My fiance and I have started looking at a new home. We are both first time home buyers and are very excited to get what we are looking for. Where ever we end up one of the things I want to do is to have a room/space for my pepper gardening. Im wondering if some of you veterans would submit your rooms/spaces/contraptions that you have set up and have served you well. Im not so sure I will be running the 400w light since they cost so much to run so I will be sticking with my fluro and maybe even try some CFL. Thanks for all of your help its greatly appreciated.
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- Thread starter crazy8
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Well, depending on how many floros you have, you can easily go over 400w. I have 1 of those 4 shelf chrome wire racks that you find in Lowes set up in the kitchen (wife loves that
) with 2 lights per shelf (4 bulb total) and 2 more from the ceiling for a total of 10 light fixtures. I use 40w bulbs so that is 800w for the setup. Luckily power isn't too expensive here, so it doesn't hurt too much. Only a few dollars extra a month.
I just bought a 400w switchable light system (HPS and MH) to use on some hydro plants that are still indoors, and will probably get another for the intermitant stage after potting up and before hardening off. Plan is to start pepper in January under floros, then after pot up, move under the MH lights before I start the tomatoes so there will be enough room under floros for them. I won't put the tomatoes under the metal hilide because to me they just don't need it. They grow so fast on their own.
Hope this helps!
jacob
) with 2 lights per shelf (4 bulb total) and 2 more from the ceiling for a total of 10 light fixtures. I use 40w bulbs so that is 800w for the setup. Luckily power isn't too expensive here, so it doesn't hurt too much. Only a few dollars extra a month. I just bought a 400w switchable light system (HPS and MH) to use on some hydro plants that are still indoors, and will probably get another for the intermitant stage after potting up and before hardening off. Plan is to start pepper in January under floros, then after pot up, move under the MH lights before I start the tomatoes so there will be enough room under floros for them. I won't put the tomatoes under the metal hilide because to me they just don't need it. They grow so fast on their own.
Hope this helps!
jacob
salsalady
eXtreme Business
hey crazy8, check out peoples' grow logs. I posted pics of my set up in my grow log. I think most people show their set ups. There's lots of pics and most have descriptions also.
I've seen everything from AJ's growrage to fishtanks with floating tubs to lizard heatmats to traffic lights. The creativity is immense and it all depends on a persons budget, space, construction abilities etc.
Good luck on the house hunt. Thankfully, you already got bit by the pepper growing bug so you'll be looking for an appropriate house to accommodate your new addiction.
it would be a bummer to buy a house and then discover you had no room for peppers.
I've seen everything from AJ's growrage to fishtanks with floating tubs to lizard heatmats to traffic lights. The creativity is immense and it all depends on a persons budget, space, construction abilities etc.
Good luck on the house hunt. Thankfully, you already got bit by the pepper growing bug so you'll be looking for an appropriate house to accommodate your new addiction.
it would be a bummer to buy a house and then discover you had no room for peppers.Man there are some nice setups. I may have to wait before we get a house in order for me to figure out what I am going to do exactly. I hate being an impatient person when I get all excited about things....lol. One thing I have been greatly considering is getting one of those Rubbermaid 4 tier shelves (28"w x 15"d x 52"h) and then wrap it with the white reflective material that I have a ton of. Also equip each level, or at least all but the bottom one, with a small fan. I was thinking of using 3-2' double bulb 35w fixtures per shelf (side by side) but then I did the math. If I did that then its 192w/shelf. This may be a nice and even cheap way to do it and still work fine but then I thought i would like to try CFL's. So I got to thinking. What if I used 2-200w 9U CFL's (400w) per shelf, maybe one would be enough? So what do you all think? Any input, advice, suggestions on something like this?
TIA
TIA
Remember that watts are watts. Some bulbs maximize wattage/light output. I'll post pics of my grow room tomorrow
Well I am really interested in trying CFL's for next season. Im thinking of getting a storage rack and putting 2-4 CFL's per level and see how much better the results are in comparison to the use of my fluorescent bulbs. Id still be interested in see what you all have set up just for ideas. Thanks again for the info.
Well I did some playing around and it looks like there isnt room for 4 of those Feliz 200 CFL's so I will have either 1 or 2 of them per level depending on what kind of suggestions/feedback I get. This is what I have come up with if I did 2 per level. The two big round things you see under each shelf represent the CFL lights on some dimensions I found. The two round things on the floor of the bottom two shelves next to the seed trays represent 6" fans. So here is what I have put together thus far.
Notice in this image the bottom shelf with only 1 CFL. I did this to illustrate how I would mount it if I was only using 1 CFL per tier.
Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated.
Notice in this image the bottom shelf with only 1 CFL. I did this to illustrate how I would mount it if I was only using 1 CFL per tier.
Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated.
AlabamaJack
eXtreme
If you don't mind, I will put my two cents worth in here...
first of off don't use plastic or rubber(maid) products...you want to build this thing to last and plastic/rubbermaid will eventually sag under the weight of the plants....go for it and get a 2' X 4' heavy duty wire rack with 4-5 shelves....
Lighting....CFLs are great for an enclosed area IMO...my grow box (4' square X 6' high) has 18 42 watt (150 wat eq) CFLs but I use it for only a couple of weeks for each set of seedlings...I will use it this winter to grow peppers right on thru..
you need to pay attention to your timing for the seedlings...when is your plantout date is one of the major indicators of not only when you start your seeds but also how long you can keep your plants in the shelves. I have approximately 21 inches between my shelves and since I use standard 40 Watt shop lights, the head space taken up by the fixtures limits me to a plant heighth of about 16"...remember, annuums grow at a much faster pace than do the chinense...
type of lighting...
standard fluorescent vs CFLs....
standard fluorescents put off less heat than CFLs
40 watt 4' bulb ~$2.00 american
42 watt CFL ~10.00 american
42 watt CFLs put out a few more lumens than the 4' standard fluoros but I like the way a 4 foot tube distributes the light better than the CFL for shelves...the standard fluoros put out a "light cylinder" while the CFLs put out a "light sphere"...I am using standard flat shelving, therefore standard 4' shop lights are more advantageous...remember, light decreases by the square of the distance from the source....
