wind
I would invest in 1 20X48" seed heating mat.Around $59 if you shop or $70 if you don't. Used to get seeds to sprout quicker. Also a temp controller can handle up to 4 matts for around $30 is nice.

You can get low priced T8 or T12 48 " 40W or 54W HO fluorescent fixture w 4 bulbs if you can find them
For bulbs at least 4100K or gro-light if you can find 6500K - try for 3000+ lumens per bulb but 2500 will do

T5 is the newest stuff you can get 5000 lumens and 54W
not sure if T8 goes that high
The cheapest I have seen T5 is $99 for 4 light 54W HO ballast fixture

T8 under $50 and T12 around $30

T8 or T12 (cheaper but old school) will both work fine. And if you really look you can find deals on these

Dennis

Last year was my first year starting from seed and everything worked out spectacular with a very small investment to start.

I went to Home Depot and purchased a couple of duel ballast 4'"Shop lights" I cant remember the exact cost, but I think they were around $10 each.

I also purchased two cool white and two warm bulbs...only a few bucks for each two pack. Don't bother spending the premium for the "Grow Lights" Regular fluorescent bulbs will work fine

I hung my lights in one of the shelves in my garage rack.
I purchased a around 4' of their cheap bulk chain to hang the lights...again, a few dollars.

Since my seedlings(tomatoes and peppers) went in my cold garage, I bought some Styrofoam insulation to try and hold any heat the lights put off.

I had a timer and set the lights for 16 on 8 off.

That was about it.
Minimal cost with huge results.

Light setup
{{gwi:226232}}

Results

yeah HD or Lowes is where I would suggest - I don't buy Gro-Light brand bulbs either but get cheaper ones with the same output and K rating

I used the 2 bulb 2 per shelf years ago and it is just much quicker and easier to mount and adjust heights if you get 4 bulb ballasts - I have older T12

dbobs
I see your cages with some really sturdy looking ones on the bottom and attached some cheapies on top for addition suppoer.

What are the ones on the bottom? Glamus wire Co? They look thick and sturdy - are they 4 legged? Where did you get them - I have some really great ones though expensive for the house but need several less expensive for my 2 growing plots

Great looking plants - what varieties?
Dennis

Dennis
I searched high and wide for the Glamos ones last year to no avail. I ended up finding those hefty cages at Target of all places. They are really nice...thick, sturdy, 4 legged and plastic coated. The only negative is they are a couple inches smaller in diameter than the Glamos ones.

Pictured varieties are Cherokee Purple, red Brandywine, lemon boy and Big Beef

Brian

I have several expensive grow lights, 14 and 54 watt LED, and 150 and 400 watt HPS. But I don't use them for seedlings, only when growing mature plants (OK, I do use the LEDs to experiment with some seedlings!). Instead, I use CFL bulbs for the most part but have also used shop lights. They work great and cost little.

Mike

The Grolux Fluorescent Tubes work well and are very cheap compared to other indoor light systems especially when used with reflexive foil. Even the fluorescent fixtures are pretty cheap, plus easy to wire for plugging into a power point.

Knowing nothing a few years ago (and having learned very little since), I put together several inexpensive plastic light bulb fixtures on a 2x4 frame, screwed in "daylight" fluorescent "bulbs", and those seeds sprouted and grew. Since then I've seen all the high-tech set-ups, and I'm sure they all have great advantages, but my seeds are going in the trays next week... under the bulbs again...

Not sure about the 75w lights your talking about? CFL? Anyway, how many seedlings are you planning on?

Just get a cheap double tube, 4' flouresent fixture. That's less than $10 at WM, then pick up two cool white (the cheap ones but good for seedling growth) 4' tubes and plug it in. Box it in as Bdobs has done for heat retention and maximum light reflection and your golden.

