Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
There is a growing number of options for artificial lighting;
unfortunately, most of these are quite expensive. Following is
my particular approach that inexpensively meets the light
needs for seedlings.
All sorts of special carts costing anywhere from $200 to
$1,000 are sold for this purpose, but with a little ingenuity
you can create a suitable contrivance, made like the one
illustrated, at very low cost.
This device is made from a simple wire rack sold in the
hardware department of Walmart for $50. Three racks hold up
to four large seed trays each, and two 48-inch shop light
fluorescent light fixtures are hung over each rack using
simple adjustable chains from the hardware store. This way,
the lights can be independently raised and lowered to keep
them the right distance above the plants as they grow. The six
lights (or fewer if you don't need them all) are plugged into
an electric outlet strip that is plugged into a timer. Each light
holds two 40-watt 48-inch fluorescent tubes.
