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Well, Sailor, I wish you lived close enough to us so we could fix you up with a grow facility. I made one for my older daughter using 1" square tubular steel and rigged the light so the height could be changed easily. I don't have any pictures of it though. I think I built that about 20 years ago.
My father built me my first seed starting set up years ago. It was an A frame built out of wood that could be put up and down each year. The top row was wide enough for one shop light, the second row was wide enough for 2 shop lights, and the bottom was wide enough for 3. I was using it up through 2006, when I finally admitted I needed more room.
It was hard to quite using that old A frame. When I started working on that shelving unit I have now was when Dad started getting very sick from the cancer. I couldn't bear to take that rickety thing down, but Dad thought the steel shelving unit was safer from a fire safety perspective and kept calling me with suggestions as I figured out what I wanted to do. I'd come home and there would be a message on the answering machine with no hello or anything, just "there's a foil insulation you can get at Lowe's that has a fire safety rating, and I think you should use it under the seed starting mats. The foil will reflect more light from the fluorescents, too." *click*"...and if the seeds aren't warm enough, you can wrap that insulation around each shelf" *click*
Yep, I put insulation under my flats. The heat nmats are all disconnected now though as germination is complete. I always put two seeds in each 4" pot and most of those germinate. I'll let them get further along and then re-pot. I'll have plants running out my ears, but I think I can unload the extras at church. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to buy some more 4" pots though.
I went to the co-op today to pick up a few thing's.They threw in a free pack of seed their choice.I got canterbury Bell's(cup and saucer mix) I will have to google them.Can't wait to get them started maybe tomorrow when the rain's gone.
My father built me my first seed starting set up years ago. It was an A frame built out of wood that could be put up and down each year. The top row was wide enough for one shop light, the second row was wide enough for 2 shop lights, and the bottom was wide enough for 3. I was using it up through 2006, when I finally admitted I needed more room.
It was hard to quite using that old A frame. When I started working on that shelving unit I have now was when Dad started getting very sick from the cancer. I couldn't bear to take that rickety thing down, but Dad thought the steel shelving unit was safer from a fire safety perspective and kept calling me with suggestions as I figured out what I wanted to do. I'd come home and there would be a message on the answering machine with no hello or anything, just "there's a foil insulation you can get at Lowe's that has a fire safety rating, and I think you should use it under the seed starting mats. The foil will reflect more light from the fluorescents, too." *click*"...and if the seeds aren't warm enough, you can wrap that insulation around each shelf" *click*
Yep, I put insulation under my flats. The heat nmats are all disconnected now though as germination is complete. I always put two seeds in each 4" pot and most of those germinate. I'll let them get further along and then re-pot. I'll have plants running out my ears, but I think I can unload the extras at church. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to buy some more 4" pots though.
Randy you should ask around at church, friends, etc to see if they have any 4" pots laying around that they don't want any more.Maybe put a notice up at church, and other places. I put a sign on the side of the road 2 summers ago saying "wanted 4" & 6" plastic plant pots" and ppl dropped them off. I also had ppl drop them off last summer and I didn't even have the sign up. People would rather give them to some one to use instead of recycling/trashing them. I have 100's of them now to wash up and use when I dig up plants in the garden to sell on the side of the road. I was going to put a thing on freecycle or craig's list for them but never had to do that. People even brought back the empty pots for me to reuse again once they planted the plants they bought from me. I have even put a request on freecycle for canning jars and got some instead of having to buy them. I do love those white plastic covers that you turned me on to when I was out there. I use them all the time and my mom does too.
I'll have to look into that, Laurie. I like those lids too. They won't work for canning lids, but you can use them when using the jars for freezing foods. Of course the jars have to be those that are tapered for freezing.
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