optimal for me. I end up with plants that are either lanky or broiled.

I am planning on utilizing the garage over the winter, and maybe a couple of south-west facing sunny windows. What lightbulbs should I get?

[Tom A To]

Originally Posted by MrBig46

I love aquarelles.
Vladimír

You strayed from the Greenhouse page, didn't you?