It's kind of fitting to, it being Earth Day and all...
(Please excuse the bad lighting in the photos...
its in a dark part of the house)
here is the finished product with lights and seedling trays already planted... it has three growing shelves and can accommodate 6 conventional seedling trays...
I used 3/4" douglas fir plywood for the top, bottom and shelves, and used the KREG joinery to attach them to the 2x4 frame...
the lighting on each shelf is made up of two banks of fluorescent shop fixtures, for a total of four 40W T12 Daylight bulbs... connected by a 2x2, each is hanging from hooks and chains that allow one to easily adjust the height... very low cost and very effective...
seedling of an Obedient Plant (Physostegia virginiana 'White Crown')
seedlings of a Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
Construction Costs:
2x4s (x 8) @ $20
4x8 sheet 3/4" douglas fir plywood (x 1) @ $30
box of 1 1/4" KREG screws (x 1) @ $5
Shop lights (x 4) @ $60
Daylight bulbs (x 8) @ $36
Small hooks (x 8) @ $3
Small chain @ $2
screw-type leveling legs (x 4) @ $5
Total cost, depending on current supplies: $161
(I only needed to buy the 2x4s, screws and plywood this year, as the rest I had already )
This cost is pretty good when you compare it to similar quality store bought versions such as this one from Lee Valley for $689, plus $200 for the Verilux bulbs...
My design may not look as nice, but is probably a whole lot sturdier... I have had a lot of success with these daylight bulbs (6500k) (at least for seedlings), but I have never used the Verilux bulbs, so I cannot compare results... but at six times the price, for most people this would be cost prohibitive... and for what benefit I am not sure...
It's good to get my seedling bench up and running again, and for as little cost as possible is just a bonus!
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