I've been wanting to have an herb garden grow in my kitchen for awhile now. Something that I can just pluck rosemary, oregano, or any other herb right off the counter and throw it in my cooking.
With some planning and alot more improvising I came up with this. It was a fun project and thought I share my setup with you guys. I'm using 4 t8's the two on the out side are 7800k and the two on the inside I believe are 8500k. The top and bottom wooden parts were from an old table I found near the dumpster Thursday morning. I applied some sealant and reinforced it with a wooden 1x1 down the middle.
-
- Cool Member
- Posts: 97
- Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 9:57 am
- Location: Central Florida
- rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
- applestar
- Mod
- Posts: 30514
- Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
I agree -- use longer chains to lower them -- 1-2" above tope of foliage for t-12 lights, 2-3" above for t-8 and 3-4" above for t-5 lights (if I remember correctly those numbers indicate tube diameters in 1/8" increments so t-8 tubes are 1" diameter ... Something like that. Don't feel like looking up so please correctly me if got that wrong. )
The you can just raise or lower the lights as the plants grow or after harvesting, you have plenty of room for them to grow which is good. Put any shorter plants on risers to keep the top of canopy at same height.
I use waterproof covering on the surface or use waterproof materials so I can mist the plants thoroughly every morning without worrying.
The you can just raise or lower the lights as the plants grow or after harvesting, you have plenty of room for them to grow which is good. Put any shorter plants on risers to keep the top of canopy at same height.
I use waterproof covering on the surface or use waterproof materials so I can mist the plants thoroughly every morning without worrying.
-
- Full Member
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Sat Feb 01, 2014 7:28 pm
- Location: NSW, Australia
- Contact: Website
Looks very cool. Love your timber work on the floor section.
I would be inclined to agree regarding the lights. Those ones aren't going to pump out the heat or burning qualities of HPS lights ...
What do they pump out ... 50watts each or something?
How expensive is power over your way?
Here I would be inclined to buy a little led grow light for energy efficiency.
There are also some compact fluro's (cpl) that look a little interesting.
I don't know about you ... but I don't like the idea of having grow lights infiltrating my living environment. Maybe you could make a little directional hood to concentrate the light down?
Have you got a timer for the lights?
But ... every project I have ever done .. there is always something I might change after. Lol
Great Job ... Love your idea & work ... Thanks for sharing!
I would be inclined to agree regarding the lights. Those ones aren't going to pump out the heat or burning qualities of HPS lights ...
What do they pump out ... 50watts each or something?
How expensive is power over your way?
Here I would be inclined to buy a little led grow light for energy efficiency.
There are also some compact fluro's (cpl) that look a little interesting.
I don't know about you ... but I don't like the idea of having grow lights infiltrating my living environment. Maybe you could make a little directional hood to concentrate the light down?
Have you got a timer for the lights?
But ... every project I have ever done .. there is always something I might change after. Lol
Great Job ... Love your idea & work ... Thanks for sharing!
-
- Cool Member
- Posts: 97
- Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 9:57 am
- Location: Central Florida
applestar wrote:I agree -- use longer chains to lower them -- 1-2" above tope of foliage for t-12 lights, 2-3" above for t-8 and 3-4" above for t-5 lights (if I remember correctly those numbers indicate tube diameters in 1/8" increments so t-8 tubes are 1" diameter ... Something like that. Don't feel like looking up so please correctly me if got that wrong. )
The you can just raise or lower the lights as the plants grow or after harvesting, you have plenty of room for them to grow which is good. Put any shorter plants on risers to keep the top of canopy at same height.
I use waterproof covering on the surface or use waterproof materials so I can mist the plants thoroughly every morning without worrying.
Ah okay, I kind of figured the lights were too far away from the plants that's why I decided to go with putting chains to adjust the height. I'll lower the lights closer to the plants today thanks for the advice guys!
The waterproof covering is another great idea, idk why I didn't think of that one.
-
- Cool Member
- Posts: 97
- Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 9:57 am
- Location: Central Florida
affgar wrote:Looks very cool. Love your timber work on the floor section.
I would be inclined to agree regarding the lights. Those ones aren't going to pump out the heat or burning qualities of HPS lights ...
What do they pump out ... 50watts each or something?
How expensive is power over your way?
Here I would be inclined to buy a little led grow light for energy efficiency.
There are also some compact fluro's (cpl) that look a little interesting.
I don't know about you ... but I don't like the idea of having grow lights infiltrating my living environment. Maybe you could make a little directional hood to concentrate the light down?
Have you got a timer for the lights?
But ... every project I have ever done .. there is always something I might change after. Lol
Great Job ... Love your idea & work ... Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the compliment. The lights themselves are 17watts each, which comes out to being the equivalent of a 75watt incandescent in terms of light output.
I do not have a timer I just turn the lights off on all my grow benches off before bed.
Power is not that expensive here for the most part I live in a small studio apartment in roughly at 40-80buks a month and I have 6other t8's that run all day plus two small computer fans I rigged together to provide airflow. (I might do a DIY on how to make a cheap computer fan run on a/c electricity)
So in reality its not that expensive.
-
- Cool Member
- Posts: 97
- Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 9:57 am
- Location: Central Florida
- applestar
- Mod
- Posts: 30514
- Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
You are welcome. This kind of project is a lot of fun.
The disadvantage of this set up is that the foliage canopy needs to be the same height for the entire area of the canvas, as opposed to yours which will allow for some shorter and taller plants depending on which fixture they are under.
-- I have a set up with t-5 fixtures like your (T-8?) for which I used an inexpensive pre-stretched white artists canvas. I secured the light fixtures on the wood frame through the white canvas side and put hardware for hanging on the wooden frame on the back. This way the light is reflected by the white canvas and you just raise and lower the frame.affgar wrote:little directional hood to concentrate the light down
The disadvantage of this set up is that the foliage canopy needs to be the same height for the entire area of the canvas, as opposed to yours which will allow for some shorter and taller plants depending on which fixture they are under.
-
- Cool Member
- Posts: 97
- Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 9:57 am
- Location: Central Florida