I don't know what these dealies are called.... but they're multi tiered shelves, with lights under each shelf, that you start your seedlings and even grow plants in. http://www.gardeners.com/Shopping/sell.asp?ProdGroupID=19533&DeptPGID=19690&lstCategory=0&RecGroupNum=5
The ones I've seen are pretty expensive, so here's an idea for making your own cheap one.
First you go and buy a shelving unit like you'd use in a closet or an open backed book shelf. If you shop at the right place, you can find them around $20 or even lower if you go to a garage sale.
Then, you attach your lighting system (whatever kind is your preference) to the bottoms of the shelves and you have your growing shelf system!
Really Cheap Growing Shelf Set Up
i have the plans for a plant shelf for grow lights if anyone wants to make their own.
I did something like this, but I used a "Gorilla Rack" shelf unit that I got at Sam's. Cost me $60, but it's big and sturdy and DH and I knocked it together in minutes with a mallet (no more rickety metal shelves for us, nosir, we've moved on). You can assemble it side-by-side to make a double-wide unit with 3 shelves. That put the top and second shelf at a convenient height for me. I chose to use the bottom shelf for storage. I can fit four 1020 flats on a shelf if I don't mind having a little overhang, so that gives me space for 16 flats under lights (and if I decide I don't mind bending way down, I can add lights for another 8 flats).
I like to be able to adjust the height of my lights, so.... The lights for the top shelf were hung from the ceiling with taut-line hitches (DH is an Eagle Scout). Now, here is where using this particular unit works really well. There are slotted holes about every inch on the metal uprights for attaching the adjustable shelves. A wooden dowel fits very nicely through these holes! Put a section of dowel from front to back on each end of the shelf, and simply rest your 48" light fixtures on top of the dowels. It's easy to adjust the height of the lights by moving the dowels! One word of warning, though: Do not be in a hurry and try to move the dowels and the lights together or plants will go smoosh; take the time to lift the lights down before adjusting the dowels.
The only other thing worth noting about this particular shelving unit is that the shelves are made from particleboard, which I suppose could take damage from spilled water. I wrapped the shelves in plastic (big garbage bag fit fine) as we were doing assembly so I wouldn't have to worry about it.
I guess I wasn't suprising anyone with my idea! Lol. While looking up orchid growing chambers, I kept stumbling onto similiar plans for these shelving units.
There was another thread with a link to a posting on the "dirt cheap" forum with plans for building a plant shelf unit out of PVC pipes. I think somebody mentioned all the parts costing a little under $40 at Home Depot last year. I think I'd rather pay a little more (or less if recycling an old shelf) and end up with something sturdier, but it might be worth a look....
Jan 21, 2005
3:48 AM
Low-Cost Grow-Light Frame Plans & Horizontal hydroponic unit
[HYPERLINK@davesgarden.com]
It is so sad that plant & nursery companys need to charge the rip-off prices they do.
Your link didn't come through Critter.
It's a wonder that any one buys some of the stuff I've seen in catalogs for how much they're charging. But they're still in business so some one must be.
Low-Cost Grow-Light Frame Plans & Horizontal hydroponic unit
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/467210/
~* Robin