Where are the inexpensive grow lights?

its about time to get out the lights. i am new to dg and loving it. well here is some more info; DO NOT use halogen lights as grow lights (they use alot of power, make a lot of heat, but dont make much light), this leaves you with fluorescent (fl) lights or high intensity discharge (hid) lights. there are three major types of hid lights, high pressure sodium (hps), metal halide (mh), and mercury vapor (mv). hps and mh can make good grow lights, but only if you have a large indoor garden. mv emits a spectrum of light that plants dont use so they are out. so for me that leaves fluorescent lights. first fixtures, "shop lights" are just moveable light fixtures. they are not built into a building, usualy they hang from small chains. when you use these lights you will want to move them up and down as your plants grow. for most of my plants i keep the lights 2-9 inches away. light bulbs; cool fl are good for plants, plant bulbs are even better, i once had a shelf with four large tomatoe plants on it they were nicely shaped, then i swithced from one over head fl in the center to two over head fls one to either side, well one was cool fl and one was a plant bulb. in under two weeks all of the growth was lop sided towards the plant bulb. a great benefit of shelves for starting seeds is that the lights create heat that warms the shelf above. also fls come in 4', 2' and 18" lengths (others too, but they don't realy matter for gardening). 2' lights use half the power (20w) of 4' bulbs, they also put out half the light, but they cost as much to buy as the 4' lights. good luck

muggermike, Welcome to DG! Good information on the lights. I have the shelves up on the porch and was going to get lights this weekend.

DH is getting his plans to build mine in order. I was wrong on the size I quoted earlier. It will be 6' tall. I am so looking forward to it!

What is wrong with Dave's on posting? ARRGH! I will try this again.

I looked at happy_macombs post about Sam's and knew something wasn't right.

Here is the one I buy.

http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=168602

As for shop lights, they will work well with a combination of bulbs. By using onwe grow light bulb with a cool white bulb you will get better results.

I was researching bulbs, and one cool and one warm will work. The cool is for vegetation and the warm for flowering. All warm can result in leggy plants. The cool, stocky plants.

We got the lumber for building mine Tuesday!!! He won't start it till a warm week in March which is soon enough for our weather. I still have a small one to start with.

This thread is very helpful. Thanks for all of the information! I have a few questions, though. Has anyone seen chrome shelves that come in a 12" depth? And, after assembling one, can I take it back apart for storage purposes? (I don't have much space).

Peckhaus, when I was shopping around for these items, I did not see chrome shelves with a 12" depth, but yes, you can take the shelves apart. I would suggest using a rubber mallet, as hcmcdole mentions above.

There may be some 12" depth shelves but you may have to look online for them. I'm sure the cost would not be worth it though.

Here is a place I have bought extra legs from but if I had bought the casters as well it would have been cheaper to buy a whole shelving unit from Sam's.

http://shelving.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=WSS&Category_Code=WSA

I looked at the above site for 12" shelving and they do carry it but it does cost a lot more ($104 for 6 foot shelf with only 4 shelves) than 18" shelving at Sam's (about $70 for 6 foot shelf with 6 shelves). Both units are 4 foot wide. Additional shelves are $17.20 each.

http://shelving.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=WSS&Category_Code=WS1272

hcmcdole: What do you mean by "extra legs"? Why did you need more?

I thought I explained that earlier but if not, here goes:

If you get the units at Sam's (for example) you get 6 shelves per unit. I find that is too many for my needs. I only need 4 or 5 at the most. The shoplights take up some room and then the rest of it depends on the height of your pots and plants together. This leaves at least one shelf, maybe two per unit I buy. Now I have lots of extra shelves but no legs, so it is a bit (not by much) cheaper to just buy some legs, plus you use up the extra shelves this way. The downside is I have no casters (if you bought legs and casters together then it would actually be cheaper to buy a whole new unit and throw away the extra shelves). So far I have bought 8 six foot legs for two new units and 12 4 foot legs which I have made only two more units out of these. I still have 4 legs left and two shelves. I thought before I used this I would buy one more complete unit and that would give me at least one more shelf, maybe two to combine with the remaining 4 foot legs.

