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Building plant rack

*this post is not spell checked, I'm too hyper to wait for word to load*
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I got $500 to build a proper home for my plants for x-mas! I'm so excited! I think a little two or three teer rack on wheels with lighting on each level would be best for my house, but I never thought I'd get such a grand pressent so I haven't looked a lot into how these things are built. Does anyone have any suggestions, blue prints, or url were such things are sold? Thanks
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*dances off to search engin*
 
Hi Darcie,

I am a big fan of Home Depot. They have those racks that you just need to assemble. Then you could buy some shoplights and wire/tie them into the rack shelves.  There are some examples in the terrariums forum that you can view.

If the racks do not come with wheels, you can buy them separately.

I have thought about putting glass or plexi-glass around the rack to make it more of a terrarium, but that would be a little more difficult.
 
Cool, thanks
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I'll go look a bit... wow I just found an on-line shop with a greenhouse that is like 1000 dollars.
 
... okay I need help with keywords for finding this stuff. Anyone have any blueprints or info on what type of bulb I should be using?
 
I would suggest buying shop lights that fit the size of rack you build/buy. Generally the best bulbs would be a mixture of cool white and warm white, but that's a matter of opinion.
That sounds like a very nice gift.
I'll be glad to help any way I can.
 
Thanks for the light info Ozzy. Dave, I went to Home depot and I found some nice, but oddly sized shelves. Hopefully I'll be able to find lights that work for 3 foot racks
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I also adopted a new VFT with really dark coloring
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Walmart has 4' shop lights that use an electronic ballast for about $7. I have found these to be the better of the two types out there. The ones with the smaller ballast that looks like a C battery tend to reduce the lift of the higher end bulbs and also flicker a bit more. Plus, the shop lights at walmart have a nice long cord.
 
Darcie,

Hold out for those 4 foot racks! Three foot racks won't accomodate a 4 foot fixture, and the space is a real waste. Try Lowes for the rack, that's where I got mine, and they are perfect. The light fixtures that Walmart sells go well with these. I use 2-3 fixtures per shelf, 1 balanced spectrum and one cool white. You can't make one for what they sell these for.
 
I second what Tamlin says. It is a wire shelving rack that Lowes sells (here the 4-foot/5-tier shelf sells for $78)...comes in white, black and chrome). The shelves are fully adjustable in one inch increments and hold 350 lbs each so you can customize the height to your needs. I have seen a similar shelf at Sam's Club that has wheels on it. These shelves are VERY sturdy and can be disassembled if you ever need to remove it.

I currently have several 3-foot shelves but thanks to a Lowes gift card, I will probably purchase a 5-tier...its longer, deeper, higher and will accommodate my 4' light fixtures better. You could also use these to make a nep chamber as well.

I highly recommend them to anyone.
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  • #10
Great, that sounds like the brand I was looking at. We had suspected that they made 4 foot ones. Thanks guys
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  • #11
Okay, I've got the shelves and the bulbs, but I'm having a hard time finding light fixtures. Does anyone have a brand they can recomend? Thanks
 
  • #12
Any should be fine. It might be worth your money to get the electronic energy efficient ballast, though.
 
  • #13
okay. Do I want the red text lights of america or the blue text lights of america with the electronic 30% more light thingy?
 
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