Please post pics of your indoor seed starting setups.

[wbpdeer]

I have built two indoor grow boxes - one in 2015 and the second in 2016. I improved my lights and how they are adjusted in the 2016 version. I now use a section of wood to tie two of my shop lights together. I also use PVC conduit at the top to slide the lights length wise if I need to do so.

My 2016 grow box holds 8 trays of rootmaker 18s which is 144 cells. I can step inside this grow box and stand upright. It has a Styrofoam Shell to help manage the temps to an appropriate level.

I use long ropes to go from the eye bolt on the wood and runs up to the top of the grow box and back down. I can quickly adjust the end of each pair of lights. This is faster and more effective than my 2015 version.

I will show a photo for your viewing.

 

[wbpdeer]

A close up of my shop lights tied together and how the rope comes back down to the eyebolt in the wood.

The big long loop of rope allows precise adjustment to be completed quickly. Remember my individual cells that have plants can be relocated anywhere which allows me to group by height.



At the top of the photo, you will see the rope is thicker. That is because there are two sections of rope - not one. The rope begins at the eyebolt and goes straight up to the conduit at the top of the grow box and over the conduit and back down to the first 6 inches of rope above the eyebolt. At that point I have a loop in the rope that the end of the rope goes thru and I create a knot at that point.

What is the reflection about? I use Mylar to reflect the light back to the plants. I believe it helps them stay straighter and helps their girth. I am paying for the light energy and I want all of it going to my plants as I can get. I use push pins to hold the Mylar to the Styrofoam Board.

Hope this gives you some ideas.

 

[wbpdeer]

Folks,

CAS_Hntr sure has a great way to collect the water that drains thru his rootmaker 18s. I like the way he is using his plastic to collect the water. He has a normal concrete basement floor. Less mess and a better use of the water.

In my 2016 grow box, I have plastic on the floor (gravel floor) to collect the overflow water. It evaporates inside the grow box which helps the humidity.

If you are in a setting like CAS has - use his plastic method - I believe he has it right for that situation.

 

[Mitch123]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mitch123]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mitch123]

My grow box. Lights are fixed on top of the box. After making my ledge, the seedlings are starting to pop up more and more each day. As of now from the lights to the plants that have sprouted is about 8 inches. Soon, I’m going to have to drop these down as they are growing like wildfire! The box stays at a temperature around 65-75. This is my first year growing and next year already have new ideas about my box! Hopefully get a 50 percent success rate this year and I will be thrilled!


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[Keith Nehrke]

I love everyone's setup, but I want to make sure that newbies realize that it isn't that hard to get these things to grow. I'd hate to have somebody get scared off because they don't have a sophisticated grow box.

Good potting substrate and a window will do the trick to start. Air pruning containers certainly help in the long run. After the nuts germinate, I move the seedlings to the basement under T5 lights (regular shop lights work, too). I adjust the lights using quick cinch canoe straps hung from the rafters on nails...easy, peasy. I like to use rain water over tap water, but if I do use tap water I put it into a 5 gallon bucket with a tablespoon of vinegar (for pH) and let it sit for a few days first. When watering, I move a flat of RM18 over a basement sink, but I don't collect the "runoff". 16 weeks later, the plants get acclimated and moved outside in 1 gallon RM pots. Where I'm located, that's the biggest hit to their first year growth, since we can still get frost in May.

 

[Fishman]

Here is my setup. These are a few acorns that started to sprout in the fridge about two weeks ago. Countless hours of thought and time went into this setup. I really like to over engineer things if possible. This is my window at my office. I was surprised yesterday when I saw top growth from acorns that have only been out of the fridge for two weeks. I am still not sure what my long term plans are for these trees, but I am thinking about moving them outside during work hours to get unfiltered sunlight.


[url=https://flic.kr/p/22BnBCe][/url]

 

[TreeDaddy]

Attaboy,Fishman

I love the simplicity

bill

 

[Fishman]

Here is what I set up last week for my son's science experiment that I chronicle here. This light setup belonged to my grandmother and I remember her having it in the 1980s for growing African violets. My parents brought it over last weekend for the science project. It has another light setup for the bottom that I did not install since I won't be using it. I should be able to start everything outside at the beginning of March. While I think my grandmother bought this setup, you could probably build something similar with PVC.