Hey Y'all,
I'm in the process of building a growshelf for some of my plants. I've been looking at the forums and I really like the wire shelves people are using. I've kept aquariums for MANY years and knowing that the 4' bulbs for my 75 gallon are easier to find than the 3' bulbs for my 135 gallon, I decided to buy a 4 foot shelf.
I found a hydroponics store in the area and picked up a nice roll of mylar that I'm going to use around the shelf to reflect the light back on to the plants. I'm planning on fastening that onto one side of a shower curtain to make it a little more durable. I'm anticipating that there will be some water building up on the mylar from condensation and misting and our friend gravity will pull it down. This leads to my first question:
1) Has anyone tried to use anything to catch water underneath their growshelves? Boot trays? Oil pans? Etc? Any suggestions?
I've done several searches through the forums and I've gone through so many posts that my eyes are starting to cross. I didn't have to work this hard to write one of my college research papers for my linguistics classes.
2) While I was at the hydroponics store, I saw these nifty little T5 flourescent light fixtures. I've tried to do some research on them as well and I haven't been able to find a good comparison between the T5's, T8's, and T12's. Is the added expense of T5's worth the difference in light output? I've read so much on lighting that my brain is sore...
I'm in the process of building a growshelf for some of my plants. I've been looking at the forums and I really like the wire shelves people are using. I've kept aquariums for MANY years and knowing that the 4' bulbs for my 75 gallon are easier to find than the 3' bulbs for my 135 gallon, I decided to buy a 4 foot shelf.
I found a hydroponics store in the area and picked up a nice roll of mylar that I'm going to use around the shelf to reflect the light back on to the plants. I'm planning on fastening that onto one side of a shower curtain to make it a little more durable. I'm anticipating that there will be some water building up on the mylar from condensation and misting and our friend gravity will pull it down. This leads to my first question:
1) Has anyone tried to use anything to catch water underneath their growshelves? Boot trays? Oil pans? Etc? Any suggestions?
I've done several searches through the forums and I've gone through so many posts that my eyes are starting to cross. I didn't have to work this hard to write one of my college research papers for my linguistics classes.
2) While I was at the hydroponics store, I saw these nifty little T5 flourescent light fixtures. I've tried to do some research on them as well and I haven't been able to find a good comparison between the T5's, T8's, and T12's. Is the added expense of T5's worth the difference in light output? I've read so much on lighting that my brain is sore...