Sorry can't help I use grow lights extensively but all are home made

I haven't purchased lights billed as "Grow Lights". I use generic Lowes/Menards/etc type 4 foot shop lights....bought on sale with standard 4 foot fluorescent tubes. Great value, low cost, easy to find. They do everything I'm looking for. They can be hung from various do-it-yourself shelf kits or used with support material I already have around the house.

Advantages: I like the low cost, availability, chance to use supports I already have or make from material I have and don't need to buy.

Possible disadvantages for some: You need to find or make shelves/supports to hold the lights. Some might prefer a kit with everything in it and set to go regardless of cost. I don't.

Commercial all-in-one kits seem way overpriced to me and some use short tubes that are more costly to replace. They might be okay if I only grow a little and had limited space, but not my choice for now.

I use my lights mainly to grow veggies and flowers for transplanting into my garden. Not much stays under them for more than 6-8 weeks.

I have one of these: http://www.gardeners.com/T-5-Tabletop-Light-Garden/39-360,default,pd.html?start=18&cgid=IndoorGardening_LightGardens. I like it a lot. It's done a good job for my seedlings, which I have successfully transplanted into the garden. I've heard that some grow lights have an annoying buzz, but this one doesn't. I like that the overhang is big enough for an average-sized flat and has 2 bulbs (a lot of grow lights only have 1 bulb and don't cover a very side area). I keep it in my kitchen because my kitchen has skylights. I wouldn't put it in a room that doesn't get much natural light during the day.

A couple of downsides:
(1) It is so wide that I had to buy a special shelf for it.
(2) It cost $249. (You get what you pay for. Cheap lights are crappy.)

I bought myself a 400 W Metal Halide HID light this spring, and I couldn't be happier! While shop lights I have used in the past have gotten the plants started, I never really saw any real growth to them, There wasn't much development in the first month to my starts.

Those plants there emerged on Feb 15th, They have Just about 1 month under the light on them, in a 16 on - 8 off rotation.

The 400W uses about 3 amps, and if I were to set up a dedicated 240 Volt outlet I could get the draw down to just above 1.5 amps. It's easy to use, I just have to keep a fan blowing lightly across them to dissipate heat, because it does get slightly warm. With a fan on it, I can get the light about a foot away though.

Here is a link that might be useful: My Garden

This post was edited by Chris_CL on Wed, Mar 13, 13 at 9:29

I bought one of those three-level seed starting light racks about 4-5 years ago. Each level features two fluorescent tubes. I'm still using it, but feel it has some negative features.

Advantages: Wide area of light. Easy to adjust height by turning nuts at the side of the rack rather than having to fiddle with chains as with home made designs. Lights are wired together so there's no need for multiple plugs and power strips.

Disadvantages: the wing nuts that are turned to adjust the height seemed to strip or something after a few years, meaning that I cannot tighten them and keep the lights horizontal. Even after opening up the lights and trying to fix this, they still have this problem. This is a poor design.

A second disadvantage: this light rack was designed for use with plastic trays that slot between metal bars. This limits the rack's flexibility. For example, it is hard to put things like large speedling trays under the lights. One could of course make a wooden board to go across and then put speedling trays and the like on this, but then you might as well just make your own light stand using metal utility carts and shop lights.

You may want to post in Growing under Light forum though most people there build their own set ups so I don't know if it'll be useful.

I use a sister product to annew21, but mine is larger and has 2 tiers. I like quite a bit about it: it has sturdy plastic trays to hold the water and soil that inevitably goes everywhere, the pull-chain adjustment of the lights is genius solution to the need to keep moving the lights as the seedlings grow and allows me to have one end lower than the other to help accomedate seedlings of a different height, the two bulbs in each fixture cause less leaning of seedlings, the bulbs seem adequate to promote growth and last a long time.

Some of the downsides include the price, but in a way that was worth it becaue I could not have constructed one myself, I'm just not that inclined or skilled. Also a very important piece is prone to failure: there is a linking switch that ties the two fixures together so that they can be run off of one cord. I had to get one replaced and was told that many have had the same problem. I figured out it is a corrosion problem, maybe caused by moisture ffrom the soil, and can be fixed with some vinegar to remove corrosion. My next concern is finding replacement bulbs when the time comes, but I think that is true of most setups except maybe LEDs. I would try one of those (LED grow lights) once the price comes down and they make them a bit more pleasing to the human eye... Or maybe they have, I haven't checked in over a year. If I ever switch, it would be to something more energy efficient with longer life of the parts, because otherwise my current setup is pretty sound.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gardener's 2 Tiered Grow Setup

Doing a school survey about grow lights! I am sold! Too many funny stories about that one...

Joe

I use two four foot shop lights that are hung beside each other. They each contain 2 - 40 watt fluorescent bulbs. I bought nothing except perhaps some chain to hang them. They do very well for me and have no disadvantages.

I have about a 45 year old contraption which my father bought. It is big and heavy, with four 2x4 foot shelves made out of galvanized sheet metal. It rolls on a set of wheels. The lights are 48 in flourescent bulbs, and I just use plain old bulbs. The only things I don't like about it are that it can be a pain to change lightbulbs, and the shelves are very difficult to rase and lower because they are so dang heavy and you have to loosen one corner at a time and then the corner slides down and the shelves get all out of square and get stuck. I don't even try to move them more about once a year. I just start out with boxes underneath my plants and I remove the boxes as the plants grow. I do think that the ability to use standard light bulbs is good, rather thatn some proprietary design.

I have about a 45 year old contraption which my father bought. It is big and heavy, with four 2x4 foot shelves made out of galvanized sheet metal. It rolls on a set of wheels. The lights are 48 in flourescent bulbs, and I just use plain old bulbs. The only things I don't like about it are that it can be a pain to change lightbulbs, and the shelves are very difficult to rase and lower because they are so dang heavy and you have to loosen one corner at a time and then the corner slides down and the shelves get all out of square and get stuck. I don't even try to move them more about once a year. I just start out with boxes underneath my plants and I remove the boxes as the plants grow. I do think that the ability to use standard light bulbs is good, rather thatn some proprietary design.

Thanks guys! I was surprised to get so many responses in such a short time. My science teacher shall be quite pleased.

What kind of vegetables your teacher grow? He seems very cool, down to earth, pun intended!

Joe

Actually, the problem is mine, and I am growing several tomatoes, peppers, beans, onions, cucumbers, watermelons, carrots, lettuce, and radishes.

CFL..works great, the100 watt bulbs only use 23 watts electricity and put out 1600 lummens

I have a large three tiered set up on wheels, and a smaller one that sits on a table. They cost more than makes sense if you are growing plants to save money, but I've been using them for more than ten years and love the convenience. The trays hold water, the light fixtures have outlets i use for heat pads and timers. Each tier has its own outlet.

The only down side, besides the cost, is that each of the shelves are made up of two four foot trays, and plants grow at different rates, but it's hard to adjust the lights for plants of different heights. I put the seedling trays on things to raise them.

I consider it a good value for someone with more money than time.

It is reliable, and wattage has not been an issue. I only use it for about two months a year, in my garage in N California.

I probably missed a question or too. Sorry. My son is studying engineering too! He helped me with a solar powered water fixture.

Yeah, the fact that most people make their own ought to tell you alot. I've used full spectrum "grow bulbs" in standard flourescent fixtures, but even those bulbs were costly and not worth it compared to regular flourescent tubes.