PVC growlight stand plans?

I couple years ago I built the pvc growlight stand from some instructions I had gotten here. I can't seem to find the post though, and now I have a friend that wants to build one. Does anyone have the plans?

I had a link to this one that is on t's flower seed site. I hope its the one you want.

http://www.carlnet.org/~ttsdaly/plantstand.html

Thanks! That's not exactly the one I used, but I think it will work for her. Actually, I think I like this one better than mine. LOL.

Here are a couple of links to PVC stands here on DG:
http://davesgarden.com/t/169142/
http://davesgarden.com/t/373022/PVC+light+stand

Thanks Darius, I'll go check them out too.

Finished mine, with a few changes plus castors so I can move it =)
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Edited to add:
............ Total cost for PVC and T-connectors @ home Depot only $34.64



This message was edited Nov 15, 2003 10:59 AM

Looks good!

Those are the plans that were posted here the past couple of years.
This will be the 3rd year for mine, they work great,

The only change I made was to make the top shelf 6" higher than the plans show. This allows for taller plants.

Paul

I cut the uprights at 20 inches so the shelves would be taller and I had some pipe left so I cut four 15 inch uprights for an extra top level and on each side on top I used four elbows and 1 cross piece so each top side is like a upside down U.looks more finished and I have another level to hang 'stuff' from ....LOL
.......This was fun to make and I took that stupid cutter back $$ because my hacksaw cuts through the stuff like butter.
....So I ended up with a 7'6" tall overall and top shelf is 6'3"
Hmmm, now what can I do ???
I know....BYe =)
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This message was edited Nov 13, 2003 9:10 PM

Any good ideas for something for support on the shelves ?
I'm concerned the flats will buckle.
Any thing but wood shelving ?

I've never had a problem with the flats buckling.

Paul

I used wire hardware cloth on my shelves. I needed something for support.....

Good idea Poppy.

Hi peeps!

what type of light do you use? normal fluorescent or grow lights? how many per shelf?
Thank you for your time!

I use 2 shoplit fixtures per shelf. In each I have one cool and one warm white bulb. I've used this method for over 5 years with excellent results.
No need for the more expensive grow lite bulbs.

Paul

Hi Anna
...... and welcome to the best bunch of plant addicts around =)
......You need 2 four foot shop lights with chains so you can adjust the height as the plants grow.
Don't waste money on 'Grow Lights' Just use 1 cool florescent tube and 1 warm tube in each fixture. Change after 2 years because they loose strength.
.....Keep lights close to plants and raise the light as they grow.
Good Luck,
.....Shirley
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Ooopsie! , sorry paul I posted on top of you =)

No problem, I'm glad you added details about the chains and adjusting the lights.

Paul

thank you very much peeps. Yes, I am addicted as well. I love this place!

Update!
I went in search of PVC pipes to build my frame.Here in England they are sooo expensive it would cost around£100 ( around$150) only for the PVC. So i visited some hardware shops where i found a wire mesh shelving unit on a sale. As it is wire mesh i can hang my lamps through it with chains and the ventilation is good. It has 5 shelves and fits my bedroom window like a glove.
When everything is ready I will be posting some photos.

Anna07 I built mine from angle iron because I have a hang up about building things to last it was cheap to build but will last a hundred or so years. Took most of a saturday to build and paint.

A friend who is an electrican gave me three four tube four foot lights for it and I added grow mats with thermo stats to two of the shelves. I can start eight flats at once with the third shelf being used as a stopping point for seedlings before I put them on the table. I am thinking of adding another mat to increase my starting flats to twelve

Don't know anything about pounds except for how those got on my tummy but mine ended up costing about $225.00 and is a neat addition in my G.H.Regards Ernie

Well Ernie, your stand sounds lovely. I am thinking about growing mats. Do you think they would be OK in the bedroom or are they messy? Where did you get yours from ? is it possible to build one?

thank you, best wishes
Anna

Here's a link to Park Seed.
They have grow mats for half off, quit a few of us bought them.

Paul

www.parkseed.com

thank you very much Paul but I am in England.

Anna, my new grow mat has a terrible odor. I'm hoping it will eventually burn off, but I had to put it in a separate room in the house, LOL. (I only used it about 10 days this fall, and won't use it again until late winter to start seeds.)

Anna07 I got mine from Charleys Greenhouse supply and it is not smelly. You could make one with some things on the market but in the long run it's probably best to just buy one and get a thermostat to run it. Most cheap mats work but you can't control the heat. It is usually regulated at about 20 degrees higher than ambient temprature. If it is 70 in your house it will be 90 in your seed flat.

There are other ways to germinate seeds and several of those are given in one of these threads maybe some one better at cruiseing the threads will come on and direct you there.Ernie

thank you peeps,

I have been germinating my seeds following the Deno's method I read on one of the threads. It is working well for me. I am going to see if I can find out more about growing mats.

Have you heard about the Deno's way? it is very interesting.

What is Deno's method?

Paul, there is a thread here somewhere on DG on Deno's Method. Try a Search? (Not certain it was spelled correctly, so try alternative spellings like Dino)

Onpage 3 of the propagation forum there is a thread called Deno propagation. The method is explained there. It consists of germinating seeds in wet tissue paper and then planting them after germination.

Paulgrow it works well for cucumbers, Sweetpeas,Sunflowers, and green beans. Thats all I have tried that way .Ernie

Who else can add to The list?

Anna07 I don't know how to do the hyper link but if you go to the dirt cheap forum and click on grow mats there are some other heat sources for you to consider. Ernie

I can, hardy geraniums and pelargoniums.

thank you Ernie. i will have a look

Peeps!

do you use your plant stand and lights all year round? Do you use your basement to grow plants all year round as well?
I am curious to know about the american way of growing plants indoors. Here in england it is not common to find people using lights and indoor rooms to grow.

I use mine almost year around. I have the growlight stand in the basement and throughout the winter I keep some plants down there to keep them growing rather than going dormant. In the spring I start seeds down there also, and then in the late spring everything goes outside.

I would guess that I don't use the growlights June, July and August. By September it's getting cool enough here that some things start to come inside again.

I now have 2 of paulgrows heat boxes on the bottom shelf
http://www.davesgarden.com/fp.php?pid=22259

Scooter, did you just put the lights on the top shelf, or on every shelf?

You need lights on each shelf. I use 2 fixtures per shelf/

Paul

Got 4 ft Shop lights at home depot for 7.25 each. Not a bad price, I didn't think.

Melissa

The shop lights Home Depot has use 32 watt #8 tubes, rather than the standard 40 watt #12 tubes. Can anyone tell me if the 32 watt variety are sufficient?

Jim