Each 4' light fixture will grow 22 seedlings in 4" pots. That is what I have and it works good until they reach 5-6" by then I put them outdoors for the days in the cold frame. My plants are super stocky, healthy with 3/4" or less between each petiole with 11hr light periods. Not bad for budget lighting! Keep lights within 1-3" of plant tops at all times.

Let us know how you make out.

Here is my set up my SO built for me , we bought everything at Lowes, cant remember exactly how much it was but it was inexpensive ...

Are you able to raise the lights as the plants grow? I have a similar light, just smaller and single bulb. I thought I need one of the shop lights with the reflector to direct the light down towards the plants. Do you use any kind of home made reflector or have you found these to work just as well?

Sue

Wow!! Great info from you all! The cheapy set up is what I am looking for and it sounds like I can easily do this for a small investment. The photos are GREAT help, too! sometimes it is difficult to visualize what someone explains.

I know what I am doing this weekend! :-)

On another note, all my greens have sprouted in my new 4x8 raised bed that I built the beginning of Feb and seeded on V-day! Oh how the little things in life (those rows of greenery) can bring such happiness!

I bought a 4' shoplight (twin florescent) from HD, unde 10 bucks,
all wired. Just mount the tubes and plug it in.
Two florescent lamps cost about $6.50.
Total cost : $16

I have a seriously cold garage ... ok a barn extension.
Thoughts?
N CA zn 7

maps31
I'm in z8b, SF Bay Area, nights are in the low 40's and mine do fine as seen in my pics above.
Not too savy regarding zones and how cold your nights are, but like I said, I get in the low 40's and do just fine

The "worklight" fixture cost about $8 at Menards or Home Depot and the 23 watt CFL (Lights of America) bulb cost $1 at Walmart.

The "worklight" is a great little fixture, but not much good for square trays, or those of us with hundreds of plants. If you only start a very small container then it will work. Two shop lights with 4 bulbs for a total of $25 will be much more effective.

Bdobs, your tomato plants are virtually trees! Unfortunately, I am blessed with too much shade in my backyard and barely get 5 hours of sun for my tomato plot. :-(

In your photo showing your plants under the light, I can't tell what your plants drain on when you water them. Do you water elsewhere and then set them back up after they quit draining water?

I also noticed you have some solid cups and others that are more clear. Did you do this to test the results and if so, what were the results?

pdxwindjammer

I started them in peet pellets, potted them up to the small clear cups, then did a final pot up to the larger red cups.
Apparently I took that picture midway through the last pot up :)
As for watering, I would take all the plants out, put them in my wife's big roasting pan(ssshhhhh) and give them a squirt with a turkey baster full of water, then put them back in their home.

The "worklight" is a great little fixture, but not much good for square trays, or those of us with hundreds of plants. If you only start a very small container then it will work. Two shop lights with 4 bulbs for a total of $25 will be much more effective.

2. "Two shop lights with 4 bulbs" won't suffice for "hundreds of plants" either. At the transplant to ground stage, each plant will occupy approximately 0.5 ft2. One hundred plants will occupy about 50 ft2. Two 4' shoplights will cover about 2' x 4' = 8 ft2.

For "hundreds of plants," you should pick up a used 400 - 1000 watt metal halide (MH) bulb and ballast from Ebay. The reason that I recommend MH and not high pressure sodium (HPS) is that HPS grown plants will be very susceptible to sunburn when moved outdoors.
Those worklights work well as supplementary light to a window because they don't block sunlight from a position behind the plants and window, tilted toward the plants.

Just to clarify, I won't be growing "hundreds of plants" although I would love to if I had the space! I will probably grow 25 or so.

I have a few of the fixtures struwwel posted a pic of & they work great. Like he says, they are quite inexpensive too. They're only good for covering a few plants each. So, if you have a ton of plants, I imagine HD will still have something inexpensive you can set up.

- Steve

struw,

I get 18 plants per sq. ft. 100 plants take up about 6 sq. ft.

