What kind of light should I get?

[Vorguen]

My garden, now kicking in gear... and I'm wondering what lights to get it?

I have a mood light I got as a wedding present I use that has given good results, but I need more now...

however, I'm broke. Any suggestions for cheap and affordable? Wal-mart? Lowes? Amazon?

where do you get your lighting? and do you know where you could get less expensive?

[DoubleDogFarm]

What a Poor Cheapskate! Hows your mood light working now??

Hey! Just kidding. I've been struggling all winter.

If you go to the "Seed Starting forum" there are some recommendations for you. I would go with a simple 4ft shop light. Florescent twin tube. I have not priced them lately, but it sounds like they are around $15.00. I buy a lot of second hand stuff at consignment stores.

Eric

[Vorguen]

lolz thank you for the tips

[hendi_alex]

I use the round reflector lights from Lowes with compact florescent lights. Each lamp with bulb costs about $8 and will cover about 1 square foot.

[Hydroponics]

You can make your own little light for propagation and seed starting by just using energy saving compact fluorescents. Get the 100w equivalent CFLs,(uses 26 watts), and get a plug to light socket converter(will be at any hardware store), plug those into a surge protector, and screw in your CFLS.

You can also get Y Splitters so you can put two bulbs in one socket. They don't use much energy and are very cheap. They can provide good vegetative growth and small flowers.

[gixxerific]

I fell ya on being broke and needing lights. When I first started my seed starting area I took two 4-light florescent from the garage to use in the basement. I have since added I got mine at lowes I actually have 2 different kinds. They were not real expensive but not super cheap either I can't remember, maybe like $30 to $40. I think they were cheaper than Wal Mart and buying online probably isn't a great idea for you right now if you are trying to keep it inexpensive since shipping will get you.

Good luck there are so many options you can choose from.

[hendi_alex]

There are so many inexpensive options, just takes a little creativity. You may find cheap used fixtures at a habitat shop. Or you could take a board or homemade box and mount three or four of the white plastic light sockets from Lowes or other hardware store. They cost a little over $1 each. So I could easily imagine a strip of four or five of those sockets mounted on an aluminum foil covered reflector shield made from wood. If made from scrap plywood and a re-purposed electrical cord , that kind of setup should cost no more than $12-$15 counting both sockets and bulbs.

[DoubleDogFarm]

Just be very careful with wiring , foil and water. I would recommend a GFCI outlet. Everything properly grounded.


Eric