How much of a handy man are you? Shop lights are easily repaired, it's either a ballast or bulbs, very rarely does a socket go bad.unless you can tell it got dmged somehow. Could save you some $$ if it has worked for you in the past.

I use CFL bulbs and a homemade light banks for pretty much everything, from full indoor growing to seed start for outdoors. LIght bases are cheap, a few wires and a plug and done. 23w CFL bulbs can be had at wal-mart in a 4 pack for $8.88 And put off 1600 lumens each, 2 Per sq ft for about $7 in parts gets you 3k+ lumen a sq ft which is great for seedlings.

Heres a bank i built, i get the light bases from a local dollar store for $1 each, an extension cord for $1, and a 4 foot 2x4 in the cutoff at lowes for ¢50.

I can't see anything that's broken on our shop light. All the bulbs I tried were old but unused. All of them flickered but did light up when I put them in. I suppose I could try new bulbs. I think when we removed a couple, it looked like where there were supposed to be two tines to insert there was one and we assume the other one broke? But I don't see the broken piece from it and wondered if it is stuck inside one of the sockets? But there are sockets for 4 bulbs and all of them flicker, so it has to be more than just one socket.

That's quite a set up you made for yourself and very thrifty. Do you mean Compact Fluorescent Bulbs? Do they provide the full spectrum of light?

That doesn't look to hard to do. If I did find the inexpensive light bases. Do you have to plug in every one of those bases into one extension cord?

If the 4 Bulbs connect to one ballast it could be Just one connector or socket giving you problems on your light. If it was stored in a damp area check for corrosion.

Yes CFL = compact fluorescent.

There is one plug end wired per light bank, the rest of the bases are wired parallel.

You can buy bulbs in cool (6500-4000k) or warm (1800-3500k) i use warm throughout but if just doing seedling i would use cool as its more in the vegetative spectrum. Similar to the debate on metal halide vs high pressure sodium.

I have 3 units of 48" long, T8 double CFL tube ( Bulb) shop light. I paid about $13 (no bulb) and bought two tube/lights for about $8. So the total cost per fixture is about $22. They come already wired w/ plug in chord. The fixtures are very slim. The brand name : COMMERCIAL ELECTRIC.

These new shop lights are very efficient due to new ballast design.

When I am done with it, put it back in its own box and store it.

I use T8- 6500k, daylight and/or Daylight deluxe CFL bulbs. LEDs will cost a lot more money, simply because supposedly they last much longer. They use about the same amount of electricity for the same out put.

Sey

Sey, i believe you are confusing CFL which stands for compact fluorescent light with the standard T8 straight bulbs.

That is a good price on a 4' fixture, only thing to get the recommended 3k+ lumens per sq ft It would require 4 t8 bulbs (2 of said fixtures) for a 12"x48" space costing $44.

Just a little more bang for your buck using the self built light bank, plus projects are fun!

Just to clarify...this is a cfl

Also forgot to mention, if the bulbs in your existing light are wired in series or series parallel any break in the system causes all lights not to work. Some series wiring also use a base with only one terminal on each end. Also some balasts use a starter or ignItor that can cause problems as well. Also lowes and home depot have parts for most fluorescent lights pretty cheap, sometimes they can help you diagnose/repair in store.

chuckwagon009(6 Columbus Ohio) Sey, i believe you are confusing CFL which stands for compact fluorescent light with the standard T8 straight bulbs

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You are right . I meant to say FL tunbe, as used in shop light type of fixture.

I have 3 units . I can use, any combinations ; just one, two of them , or all three side by side. It depends on how many seedlings I have and at what stage. By adjusting the height I can get any desired lumen per square are.

With those CFL in your picture, what is the Kelvin rating ?

Sey

The cfl's in pic are 2700k, for the same price you can get 4200k and 6100k. I am Using them dual ppurpose for seedling through flower so im not changing them out. The Growth seems to not care much if it's warm or cool as ive tried both the others and no noticeable changes.

Lettuce under them at 30 days

Tomato at 42

That’s some setup you have going there, Chuck. Are you growing using hydroponics?

It sounds like you’ve done some wiring to produce those units. That’s something I wouldn’t feel comfortable to do. And I already have more than enough projects going on. [g]

I loved seeing what you’ve done. I’ll bet that keeps you busy all winter. Do you plant out your plants in the spring? That lettuce looks ready to eat!

