DIY Seed Starting: A Beginner’s Guide to Building Your Own Light Stand
Building your own seed starting light stand is simple, inexpensive, and can help you start and grow all of your vegetable and flower plants from seed indoors. It is a great way to grow unique or hard-to-find varieties for a fraction of the cost of store-bought transplants. Starting seeds indoors may seem intimidating, but building a light stand is easy and doesn’t require expensive equipment or a lot of space. Here’s how to build your own seed starting light stand, how to use it, and how many plants you can grow.
Building a Simple Seed Starting Light Stand
To build a simple seed starting light stand, you will need a few basic tools: a tape measure, a drill with a 1/8” drill bit, a power screwdriver, and a saw that can make straight cuts through a 2x4. You will also need five 2x4x8s. You can find complete step-by-step building plans on Etsy. The finished size of the stand is 24"(H) x 24"(W) x 51"(L), making it small enough to fit in tight spaces.
Four legs support the top of the seed rack with cleats made from 2x4s that are stacked and screwed together. The top frame is made with 2x4s and sits on top of the legs, making a stand incredibly sturdy. The strong 2x4 frame allows two ordinary 4' fluorescent or LED shop lights to hang easily from the top over the plants. You can adjust the lights over the plants as they grow using simple “S” hooks and chains.
How Many Plants Can You Grow?
With this stand, you can grow up to two flats of plants, making it perfect for those with small to mid-sized gardens. A flat can grow anywhere from 36 to 72 plants, so a two-flat seed starting rack produces a lot of plants. If you want to start even more seeds, you can build a large, four-shelf seed starting light stand, which can hold up to 12 total flats of plants.
How to Use a Seed Starting Light Stand to Start Seeds
Growing seedlings on a windowsill don’t create vigorous seedlings because the sunlight coming through a window is too far away. Seedlings grown with this method end up thin and weak, trying to stretch to the light. However, with a seed starting stand, the lights can be hung directly over the plants. As the plants grow, the lights can be adjusted with the plants.
You don’t need fancy or expensive grow lights for vegetable and flower seedlings. The light spectrum needed for starting seeds is fundamental. However, tropical and specialty plants may require special lights, but vegetable and flower seedlings do not. Ordinary and quite affordable 4' LED or fluorescent shop lights are sufficient for great growing success.
Standard 4' long, 40-watt, cool white T-8 or T-25 fluorescent lights were used on light stands for years. LED shop lights have recently been used because they last longer, don’t have the annoying low-humming noise of fluorescent lights, and are inexpensive to operate. Whatever light choice you use, it’s essential to keep the bulbs about 1.5 to 2" above the top foliage of the plants as they grow. This allows the plants to grow slowly and powerfully.
Building a seed starting light stand is simple, inexpensive, and can help you grow unique or hard-to-find vegetable and flower varieties for a fraction of the cost of store-bought transplants. You don’t need expensive equipment, and the stand doesn’t take up a lot of space. With the ability to grow up to two flats of plants, this stand is perfect for those with small to mid-sized gardens.
In conclusion, building a seed starting light stand is an excellent way to save money, grow unique varieties, and ensure vigorous seedlings. With basic tools and materials, anyone can build a sturdy and adjustable stand to start and grow seeds indoors. Adjusting the lights as the plants grow ensures that the seedlings will be strong and healthy, ready for transplanting into the garden. This article provides a great starting point for anyone interested in building a seed starting light stands for their gardening needs.
