Demosouthpaw
Cool Member
Posts: 97
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 9:57 am
Location: Central Florida

My grow light setup w/pics

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.
It began with an empty space.
It began with an empty space.
I was inspired my those medieval drawbridges, hence the chains supporting light support fixture.
I was inspired my those medieval drawbridges, hence the chains supporting light support fixture.
WP_20140131_006.jpg (19.63 KiB) Viewed 1402 times
With lights mounted
With lights mounted
Added aluminum foil to reflect more light back.  And did some serious cable management.
Added aluminum foil to reflect more light back. And did some serious cable management.
WP_20140201_004.jpg (23.33 KiB) Viewed 1402 times
The final product
The final product

User avatar
rainbowgardener
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 25279
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: TN/GA 7b

Very nice, but I'm thinking your plants may do better if the lights could be a little closer to them.

User avatar
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. :P )

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.

affgar
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. :P

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! :)

Demosouthpaw
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. :P )

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.

Demosouthpaw
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. :P

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.

Demosouthpaw
Cool Member
Posts: 97
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 9:57 am
Location: Central Florida

Thanks for your comments guys, very insightful and helpful.

User avatar
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. :D
affgar wrote:little directional hood to concentrate the light down
-- 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.

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.

Demosouthpaw
Cool Member
Posts: 97
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 9:57 am
Location: Central Florida

Update!

Built a bench to bring the herbs and fruits closer to the light. As before I used material I had laying around the house.
WP_20140203_031.jpg
WP_20140203_031.jpg (27.08 KiB) Viewed 1362 times
WP_20140203_030.jpg
WP_20140203_030.jpg (25.67 KiB) Viewed 1362 times
WP_20140203_029.jpg

baileysup
Green Thumb
Posts: 435
Joined: Fri Nov 12, 2010 11:04 am
Location: NE-PA(Zone 6a-5b)

That setup is HOT. I may have to do something similar in the future. Love it



Return to “Container Gardening Forum”