My $18 grow light

[Cole_Robbie]

I hung the light close over one flat, and the first seeds to sprout are the ones right under the bulb, which makes sense because they were getting heat from it. My room temp is about 75-80, and the other seeds are sprouting as well.

Taxi from Johnny's is the most prolific right out of the gate:
http://i.imgur.com/mz8stIs.jpg

I am using Burpee's seed starting mix from Menard's:
http://www.menards.com/main/p-2222920-c-10125.htm

I like it very much so far. The tops of the cells don't crust over like they do when I use a peat-based pro mix. The seeds are not having any problem breaking through to the surface. I did mix in some Mycogrow I had from last year.

I also used an aerated compost tea as my initial soil soak. I am sold on that technique, and plan to keep doing it. It makes everything go faster.

[crazyoldgooseman]

I love the 5 gal bucket. I used to save all I could find, My wife made me throw some away. But anyway looks like a neat set up. The 5 gal bucket thing just appeals to the redneck neck in me.

Keep us posted and thanks for sharing!

[OzoneNY]

I wired up 4 of these. I love the LED's because at 5 Watts each they only use 20 Watts.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/E27-38-138-LED-2-3-5-7W-Plant-Grow-Light-Bulb-Garden-Hydroponic-Lamp-Store0O333D_20140122035825560.jpg/310887578084?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkpa rms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3 D28773%26meid%3Ddec0073f3eb141618f3190fd6e257373%2 6pid%3D100005%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D2617295975 29&rt=nc

[schill93]

Hi Robbie. Very creative. However, I am a 75 year old woman with limited carpentry skills. But your photos lead me to think outside the box. I have a 4 ft table in that room that perhaps I could find something to put on top of to hang lights. This was the piece of furniture I was thinking I would have to get rid of to make room for a shelf system. I suppose I could make some kind of PVC frame to sit on top of it. Don't know what kind of weight it would carry.

[Cole_Robbie]

Thank you.

You might try clip lights, or any old desk lamp you can find as a grow light. Just put the biggest spiral CFL bulb in it you can find. The bulb is the most expensive part. You can order them in 250 and 350 "watt equivalent." Sometimes you will need a cheap little thing called a socket extender for a bigger bulb to fit into a smaller housing.

[waltny]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

Actually just the bulb is $18. The rest of it I scavenged from junk. I wanted to make some new lights for starting seeds.

This is the bulb:
http://www.menards.com/main/electric.../p-1856945.htm

It's a 65W, which is 200W equivalent, in "Cool White," 4200 Lumens at 4100K. Menards had a 300W equivalent, but it was in Day Light and not Cool White.

I had an old socket, but a new one is $1.71 at Lowe's:
http://www.menards.com/main/electric.../p-1856945.htm

The socket will take any normal bulb. The 150 watt equivalent cool white spiral CFL is another decent choice; it's about half the price. I wired the socket to an old cord from a computer monitor that died. I made sure to look up the carry capacity of the wire, but I am only running it at 10% of it's maximum load.

The socket is attached to a scrap of plywood with a hole cut in it from a hole saw so the bulb can poke through. My reflector is a plastic Rural King bucket cut in half. I used an oscillating saw to cut the bucket in half. A hack saw or coping saw would probably work, too.

http://i.imgur.com/4V4Kwkg.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/iPSxrM2.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/5rubq5P.jpg

By buying just the bulb and making everything else, the light ends up being 1/2 to 1/3 the cost of buying a pre-built grow light.

CFL's are now very hard to find and seems all one can find is LED. I would think one could modify this to LED flood lights for direction light and then the bucket might not even be necessary or maybe use some foam insulation board shiny side as a reflector.

[Cole_Robbie]

I have noticed that the larger CFL bulbs are no longer at Menard's.

I just looked on Amazon. Here is one:
https://www.amazon.com/250W-Equal-65...CEI/ref=sr_1_4