To help this process along I purchased the Fluorowing 125 watt CFL grow light at amazon.com. The total cost for the light - ballast, 125w bulb, mounting hooks and hood - was $47.91 and can be found here.
I chose the CFL because the lower wattage translates directly to less energy usage and a lower electricity bill at the end of the month. Despite their low wattage they still put out a whopping 7,000 lumens.
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| I just turned this puppy on and it's bright people - like daylight bright. |
I have several adjustable stainless steel shelving units lying around in the basement which I think I can convert pretty easily to an adjustable mount for the light to hang on. Moving the shelf every time I want to raise or lower the light may prove to be a nuisance but you can't beat the price. They do sell the adjustable ratchet straps here for $12.91 but I am going to try the jerry-rigged version first.
One of the advantages of this type of light is that it does not put off a lot of heat so it won't burn the seedlings and you can hang the light only a few inches away, intensifying the output on the plants. The tradeoff is that you have less area underneath the light to put plants.
I'm using the basement as my make-shift nursery so that means some major re-organization and re-purposing.
--Day 2--
I cleared an area in the basement, but now I'm concerned that it's too cold down there to germintae the seeds so I will keep them in the kitchen for now. My plan for today was to assemble the shelving so I can install the light.
As is often the case, life has other plans for me which include shoveling snow for several hours in order to get my car out of the driveway.
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| Since there's normally a 6" step down outside my door I'd say we got just about 6". |
It's always a magical feeling when you wake up to a snow covered world so I will take it as the gift that it is and enjoy the snow day with my daughter who is sure to be thrilled when she wakes up.
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