Expanding the Seed Starting Area
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I love gardening. It is like meditation allowing me to relax and tune out the busy day and focus on the sounds of nature around me such as the wind blowing through the trees, the birds singing their various songs, and the bees buzzing around the garden seeking out nectar.
Winters can be long here in Maine and I miss digging in the dirt when the ground is frozen and covered in snow.
Growing transplants from seed last year was so gratifying. Planting seeds, watching the seedlings emerge from the soil, and tending to their needs allowed me to connect with gardening on a smaller scale.
The Grow Light System for Starting Seeds Indoors I assembled last year worked really well for my first seed starting adventure. I used two 3-Tier Shelving Units with 2 4-Foot Shop Lights setup on a little used workbench. You can read the details of this setup here: Build a Grow Light System for Starting Seeds Indoors.
Things did get a little crowded under the lights so I am expanding the seed starting area this year. I moved the units to the floor and added two more 3-Tier Shelving Units
on top.
[sc:seed-shelf-timer]
Below is the expanded Grow Light System for Starting Seeds Indoors. This doubles my seed starting area and gives me more working space on the workbench:
I also added two 4-Foot Shop Lights per shelf to provide more light:
Great new setup! I bought a unit like that but my wife stole it for organizing the play room in the garage. I can’t afford more lights anyway.
I also threw up my hoop covers over my nearly ready to harvest lettuce seedlings that I planted out yesterday. Didn’t check on them today but I’m hopeful. Hope yours does great too!
Liisa: Thanks! This should provide enough room.
Laura (KitsapFG): I just know I would have not had enough room this year especially after potting up tomatoes and peppers. I actually have more room on the workbench now to spread out a bit.
Daphne: I love your setup. It must be difficult to judge everything for the first year with a new garden.
Nice setup. I just hope mine is big enough this year. I may have to do some winter sowing to fit everything in.
EG: Thanks! I did have a bit of a complication when I had to figure out how to widdle down the plastic feet of one unit so that they fit into the support pipes of the bottom unit. But it worked out.
Granny: The seed starting area is in the basement (our oil tank is behind the new shelves). We keep the basement really cool during the winter. Not sure if it is as cold as your shed.
Robin: With the size of your new garden plot, I am sure you are going to need to grow more seedlings this year. Last year, I had to remove a shelf to give more room to the tomatoes and peppers when they were potted up. Things were really tight then. Hopefully, I’ll have enough space this year.
Meemsnyc: The wire shelves are really handy. The chains of the shop lights hang from the shelves above and you can adjust the shelves to any level. If I was starting from scratch instead of building onto my existing shelves, I would have picked up this unit instead: 74″H x 48″W x 18″D Steel Freestanding Shelving Unit.
It was only $70 at my Lowes. The small shelves I used were $20 each.
I am always trying to find more room under the lights! Never seems to be enough. I really like your adjusted set up – lots more room and still very attractive.
Awesome! 🙂
I love the new setup, I want one too!
Looks Good! It seems like we never have enough room for all the seedlings. I have double my area as well this year. Hopefully it will be enough!
Beautiful! I do wish I had room in the house for a nice shelf unit like that. I worry that it’s too cold out in the shed, but maybe that just makes the plants grow stronger. Hmm, there is a wall in Mr. Granny’s hideaway, that has a big book case at the moment. Maybe it could be relocated and I could take over that wall! It’s a thought for next year 😉
Look at you! I love how even though it’s been added to – it’s still very compact. I love it!