Thanks for the explanation -- I'm sorry if I made you repeat information, but that was very helpful to me!

No problem, maybe I didn't explain it well. Here is a picture of one of the smaller shelfing units. It has only 3 shelves and no casters. The other smaller shelf I put together is in the garage and holds cacti and succulents.

That makes me drool! I am planning to go this weekend to buy shelving -- I think at Lowes. I only have room for one unit. Can't wait.

Okay, don't drool on the lights when they are plugged in. We don't want you to have a short circuit.

Check on 4 foot width shelves for the best fit with shop lights.

Here is the next thing to get into if you are growing tropical type plants. A large aquarium with 3 - four foot lights on top. If I could afford it I'd have more of these on a lot of shelves. It is almost a perfect environment - next best thing to the jungle the plants came out of.

Hmm. We have 2 in the garage because we managed to kill all the fish we tried to love.

hcmcdole: Thanks for the link to the 12" deep shelves! The pictures of your shelves are impressive.

I was just at Home Depot and their 4' shop lights with 2 bulbs cost $29 per unit. Does anyone have tips/ internet links where I can find some cheaper?

I understand that I should buy one cool bulb and one warm one per lighting unit - is that the terminology they use one the packaging or should I be looking for something else? (Obviously, I'm a beginner). Thanks in advance for the great tips! I'm looking forward to assembling my shelves and getting started.

Let me reiterate on the cheap (inexpensive) shop lights - you may have to shop around to find them. Home Depot stores don't necessarily carry the same things in each store - is that weird or what? I got all my lights at one particular HD but when I went to another one a few miles apart and was looking for the same brand and couldn't find it, a clerk explained to me that they don't carry the same thing. Yikes!!

Anyway the lights (Lithonia) I got last year were less than $8, this year they went up in price but are still less than $9.

Make sure you get the lights with a long cord (6 foot) and have 3 prongs. I bought cheap fixtures before from Sam's or Wal-Mart that had 6 inch cords and ended up paying as much for extension cords.

As for bulbs: warm, cool, grow, full spectrum, etc. should do fine. If you are growing for showing then you might want to invest in some premium lights, else if you are just trying to get most of your plants through the winter, el-cheapo should be fine. I picked the middle of the road and bought them in bulk (10 to a box) which might save you some bucks. Basically it comes down to about $2 a tube. Don't get the 34 watt bulbs unless you have 34 watt fixtures - they just don't work. Get the 40 watt bulbs.

So my cost for a shoplight with two cool white bulbs was around $13 per fixture.

Again if you want the best in lights get HID (I don't own any, never have, but I won't say never will). Supposedly these are next to best thing ( the sun). If you want to grow tomatoes or other illegal crops, get these but be prepared to shell out some bigger bucks. They cover a much larger area than shop lights because they are so bright.

Here are a couple of sites with HID. There are plenty of retailers for basically the same products.

http://homeharvest.com/SunburstCompactMetalHalide.htm

http://www.littlegreenhouse.com/accessory/lights2.shtml

Wow -- the price is certainly staggering!

Menards has a variety of prices from $29 and under. I only saw cool lights, so that's what I'm going with. I only need them long enough to get plants going before planting outside in May.

The 4' chrome shelf plus 4' lights, although the most cost efficient, are a very tight squeeze in my NYC apartment. Were I to go with 36" shelving, will the following lights serve my purposes until I can plant outdoors in May? Is the 30W a concern?

http://www.menardsonlinecollections.com/catalog/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441774784&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302024238&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302024097&bmUID=1170169846695

Don't know if that link will work: those are 36" 2-30W Fluorescent Strip lights from Menards for $41.83. The price is not ideal - I'll keep looking. Has anyone seen anything?