I recommend standard shop light fixtures and bulbs for a grow shelf area...cheaper on the up front cost and made to fit your application...
I rambled so much, I lost my train of thought...
first of off don't use plastic or rubber(maid) products...you want to build this thing to last and plastic/rubbermaid will eventually sag under the weight of the plants....go for it and get a 2' X 4' heavy duty wire rack with 4-5 shelves....
Lighting....CFLs are great for an enclosed area IMO...my grow box (4' square X 6' high) has 18 42 watt (150 wat eq) CFLs but I use it for only a couple of weeks for each set of seedlings...I will use it this winter to grow peppers right on thru..
you need to pay attention to your timing for the seedlings...when is your plantout date is one of the major indicators of not only when you start your seeds but also how long you can keep your plants in the shelves. I have approximately 21 inches between my shelves and since I use standard 40 Watt shop lights, the head space taken up by the fixtures limits me to a plant heighth of about 16"...remember, annuums grow at a much faster pace than do the chinense...
type of lighting...
standard fluorescent vs CFLs....
standard fluorescents put off less heat than CFLs
40 watt 4' bulb ~$2.00 american
42 watt CFL ~10.00 american
42 watt CFLs put out a few more lumens than the 4' standard fluoros but I like the way a 4 foot tube distributes the light better than the CFL for shelves...the standard fluoros put out a "light cylinder" while the CFLs put out a "light sphere"...I am using standard flat shelving, therefore standard 4' shop lights are more advantageous...remember, light decreases by the square of the distance from the source....
I recommend standard shop light fixtures and bulbs for a grow shelf area...cheaper on the up front cost and made to fit your application...
I rambled so much, I lost my train of thought...
You mean like the ones you find in restaurants?
Our plant out date is about May 15 and I think this year I may not have started soon enough or something because a lot of them were still kind of small and I think that's why I lost as many as I did when I transplanted. Right now I use 2-4' dual bulb shop lights and they do fine, I was just hoping for something maybe more compact and more power without spending all sorts of crazy money on bulbs and electric bill.
type of lighting...
standard fluorescent vs CFLs....
standard fluorescents put off less heat than CFLs
40 watt 4' bulb ~$2.00 american
42 watt CFL ~10.00 american
With your experience do the plants seem to grow slower/faster or better/worse depending on if your using CFL or fluoro? I just figure if I wanted to keep the plants on the shelf as little as possible and transplant as quick as possible and have them be good size and healthy, then I may want to take advantage of what ever may be the better option, if there is one.
I recommend standard shop light fixtures and bulbs for a grow shelf area...cheaper on the up front cost and made to fit your application...
Good to know I have met my match in that area...lol
AlabamaJack
eXtreme
yup on the wire racks...you can get them at lowes or home depot...
if the plants are directly under the CFLs, they indeed grow faster...but what you need to know is what is the length of you NEED the lights before you plant out...I typically start chinense seeds the last of January for an end of march/middle of april plantout...annuums are started around the end of february
if the plants are directly under the CFLs, they indeed grow faster...but what you need to know is what is the length of you NEED the lights before you plant out...I typically start chinense seeds the last of January for an end of march/middle of april plantout...annuums are started around the end of february
OK cool. Well I have the two 4' dual bulb fluoro's right now so I will likely still use those. be a waste not to. So maybe I will use those for the seedlings then try the CFL's once they get bigger. So since you know what your talking about , If I did get one of those metal racks is two 200w CFLs enough/to much light/heat for one of the tiers?
, If I did get one of those metal racks is two 200w CFLs enough/to much light/heat for one of the tiers?Maybe that wire rack idea would be better. Not only would it be more stable but it would hold a lot more. This is what I got for now. I would put one of each of my 4' fluoro's on the bottom two racks and holy cow look at all those 6x6 pots it can hold 
Not to mention it does have some storage space for some little things.
Not to mention it does have some storage space for some little things.
The rack idea is great if your growin a bunch of small plants out, but they are only good for a couple of weeks because peppers usually grow too fast and as soon as they do you will need to either get rid of a shelf or 2 or just move them. For my setup the garage and a single 400 MH works until they get to about 12" and once they do and start flowering I switch to a 400 HPS and THEN when they are really big I plug in the 1000 watt HPS. Yeah the electricity cost a few bucks extra a month to run, but I ended up with several gallons of concentrate with all the peppers I had and that was even after a late start so for me it's totally worth the few hundred extra bucks in elec to get those types of yeilds.
CHRIST ON A BIKE!!! A few hundred extra!! A month!! Bejeeeeeezus!! Wish I could AFFORD to do that!!
But he SWEARS they are only peppers!!
I've started all my peppers just before my winter has started, I'm tryin to maintain temps of no lower than 25 Celcius, I average about 25-35 although the plants dont much like the 35 side of things, sometimes it just can't be helped. Everything is in one of my spare rooms in a window facing the wrong way but all is doing well. I'm only using one 3ft double globe fluro per shelf (when I can be bothered turning them on) and they don't seem to mind too much. try not to think too much into it and it will all happen anyway. it's good to be organised but taking things as they come often works well too.