[ garden ] :: diy indoor growing lights

This year, I am planning on having a much larger vegetable garden. I went from having one 4' x 4' bed surrounded by herbs to having over 400 square feet of growing space. The Hubs thinks I have lost my damn mind, but he's happy as long as I can promise him basketfuls of peppers and okra all summer. That man is easily bribed.

To cut costs, I decided to grow my plants from seed instead of buying transplants from the garden center's nursery. For about $5, I can get a packet of heirloom tomato seeds to grow 6 plants and have seed left over for next year. At the garden center, each tomato plant is $5 each. Not only do I save money, but I also get to experience a much wider variety of produce! Check out the tomato varieties I'm growing this year, as well as the rainbow of peppers I'll be picking all summer long.

I started my seeds indoors in front of a sunny window in The Hubs' office, but was soon booted out! Without a suitable spot to grow all of the plant-babies, I needed to figure out how to put something together for them. I searched online for grow light kits, but they ranged anywhere from $80 to $250 for just one light on a plant stand. Since I was in need of 2-3 sets of lights, that was out of the question! So I improvised...

I used materials from Home Depot and the total project came out to be $188.82 for two 4-foot long growing lights, bulbs, and a 6-foot tall shelving unit. The unit is quite large, but I love how it has extra space for storage. Tomorrow I will be adding a third light so I can transplant my tomato seedlings into larger containers.

Materials

1 wire shelving unit, like this one from Home Depot  ($109)
2 48" shop lights, like this one from Lithonia Lighting ($19.97 each)
4 48" fluorescent plant and aquarium bulbs, like this one from Philips ($9.97 each)

You may also want a light timer so you don't have to turn the lights on and off every day. I had one already like this one from Amazon for $8.56.

Grounded Mechanical Twin Timer - $8.56, Amazon

Directions

It is super simple to put the system together - 1) Set up the shelves according to package directions. 2) Carefully install the fluorescent bulbs into the light unit. 3) Hang the growing lights using the chain and S-hook that are included, or with twine. If you use a timer, make sure that it will take grounded plugs and is set to give your seedlings 12-14 hours of light per day.

Happy planting!

- Maggie White

P.S. - We have not noticed a big increase in our power bill since we began using the grow lights, and I only use a few gallons of water per week to water my seedlings. I would say that other than the cost of the set-up, soil, and seeds, the utilities cost of starting seeds indoors is negligible.