# Grow light kits



## Grizz (Jan 24, 2010)

We are looking for a grow light kit as our growing season is pretty short in our corner of California. Our plan is to set a kit up in our attic. We have a very spacious attic, and think this is our best lace. Looking to gain 30 or so days of growing prior to transplanting out in the garden. I understand that this won't work for all of our plants but will help with many others. We have lost to much of our garden to planting to early frosts and late winters. We hate losing any fruits or vegetables. We have a 50x50 garden and will be expanding. Any help would be appreciated.


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## Marcus (May 13, 2012)

I suspect you're likely to be visited by some folks after the IR-equipped helo/police cruiser visits your area.


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## Grizz (Jan 24, 2010)

*I don't care, as I work with them daily.*

Yeah i figure the extra heat in the attic will keep the house warmer.


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## PackerBacker (Dec 13, 2012)

My best light setups are homemade from whatever 4' "shop lights" I can pickup from Menards on sale over winter. I use 3 tandem fixtures per set. 

I screw them to 5' long 1x8s and screw them to two 2' long 2x12 legs.

I have these stacked 4 high right now fitting 16 1020 trays.


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## kappydell (Nov 27, 2011)

I have had good luck with plain old shop lights too, PB. They make nicer plant starts for the garden than I have ever been able to buy - my planting area was about 40-50 degrees - coolness made the plants very stocky as did keeping them close to the lights. Worked like a charm and much cheaper! I even grew mini tomatoes under the lights ("Microtom" it was called - grew 8 inches tall) but had to put the tomatoes on a window sill to ripen them. The shop lights worked very nicely for herbs and leafy edibles, too.


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## siletz (Aug 23, 2011)

I use the 4 foot shop lights to start my veggies as well. I read once to put one "cool" bulb in and one "warm" bulb in to give more of the light spectrum to the plants. That's what I've done and it works great. My husband built me a frame out of PVC pipes and I hang the lights from chains so they can be raised or lowered. The lights should only be a few inches from the top of the plants to keep them nice stocky plants. Also, switch which plants are at the lightbulb's ends as the light is not as intense at the ends. Many plants want it warmer to sprout, but then cooler growing keeps them from getting leggy. I give them a heat mat just until they sprout, then under the lights.


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## emilysometimes (Oct 6, 2011)

I've been thinking about getting some grow lights to grow some herbs and tomatoes inside. In the summer our back yard (we're in the 'burbs) gets full sun from 11am to 7pm and everything we've tried to grow out there has burned up and died the last two years. It's just been too hot. Even the mature trees planted along the fence died this year. I'm hoping to have better luck growing some things inside. For someone who comes from generations and generations of farmers, I have the worst time getting anything to grow.


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## PackerBacker (Dec 13, 2012)

emilysometimes said:


> I've been thinking about getting some grow lights to grow some herbs and tomatoes inside. In the summer our back yard (we're in the 'burbs) gets full sun from 11am to 7pm and everything we've tried to grow out there has burned up and died the last two years. It's just been too hot. Even the mature trees planted along the fence died this year. I'm hoping to have better luck growing some things inside. For someone who comes from generations and generations of farmers, I have the worst time getting anything to grow.


Have you tried some shade clothes?


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## emilysometimes (Oct 6, 2011)

No, but I just googled that and we will this summer! Thank you!


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## GaryS (Nov 15, 2011)

My experience with grolux lighting has been less satisfying than I had hoped. They are fine for sprouting and for the first couple weeks of growth so you can get a jump on the growing season. However, once the plants got big enough to demand more light, the artificial light couldn't keep up unless several more lights were added.

Getting an early start on spring was great, but the financial tradeoff wasn't worth doing more than that. It didn't take long for the cost of electricity to exceed the price of store-bought lettuce when trying to grow it in winter.


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## lilmissy0740 (Mar 7, 2011)

Siletz, I would like to see a pic of your set up. I have a lean-to and have my lights on the wall. Can't suspend them from the lean-to.


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## ilovetigger (Aug 10, 2011)

I have never used grow lights.............simply use sunlight from the windows and a folding table placed in front of it. This is the first year I am gonna try a mini greenhouse to move them outside a little sooner. I'll let you know how it goes.


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## siletz (Aug 23, 2011)

lilmissy0740 said:


> Siletz, I would like to see a pic of your set up. I have a lean-to and have my lights on the wall. Can't suspend them from the lean-to.


My husband made this out of 3/4" PVC pipes and connectors. It fits 2 shop lights per shelf with 2 shelves. I like how easy it is to adjust the height of the lights as the plants grow.


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## lilmissy0740 (Mar 7, 2011)

Thanks for the picture, I love that idea. 

What is everyone's growing medium?


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## tommixx (Dec 10, 2012)

I use 2 lamp 4ft fixtures with 1 warm white lamp and 1 day light lamp you get the same as a grow light been using here in montana for years with good results. I start my plants here i feb.


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## PackerBacker (Dec 13, 2012)

lilmissy0740 said:


> Thanks for the picture, I love that idea.
> 
> What is everyone's growing medium?


I mix (roughly) 6 parts compost, 6 parts peat moss, and 1 part perlite.

I get prescreened compost from a local muni.


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## Locutus (Apr 24, 2012)

If you opt for shop light fixtures to save money, buy both cool white and warm white fluorescent tubes. Use them in combination, one each per two-tube shop light fixture. This gives you a wider spectrum of light, with the cool white leaning towards blue, and the warm white leaning more towards red. Keep them suspended close to your seedlings, within a couple of inches. Use two or three fixtures per shelf. Also helpful is a timer so you can give your seedlings a rest of up to 8 hours. You might also want to drape a Mylar emergency blanket around your shelving to reflect the light and maximize the amount of light your seedlings can absorb.


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## PackerBacker (Dec 13, 2012)

Why not just use the grow lux bulbs folks?


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

Any shop lights should do for starting transplants, cool white tend to have more light in the photosynthesis spectrum last I checked. If you want plants to flower or fruit you will definitely want a better spectrum and probably more intensity. For that the best bet right now is compact florescent, they are often more efficient than the tubes now and much more intense which is what you need for actual production.
I have grown tomatoes indoors using just the shop lights and grow bulbs (different brands) but they really should have more intensity.
Remember to keep the bulbs as close as you can without burning the plants, to get the most out of your lights.


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## Jim1590 (Jul 11, 2012)

You can also get a bulb for aquariums that are designed for plant growth


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