Seysonn - you’re doing about what I’ve done in the past with the T12s. For some reason I skipped over considering the T8s, thinking that the T5s were stronger. And you are right, that putting the lights closer to the plants, allows you to increase the amount of lumens. I’ve read a few more reviews by people who’ve used the T5s and while they’re stronger, there is more heat and faster drying out. And they are expensive.

I think I’m going to check out the T8 fixtures and tubes. I’d rather update what I have than try to repair them. They were inexpensive to begin with and I only have two of them.

I’ve also decided to do as much winter sowing as I can, so mainly it will be used just for a small amount of tomato and pepper seedlings.

Thank you both for the help...

Hi prairimoon

I have read before (somewhere ) that T8 lights are the most efficient in terms of producing lumens per wattage. I have been using them for 3 season. It will be my 4th season this year. I bough one first then added 2 more. At 22 bucks (complete) it is a good deal and just put the tubes in and plug it in.

And with 3 length of 3/4" PVC and few fittings I made a structure to hang them.

Seysonn - Another handy person. [g] That looks like a nice set up too. I have some steel shelving that has 5 shelves that are 48" wide by 18" deep. Looks like I would have an easy time hanging lights from them and the shelves are adjustable. Plus I'll probably use chains to raise and lower the lights. Although I see they have some new kind of hangers that look interesting too.

I just counted up how many seedlings I hope to grow under the lights and it would be about 12 six cell packs. Of course, they won't stay that small, so I'll have to allow for room for the larger 4" pots maybe. But I don't want to grow them up larger than a 4" pot. I'm thinking I'm probably starting a few too many. I only need about 4 tomatoes and 8-10 pepper plants, but I always add extra 'in case' and then I end up giving some away. Plus I wanted to start a flat each of the Brassicas, some herbs and flowers. I was thinking I could plant out 4-6week old seedlings. Do you think I'm going to outgrow two lights with two bulbs each? How many weeks are you operating your lights to get what you want?

Thanks, I'm going to look for the light and bulbs today.

Thanks again, Chuckwagon, I'm going to bookmark this thread, in case I find at some point, I'm in a position to try your set up. :-)

Yes prariemoon I am growing hydroponicly. The growth is amazing, not comparable to soil whatsoever. The lettuce is ready at 30 days, that lot i showed you has been harvested and ate.

The light wiring is super easy, you have 3 Colors of wire, and they just need connected in parallel. White is neutral, black is hot, green is ground. A pair of crimper/strippers and a roll of electric tape and your done.

Yeah it keeps me busy during winter, helps the garden fever come january When your about to be picking tomatos. Lol

Some ill take to outdoor hydroponics, some will stay in the room and some were planted specificly for making clones for outdoors.

These days I just use a 4-bulb shop light. It's actually the type you see in a commercial building (like a doctor's office) up in a drop ceiling. I got it for free when someone was cleaning out an old space. I also have an 8' shop light that I might put into use this year. However, it is just a 2-bulb fixture and the reflector is a bit poor for use as a 'grow light'. This is fairly easily fixed with foil or white poster board, but meh, we'll see, depends on how much area I'll need to cover.

When I was younger and into indoor growing (long before information was so freely available,) I took 4 2-bulb shop lights, separated the sockets from the reflectors, and removed the ballasts from the top of the fixture. I took a 4' piece of plywood (I forget how wide -- I think about 2' - 3') and attached the 16 sockets to the board (I think they were about 3 inches apart. Next, I took white poster board and stapled the poster board into parabola-shaped arches (you staple the centers where the bulb will run, then push the poster board toward the staple, lightly score the ridge with a razor, then staple the next center line of the next bulb.) I extended the wires from the sockets and put the heavy ballasts on their own board off to the side.

The result is 8 bulbs, each with its own reflector, bunched into a tight, extremely light weight, very efficient setup. This was used for seedlings, clones, and clone mothers. The instructions for the light setup came from an old book that was popular at the time.

If efficiency is what you are after, when it comes to florescents, remember that with all florescents, regardless of shape, light is emitted from all sides of the bulb. CFL's are only twisted so that they will fit into standard sockets. Light is emitted from the entire bulb up in the fixture. Straight bulbs lose half their light to the top of the fixture. The reflector is the most important aspect of efficiency for any fluorescent bulb or fixture.

