Indoor shelves and lighting

[vktr]

This is my current setup, all the plants are on the floor and they take a lot of horizontal space



Tried to organize it a bit vertically and ordered this from amazon, turned out to be a total joke, very flimsy and defective (how can they sell that sh*t?)



How do you manage to keep lights close to the plants and keep the setup compact? Any ideas will be appreciated.

 

[Tutu]

No experience with doing things indoor but this setup looks really cool!

 

[johnny108]

This is my current setup, all the plants are on the floor and they take a lot of horizontal space

View attachment 59187

Tried to organize it a bit vertically and ordered this from amazon, turned out to be a total joke, very flimsy and defective (how can they sell that sh*t?)

View attachment 59190

How do you manage to keep lights close to the plants and keep the setup compact? Any ideas will be appreciated.

I bought a cheap miniature greenhouse off of Amazon, and just left the plastic cover off.
It's just flimsy plastic tubing and connectors, but, it's strong enough to hold seedling trays, small pots, and lights.
It also has a pretty small footprint.

My window, balcony and garden: 2025

New seed starting lights have made a world of difference for my seedlings! And giving full strength triple-20 after the 1st true leaves appear seems to work just fine!

forum.wholeleaftobacco.com

 

[Wombat_smokes]

I built my seedling shelf with scrap lumber and hang the lights with small chains easily cut with strong wire dikes (pliers/cutter). You could make an ok shelf with schedule 40 PVC and some plywood or use a wire "bakers rack".




The lights I'm using are inexpensive (not cheap) from Amazon. They've working good. The biggest complaint about them, however, is longevity. Some folks didn't get more than 2 years out of them. We'll see how we'll this investment turns out.

 

[StoneCarver]

I use these for my shelving. https://www.uline.com/Product/Detai...elving/Chrome-Wire-Shelving-Unit-48-x-18-x-63
I use three of the shelves for lights/plants. Mostly for cactus plants though. I move some of the cacti out of the way when I'm getting my outdoor garden plants going in spring.
Since my cactus plants are permanently indoors, I'm running the lights all year. Since the lights are leds, I don't really notice the bump in the electric bill.
The SpiderFarmer lights I have were so bright, even for the cacti, I had to wire in a dimmer for them.

 

[vktr]

I use these for my shelving. https://www.uline.com/Product/Detai...elving/Chrome-Wire-Shelving-Unit-48-x-18-x-63
I use three of the shelves for lights/plants. Mostly for cactus plants though. I move some of the cacti out of the way when I'm getting my outdoor garden plants going in spring.
Since my cactus plants are permanently indoors, I'm running the lights all year. Since the lights are leds, I don't really notice the bump in the electric bill.
The SpiderFarmer lights I have were so bright, even for the cacti, I had to wire in a dimmer for them.

I have similar shelves from costco in my garage and basement, and they are great for storage. They are massive, wouldn't want to put one of them in the kitchen where the plants get some natural light, nor in the basement where they would get none. Thanks for the input!

 

[StoneCarver]

They are massive, wouldn't want to put one of them in the kitchen

They do make them in various sizes and set ups. Its almost mind boggling. Mine are 4foot length which makes them ideal for 4foot length lights. Still, the Spiderfarmer lights were over kill which is why I needed a dimmer.