Add one wire shelf, 8 shop lights, 16 fluorescent tubes, a couple of multi-plug extension cords and an inexpensive timer and what do you get? A seed starting set up! I’ve seen shelves like this in garden catalogues and drooled over them, and then cringed at their price (some of them are nearly $300 plus shipping!!). Armed with an idea of what I wanted and a coupon to my favorite home improvement store, I bought the supplies for half the price of the garden catalog variety, and I avoided shipping. I highly recommend having a friend help you set this up, however, as it is no fun to break a light bulb, but lots of fun to work together.
What kinds of bulbs should you use? I thought that a full spectrum bulb would work best, but they're expensive. So I did a little search and found out from the University of Minnesota that plain old shop lights work just as well. I then double checked that information against the wise sages of the Gardener's Forum and found that most folks there say the same thing: don't waste your money on expensive lights for seedlings (now, if you're trying to grow plants throughout the season, that might be a little different). Also, if you notice your seedlings are growing away from one of your bulbs, replace it if you can. You want your little darlings to grow as straight and evenly as possibly. I laugh to my cowboy that he will never have a shortage of lights for his workbench as he’s got all the seed starting leftover bulbs to use.
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