I think chuck has a good setup, especially for the price and ease of installation, but just going by my own judgement (which admittedly is only supposition,) I think a bit of light is being lost in those tight reflectors. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's a bad setup at all, but I think you'll get more concentrated light from straight bulbs with parabola reflectors around each bulb that extend down at least to the edge of the bulb. The problem is that the better the reflector, the higher the cost.

I recently discussed my thoughts http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/3444411/advice-on-which-light-system-to-purchase?n=16

I grew with a T5HO tube last year and had awesome results (for seedlings). I got this in Jump Start by Hydrofarm, which comes with a nice adjustable stand and on/off switch.

I read all the info above. For me it is unnecessarily complicated. For years I have used 4 ft long 2 bulb shop lights with the cheapest fluorescent bulbs I can find. That works fine for growing robust seedlings until they can be planted outside. I believe that one can still find those cheap shop lights at the big box stores. Saw one listed in an advertisement a few weeks ago. Two important things to do: keep light close to seedling and put on a timer.

I actually use the same lights for overwintering plants. Yes, they even bloom. The lantana is setting buds now and a late blooming snapdragon that I couldn't let die of frost is in full bloom.

Sorry, I got busy this week and I did see a response in my inbox, but couldn’t’ remember where I saw it. [g]

Chuck - I grow organically, so I’m all about the soil, so hydroponics, haven’t been something I’ve looked into. [g] Always interested to see what other people are having success with and that certainly is success you’ve had.

I’m sure the wiring, is easy enough, I think I just have a little bit of paranoia when it comes to electricity. I’m afraid of electrical fires getting started unseen, by poor wiring and not knowing enough about electricity in general, I wouldn’t feel confident enough that I would do it perfectly and would then worry about it. Better for me to spend a little more and leave the electrical work to the experts. :-)

RGreen - Free lighting, the best kind. :-)

I like the idea of using foil as a help with reflection. I thought of doing that too, covering some cardboard with foil and using it to reflect back more light. Good point about the round bulbs.

The project you did when you were younger, was quite ambitious and more than I would ever attempt.

Peter - thanks for the link, I haven’t read it yet, but will come back to it. I’ve read a few reviews that people have liked the T5, I just don’t like the expense.

MNWsgal - I’ve only grown seedlings using a few cheap, T12 units with 2 bulbs each and had no problem getting good results. Thanks for the reminder of the timer and keeping the lights close to the seedlings. Now if I can find my timer. [g] I dragged a rosemary into the house about a month ago, that was still alive in a container outside. I should throw that under the lights for awhile. Good idea. Thanks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My husband ended up taking our old light fixtures to the store and they checked them and they were broken. They said we could replace the ballists but by the time we finished with doing that, we might as well invest in a new fixture. Especially since ours was over 10 years old and were cheap to begin with.

So, they offered a shop light that held 4 T8 bulbs for $51.98 and so we went with that.

Utilitech T8 Shop Light

Not any more than what we spent on two of the cheap units. I was very surprised that it had to be assembled when we got it home. I do like the one fixture, four bulbs format, rather than two fixtures with two bulbs.

This unit has a nice reflective reflector and the edge is rolled up as opposed to the old fixture that had a sharp edge you could cut yourself on.

So, I’m starting with that and not planning on growing a huge amount this year and I’ll see how it goes. I just need to figure out the best way to hang them. I hate the chains when you have to adjust the height. I see this kind of hanger that I might try….

Adjustable Grow Light Hangers

Thanks for all the help!

Prairiemoon, I'm with Mnwsgal... 2 lights do the trick for me. I even have roses bloom after rooting them, and tomatoes set fruit. Here's one shelf of my setup with onions starting (zone 4)... :) I do have those Adjustable Grow Light Hangers you were talking about. I LOVE THEM!!!!! They attach and adjust easily. It's the only way to fly. No more holding up a light while I adjust the chain every few days!!