These types of projects are difficult to pull off in the city, but I am determined. Thank you everyone for the great advise.

That'll work. It does seem high in price especially for strip lighting. 30W is what is used for 36" fixtures, 20W for 24".

Here is another suggestion: Get a 3 (or more) light screw-in fixture (less than $10) but this may not have a plug (see if you can find one with a plug or buy a plug). Then get the screw in fluorescent bulbs (get the 26W ones since they are equivalent to 100W incandescent). Buy the six pack to save money. Now you have 75W (or more if you bought a bigger fixture) of fluorescent light (equivalent to 300W of incandescent) in a very small space. I just put one in my wife's closet and it is bright. These bulbs cost more than the 48" tubes but they are quite compact.

Here is a picture of the light I installed in the closet.

Maybe the 34W was confusing. Most shoplights (standard 48") call for 40W but there is a new "efficient" shoplight that uses 34W. If you haven't bought the 34W fixture, then don't buy the 34W bulbs - they just flicker or are short-lived. Maybe the 40W ballast is too much for 34W bulbs.

Another consideration: Do the inexpensive 4' shop lights buzz or hum?

My setup will have to go in the kitchen/ living room, so it's important that the lights are quiet. I've seen more expensive lights specially advertised as being noiseless. Is there a noticeable difference?

No apology Just looked into this forum. Really got interested. Went to Sam's got the chrome rack $74. Menards had the shop lights with long cord $19. something. Got 3 shop lights, and a box of cool white bulbs. as I have two shop lights already. $14 something for the bulbs.10 to a box. assembled the rack last night, attached the lights tonight. Now to find enough pans to hold the excess water, for the starter pots. Don't know why I didn't do something like this sooner. Always had pans and such on counters and part of the table, put up with some guff for that but we always remained " best friends" I kind a like that way of saying it. DW will be a lot happier with this set up even though it will have to be in the kitchen, this year any way. Plans are in the works for a GH.

Really appriciate all the input from everyone. Now I'm anxious to get started Want to thank everybody ..... Russ

Way to go Russ!

Good question Peckhaus. I was eyeing the cheapest bulbs too, but don't want a lot of buzzing either.

Peckhaus,

As for a particular fluorescent light being noiseless or quieter than others, that is something you will have to decide for yourself. Some fluorescents do have flicker - a lot of times that means the bulb (possibly ballast) needs replacing. It's a trade-off on price, performance, and wading through the hype.

I have noticed some buzz after replacing a celing light (part of a fan kit) with fluorescent bulbs. It isn't really the bulbs that are making the buzz but rather the dimmer switches I replaced the standard switch with. It isn't loud per se, but if you are close to the switch then you do notice a low buzz coming from it. Since we don't use the overhead that much, it is something we can live with. If it became a huge problem, I'd probably replace the switch first since I like the brightness of the fluorescent better than incandescent and they last so much longer (and of course more efficient).

Russ,

What are you growing? Send pictures.

The cheapest, and to me the easiest is a set from Wall-Mart, they are heavy plastic, comes in three tier, you can use all three or just one or two as they come apart, I drilled a small hole in the top to hang the lights, lights also were cheap at Wall-Mart. sorry I deleted my pictures.

The lights I got were called resi-tronic /instant on . low noise (Performance Utility Light)
I don't even hear as much as click when turned on ( admittedly my hearing isn't the best)
I have tinitus rather bad; like an orchestra of crickets, peepers and grasshoppers. but when I listen Its only the high pitch that I miss. That comes from years of being a construction equipment
mechanic.
I will be using the rack setup mostly for garden vedgies. for early start,/ cabbage family, maters/
sweet taters. Right now there is very little on the rack. Not really worthy of a pic. just yet.
It is the rack like hcmcdole, has , 6 shelves w/casters. Another thing I like on it is that it came with a poly inlay for each shelf, which will make for a smoother shelf, than just the bare shelves.
Of course I will have some of the house plants on it too, as there is no sense not useing it when it isn't full of vedgie plants. Russ

