Is This Worth $100 ?

ducks4you

ducks4you

Garden Master
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Location
East Central IL, Was Zone 6, Now...maybe Zone 5
CORRECTION: i AM GLAD THAT YOU GOT IT!!
Here is my suggestion for anybody who doesn't get that good deal, and I am the most penny-pinching cheapskate around!
Here is a breakdown, current prices, on the materials you would need for a plant stand/seed starting area.
1) 4 ft. tall 4 tiered metal, free standing open weave shelving unit:
https://www.menards.com/main/tools-...-c-12652.htm?tid=-7541369652497842842&ipos=13
2) Grow lights. You can do 3 of them, maybe 4 if you can mount one above from the ceiling you could do that. I could probably do it, since mine is in the basement, but I used it as pot storage, instead.
https://www.menards.com/main/lighti...377-c-7490.htm?tid=8585627530866698557&ipos=4
3) Now you have to figure out the hardware to mount the grow lights. They have a place for a screw head to slide into and be stuck, but you would have to figure out if you want to buy small metal plates and buy the bolts and nuts and washers. That will take some thought, but it is a metal shelf and you will want metal. Mounting 3 grow lights may take you over an hour of sweat equity.
4) Now you will need to fiddle with the flourescent light bulb so that is connects with the circuit and stays put. That is a pain in the neck, but worth it.
I took a very old solid shelved metal free standing shelving unit, some rust on the legs, and I have ALL of my extra seed starters, the boxes for my heat mats, terra cotta pots, and various miscellanous seed starting apparatus stored there, just next to the shelving unit with the grow lights and the plants.
5) Timer. I have set a timer and I have the extension cords for the lights and heat mats plugged into it. My lights run 16 hours/day.
The BIGGEST reason I wanted this to work was bc I will be starting Brussels Sprouts in July and that is an awful time to fight weeds in a bed while direct seeding. This will give me control and let me sprout a whole...gaggle?.. of them.
Hope this helps you.
 
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