Rebecca, That's great to hear. I'm feeling content with our purchase so far, but I haven't started using the light yet. I'm planning on installing it today as a matter of fact. For some reason I dragged my feet about getting those adjustable hangers, more because I just got busy, so today I'm just going to hang them with S hooks and chains so I can get started sowing seed and I will order the adjustable hangers today as well. I love hearing about the positive experience you've had with them. I have never liked having to adjust the chains in the past. You're right, you have to hold the light up to adjust the chain. And the S hooks - if you leave them all the way open to make it easier to adjust, then when you try to move them the S hook keeps slipping off. We're going to tighten the S hooks into a closed position at the top of the chain where it attaches to our metal shelves and leave the S hook that attaches to the light fixture loose. At least I think so… [g]

I was thinking of sowing onion seed, but I'm wondering if I've waited too long? Maybe I should just go with sets this year and use my space for other things. I'm starting out slow and sticking with the one four foot, four bulb light this year, but if it goes well, I may add another.

What kind of bulb do you use? In the past, I think I had one cool and one white in each fixture. My husband brought me home all the same bulb and they all look like bright white. Wondering if I should take two back and exchange for cool bulbs?

Thanks for your post and the photos. :-)

prairiemoon2 z6 MA,

I bet your purchase is a good one.

But I like modular system. That is why I bough 2 bulb units. I have 3 units. Start with one and once the plants grow bigger, the second unit is brought in ...then the third one.

On the lights, I have done some reasonable search.

For growing seedlings 6500k daylight or daylight deluxe are better choice. But if someone wants to do an indoor garden then you might look into other possibilities. I am not into this one.

Sey

Hey, Prairiemoon, you are welcome. :) My bulbs are Westinghouse Ecomax the small ones (? T-12) which gives off a pink light (think I got this at a local light shop) and GE Ecolux with Starcoat 32w which gives off a yellow light, purchased at Ace Hardware. This combination has been incredible for me. With only 2 lights, I really do get roses blooming and fruit set on tomatoes. I keep the lights so close to the plants that they crawl up into the lights... Last year I had to extricate tomato tops from the bulbs. :)

As for starting onions, I just started mine a week ago. They will get planted in early May. Check out my post on the allium board for how I did it... Works for me every time. http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/3627591/seed-starting-time?n=23

Everyone here has a system that really works for them... Each one is amazing!!!! I am happy that my simple little system works so well for me and allows me the ability to garden on a very small scale year round and touch dirt when the weather outside is so very, very cold. Happy Gardening Everyone!!!

Seysonn, Not sure I am following you. Do you mean that you keep three light units in stationary positions and use them at that height and move them to the next light unit when they are bigger?

Thanks for the info about which bulbs you have had success with. I will look for these bulbs.

Rebecca - Interesting bulb choice, I haven’t seen a pink one. I’m going to see if they offer those in the T8 size. That is surprising that roses blooming and tomatoes produce fruit under them. Do they not burn the plants if they get too close?

Thanks for the link to your onion thread. I love to see a thread that follows someone’s process and adds photos.

Gardening during the off season really helps get through the winter. Happy Gardening to you as well. :-)

prairiemoon2 z6 MA

Seysonn,
Not sure I am following you. Do you mean that you keep three light
units in stationary positions and use them at that height and move them
to the next light unit when they are bigger?

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NO . I put my seedlings/plants On a stationary position (floor) and adjust the distance between the plants and each unit independently (by chain ). as the seedling/plant grow , I raise the lights as needed.

Sey

Sey, Compact floros and t5 Floro are more efficient than t8, t8 are more efficient than t12. Watts per lumen.

HID and LED are in another category and are more efficient than floros. HID are still more efficient than LED than in terms or lumens but PAR also plays a role which makes LED more effective.

A 600w HPS is most efficient getting upwards of 200 lumens/watt. On serious production of small/med plants indoor a 600 HPS can cover a 8x8 area of starters up to 6 weeks.

One thing I like about HID is the lights don't need to be moved often. If kept 36-48 inches they only need to be moved once a week or longer.

Thanks chuck..

I only use lights for growing seedlings and I use the for about 8 weeks. My initial investment of about $75 (for 3 units with bulbs ) has had good payoff going into 3rd season. If I had to do it now, probably it would be either LED or LID.

Sey

I lucked out and got a killer deal on some bay lights (400w hps) so it was very inexpensive for me as even after building hoods and rewiring i am less than $20 per but i do see these deals quite often and it might help alot of indoor gardeners/starters. If anyone would be interested in and photo instructions on converting I'll post them up.