kareoke;
I too looked longingly at those but I have one in a closit that I use for a pantry. it was very easy to put together but no casters was not as solid as the chrome one. I also looked at another one in Sams, made by Gorrilla really heavy duty same size shelves and only $57. but no casters and it was 84" tall. I don't remember the weight per shelf right now , it did have steel shelves. If I had a G/H I would probably opted for that one, as I would not have to move it for a very long time.
The chrome one D/W can move if need be she helped pick it out and that is why we went with the chrome one. also the chrome one has a support brace under each shelf to hang the lights.

Thanks again to everyone for sharing and posting pic's Russ

Lost this post for a while; hcmdole I finally got some flats loaded. and took some pics, only one was decient as, I took them against the light. of the window. Russ

I have crome shelves also. We bought the cheap shop lights and use one cool and one warm light in each fixture. I went online to a restraurant supply site and bought cafeteria trays to put under the plants. They work well. I didn't notice any increase in the electric bill. I really enjoy mine all winter. Lou

Hi Lou;
Missed ya. I just got tired of getting single plants. Thought I would try starting from seed. May be a little late in life but money is shorter now. RIGHT???? Oh got a funny for you. when we called the kids, the next morning they couldn't figure out why we were so far off track, they had thought we got lost LOL
Barb wasn't too sure of makeing any side trips, but as it turned out we both enjoyed the trip. We'll have to do it again some time. Let you know if we do.

Hi Russ, I see you found the thread.

I wish mine was built and set up. I reread most of this thread and am glad I did. I forgot I wanted to make sure I got quiet lights if possible. Menards still have shop lights on sale with a pull chain, but I'm in no hurry to get any yet. I'd just have to store them somewhere.

I brought in some garden dirt to warm up and am going to try Eunonymus seeds I got from a neighbor's tree. My cat tore out the tip cutting that had rooted. Grrr!

Yup just checked and Menards still has the special on the lights at $9.97 after a $4.00 rebate. through the 25th. I think I may get a couple more. as I hung two shelves with two lights per. Seems to be working better. Waaa rebate only for 2. My daughter may have to buy two. Heh Heh She can use $8.bucks.
The lights are quiet which is good. They do have the pull chain. although I pluged mine into a power strip and just use the switch on that.
So far I have sprouted kohl rabi, some moon flowers and a whole bunch of that stinking water grass, or fox tail whatever it is. Oh well since it hasn't gone to seed it's going in the compost. Green manure right???

Right! I'd make a phone call to the dirt makers. Might get a free bag of new and improved!

I haven't started any garden stuff yet. I have the calander marked with the 12, 8, and 6 weeks till last frost date. I'm generous with May because Memorial Day is usually frigid!

billyporter;
Which Eunonymus is that? I went to plant files. There are a lot of differing from trees to schrubs to a vine. I know you said tree, so I tried looking at just trees, very few for Z 3,4 or 5. Was just curoius, wandered if it would be one we would be interested in. Might find some seeds to trade.
Russ

I winter sowed some seeds this year for the first time. I have tried starting indoors, but never had any luck getting the seedings acclimated to outdoors. I usually lost them all. Randponder I hope your seeds do well. Hope you get out this way again and we can have a real visit. Your plant stands look like they will be just the thing to start your seeds off well. Let us know how they do. Lou

There aren't any Menards near me for those quiet shop lights. Is there a way to tell (without plugging them in) whether a shop light is quiet? Should I assume it is noisy unless it says it is quiet? We bought some at HD, but I haven't opened the packages yet. I know I can open them and try them, but I'd rather return them unopened if I know they'll be noisy.

The ones I purchased from Wall-Mart are so quiet you don't know they are on, I think it is the timer they are pluged into that sometimes makes the noise