Hi Curtis,
For the most part violets should be grown with the lights at most 12 inches away from the tops of their leaves. I leave mine on for 8 to 10 hours a day. You mention growing different types of plants so you would need to rersearch light heighth for each plant and maybe then decide what plants will go on which shelves. That way you can decide on depth. The fact that you can move your lights up and down is good. The more shelves you can fit in the more plants you can keep. You don't ned to adjust deeper for AV's but you'll need to consider the other shelves that will house the other types of plants. Try and get the most out of it. I hope this helps a little. I only grow violets and orchids so I don't know about the others you plan to grow. Anyway, good luck.
Carrie

Curtis,
I don't know if you have bought materials yet but I went with Metro shelves available cheap at Lowe's and other large hardware stores, and the shelves can be set at varied distances.
Your project actually sounds like it will be very nice when finished, but I do not have enough carpenter skills to do what you are doing.

Curtis,

Welcome to the forum.

For standard African violets, 10-12 inches is the usual recommendation for light. For minis and semis, 6-8 inches. The measurement is from the light tube to the top of the plant. You will need to factor in the height of the wick setup you are going to use and the distance needed to hang the fixture. Since you are using two fixtures, you will probably end up decreasing the length of time the lights are on. It will all be trial and error, as some plants will want a little more light than others.

Good luck.

Barbara

I finally got my lighted plant stand completed, and it is somewhat bigger than I had expected. I am now wondering if 2 two-tube light fixtures (total of four bulbs) will provide ample light for each shelf due to the fact that the light fixtures are so narrow. The shelves are just a little over four feet wide to accomodate the 4 foot long florescent light fixtures that I will be using, and 26" deep.

My question is, should I consider hanging three fixtures per shelf instead of the two that I had originally planned to install? The fixtures that I have purchased are the Home Depot T-12 type, and the bulbs in the fixtures are somewhat close together. I plan to have four Permanest trays (11"x22") under the lights on each shelf. I seem to have plenty of room to hang a third fixture per shelf, but I don't know if that would provide too much light for African Violets. I am planning to use 40 watt bulbs (1 cool and 1 warm in each fixture).

If you folks who grow under lights could please offer your advise and guidance it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much for your assistance.

Curtis

Hi, Curtis,

I think your two fixtures per shelf will be plenty. I have 4 foot shelves that are 18 inches deep and use one fixture that holds 2 tubes.

We anxiously await pictures....

Barbara

Thank you so much, Barbara! You have been very helpful.

I will try and post some pictures for you if I can figure out how to post them here.

Thanks again!

Curtis

If I am posting this correctly, here is a link for a picture of the light stand that I recently built.

Thanks to all for your advice.

Curtis

http://i522.photobucket.com/albums/w350/curtis0353/LightStand4.jpg

Curtis,

Great job on the shelves, and the lights. I think you'll find them adequate.

So, is that your collection, with room to grow, or have you just not put all your babies in their new home? I see in your original post that you will grow some other things there too. Let us know when the shelves are full, it will be sooner than you think!

One thing you may notice with the violets, depending on what type of light they previously had, is what is called a culture break. The new leaves may be a different size due to different conditions. If it occurs, not to worry, it will eventually grow into itself, meaning that as you remove older leves, the new ones will be more uniform in size.

Barbara

Thank you, Barbara.

Yes, that is my entire collection so far, but although you can not really tell from the photo, I have about 60 leaves down now and once they produce plantlets I am sure that I will quickly fill up the shelf.

I am fairly new to this hobby, having just joined my local AV Society in May. But as time goes by I am sure that I will be obtaining a lot more violets. I have learned a great deal in reading all the posts here, and I think that this is a wonderful source of information for those like me who are just starting out.

Thanks again for you help.

Curtis

Curtis,

YAY!!!! I'm glad to hear you have joined an AV club. It is one of the first things usually suggested to new growers. And, many clubs will be having fall shows and plant sales this fall, so there is a wonderful source of new plants/leaves you have to look forward to.

Your shelves will be full by Christmas.....

Barbara