SPECIAL FEATURES:
Email
How to build a simple seed-starting stand
Here's an easy DIY stand with lights, so you can get your garden started before spring has even sprung.
Wed, Mar 06 2013 at 4:45 PM
Photos: Shawn Bard
Starting annual flowers and vegetables from seed indoors to get a jump start on spring sounds like a great idea until reality sets in. That’s the point when home gardeners begin to ask questions: Do I have room? Where will I put the trays so the seeds will get enough light?
Shawn Bard, a master gardener in DeKalb County, Georgia, has the answer: build a simple seed starter stand. Here’s how Shawn built hers.
She purchased inexpensive and easy-to-assemble shelves from a box store and built a three-tiered stand.
She attached rope lighting with twist ties to the shelves to provide heat under the plant trays and hung fluorescent lights with a braided nylon cord under the middle and top shelves to provide light for the seedlings.
She held the light tubes in place by feeding the cord through holes on mounting clips on both sides of the tubes and across brackets on the sides of the shelves.
Then she tied the cord to a grommet, which she positioned above the center of the light fixture, and linked the grommet to the light tube with another piece of cord so she can adjust the height of the light as the seedlings grow.
The “whole thing cost me maybe $25,” Bard said. And she even shares space on the stand with other gardening friends who want to start their seeds indoors but don’t have room for a stand of their own.
What do-it-yourself ideas are you using to start seeds indoors or to otherwise get ready for spring? Share your cool creations in the comments section.
Related stories on MNN:
- How to get free seeds for your first garden
- 17 easy-to-start seeds for beginner gardeners
- Get ready for spring gardens with DIY planters
Photos: Shawn Bard
You might also like:
Sign in with one of these accounts to add your comment.
Greg Draiss
Mar 11 2013 at 8:24 AM
The rope lights will not provide enough heat to the soil. Chance are the rope lights are LED which give off minimal heat. Also the grow lights chosen need a reflector to direct the light down.
Also one light will not be enough on each shelf as the outward placed plants will lean towards the light. If the whole project cost less than $25 that means the light bulbs themselves are not grow lights. Their poor color spectrum will cause the plants to stretch.
While the intention here is good the end result
.... More
will be poor quality plants if using the equipment mentioned here. The result: another potential gardener turned off by bad advice from a so called expert.
Greg Draiss
The real Dirt on Gardening
- Log in or register to post comments
- Report This Post
EDITORS' PICKS
Advertisement
TODAY'S MOST POPULAR ON
- Student science experiment finds plants won't grow near Wi-Fi router
- 10 cats made famous by YouTube
- 10 false facts most people think are true
- 10 gorgeous U.S. waterfront campgrounds
- Food fraud: 10 counterfeit products we commonly consume
- Is there a risk in becoming a 'bagel head'?
- 9 habits that may do more harm than good
- Bras don't actually work, says French study
- The 9 nastiest things in your supermarket
- 15 famous people who mysteriously disappeared
NEWSLETTER
Advertisement
Join the conversation