Mike

I am talking about seedlings here not plants. I started over 1000 seedlings this year under 6 four foot fixtures. After they sprout they go straight outside into the sun. I do have several 400W MH lights and fixtures which I use for my saltwater aquarium, but don't intend to grow plants with them. MH lighting is not a good choose for seedlings for a number of reasons. I have 5 or 6 of the clip on fixtures shown above that I use for a number of reasons, but not starting seedlings or growing plants under. I found the natural sunlight in my greenhouses much better that any light source I have used yet.

grow,

Lucky you! Today is the first day this week the sun has shined! Now, come the first of April, I do intend to move a bunch of plants to the GH.

Last year, I had just over 1,000 seed-lings growing upstairs and most of them were in 3" containers, but a few in 2". Total space: ~75 sq. ft.

Mike

If you use 4 inch square pots like I do and pack them in so they are touching you can get 9 plants per square foot. However when they get over eight inches tall you should probably give them more room if you have it.

I get 18 plants per sq. ft.

I plant one seed per 4" pot. When I plant outdoors from those 4" pots, my plants are slightly larger than those in bdob's picture above (IMG_1668-1.jpg). I count 22 under what, one or two, 4' shoplights in that picture? By my previous calculation, 16 of my plants would fit under two 4' shoplights.

MH lighting is not a good choose for seedlings for a number of reasons.

Name one.

1. They are the most expensive light you can buy and they are the most expensive to operate.

. They are the most expensive light you can buy and they are the most expensive to operate.

No. A 400 watt MH bulb can be bought for $10 and a 400 watt ballast can be bought for $40. Add $5 for a socket and wire for a grand total of $55. Five shoplights and ten tubes cost approximately 5 x $10 + 10*$1 = $60.

The lumen output for that MH bulb is 32000 or 80 lumens/watt, whereas fluorescent lights typically range 50 to 67 lumens/watt. Furthermore, MH has more light output outside the visible range, which does not contribute to the bulb's lumen rating.

Here is a 93 lumen/watt, 400 watt MH bulb for $13.47.

Here is a 110 lumen/watt, 1000 watt bulb for $23.08.

How about reflectors? Have you ever bought, installed or used a MH or HPS lighting system? All this cheap ebay stuff is not the way to prove your point. What ever that is.

I have never used grow lights or any type of artificial lighting for any of my propagation - daylilies, other perennials or tomatoes. South-facing windows do it for me. I have a friend who uses cardboard wrapped in aluminum foil for reflectors.

Carmen, I don't have south facing windows, hence the reason I asked for suggestions. ;-)

pdxwindjammer - I think your plan as you have described in your original post would work fine. I use shelf units in the greenhouse with inexpensive shop lights (the $10 ones from Wal-Mart) and a mix of the inexpensive tubes (2 of $6.00 at Wal-Mart). They come with labels like Kitchen and Bath or Warm and Cool - any of them work fine.

You might want to check out our discussion on shop lights and bulbs over on the Growing from Seed forum for even more pictures if interested as well as some info on using the smaller CFL bulbs too.

Dave

PS: welcome to the GW forums! ;)

Thanks Dave! I have already been on that forum but since I am talking specifically about tomatoes I decided to post here. There is good info here but I sure HATE all the pop ups and requests to take surveys! Argghhh!

How about reflectors? Have you ever bought, installed or used a MH or HPS lighting system?

Yes, I have. Thank you so much for asking. I have installed and simultaneously used 1000 watt MH and HPS bulbs in a small room with walls, ceiling, and floor painted white. Those were the reflectors.

All this cheap ebay stuff is not the way to prove your point. What ever that is.

My last two links were not to Ebay but to an online bulb store selling new, popular brands and presenting manufacturer specifications.

My points were:

2. The 93 lumen/watt rating is evidence that MH bulbs are not the "most expensive to operate."

3. The $13.37 price is evidence that MH are not the "most expensive lights you can buy."

4. Presenting such evidence is better than pontification which is no way to prove your point.