DIY grow lights

RustBeltCowgirl

Ashley has a great post on DIY grow lights, since it's that time of the year.

https://practicalselfreliance.com/diy-grow-lights/

Almost to the very end, is this comment including the link.

"Here’s a list of nearly 100 companies with free seed catalogs you can flip through this winter."

Time to freeze the credit card😁

seeker.nancy - Central Texas

Thanks for sharing!

vickeym

These sets up actually work fantastic. Had to smile when I saw theirs. My husband built one for me last year very similar. he used 4 sets of double bulb shop lights. We have no shadows around ours at all. We use it over a shelf he built. The shelf is not adjustable, but the lights hook up on a rope and pulley from the ceiling. So the light can be adjusted as the plants emerge and grow. We also used heating pads, not the expensive growing kind but the the cheaper kind you use on your back or wherever. Never had such good germination before. Almost every seed we planted. sprouted and grew.

dipat2005

@vickeym a heating pad is a great idea. Do you need lights on top as well?

Monek Marie

Heating pads are a must for tomato and pepper seeds. I used a waterbed pad once way back when they were the rage. I used to use ther tops of the tv when they had tops. The refrigerator will also work for warmth until they start to sprout and need proper lighting

Monek Marie

@dipat2005 ligting on top stops the seedlings from getting leggy and tall. By keeping a light low abouve them they will not reach for light and will get a stalkier stem and greener leaves

You actually keep ther light very low and almost touching the plants and move up as they grow

karenjanicki

Cool! Thanks for sharing :). I would like to do some indoor starts.

dipat2005

@Denise Grant thank you. I have always had leggy plants and didn't know why.

Monek Marie

@dipat2005 I earned the hard way. Once you get a good pattern and habits growing seedlings its fun and rewarding

water2world

@RustBeltCowgirl Thanks for posting this! It is time I got busy!!

annbeck62

@RustBeltCowgirl thanks for sharing! I'm going to try this.

blevinandwomba

Yikes that's a dangerous list! I was thinking the the other day that I need to look into some other seed companies, as my favorite is no more( very sad.)

Cornelius

Thank you for the list! And @blevinandwomba I personally recommend baker creek at rareseeds.com.

herbantherapy

Thanks for sharing! I have been wanting to set something up in my kitchen. This is the year to do it!!

Silkiemamuska

Just in time for me to place another order for seeds, of course I read that there is a list of hundreds more seed companies!😂

dipat2005

@Denise Grant Thank you for those words of advice. I am very excited now.

LaurieLovesLearning

My concern with grow mats is the risk of fire if they are left on. I bought one & it said to not leave it plugged in when not attended due to risk of fire, which surprised me. What about when you sleep? 🤷‍♀️

lewis.mary.e

We just started seeds this weekend.

Our dining table is not for being used for anything else for the next month or so, but this spot gets great natural light and there are 3 lights above it that we leave on all day. Once the seedlings come up we have grow lights for them.