From mhuben Mon Mar 6 10:15:04 2000 To: DAYLILY@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU Subject: A simple but large light stand. Bobbi Brooks wrote: Today I went to the local HOME DEPOT to get soilless mix (Scotts, in humongous bags, for the same price as the local greenhouse supplier - under $10 apiece), a 4 tiered heavy duty plastic 18inch shelving unit - $39, some more shop lights at 9 dollars a piece. This was becuase I really need to start at least 1000 of those fabulous seeds from my exotic crosses last year inside. Mike Huben really made me do it! At the last NEDS meeting he showed his set up - two of these units with lights under each shelf for the next tier. I had seen them 2 years ago, and thought about it, but hey, it was time to act! ... OH, and Mike...do you want to share the shelving secrets? OK, Bobbi. About two and a half years ago, was very dissatisfied with my indoor growing system, a few shoplights hung under a table. Not enough room: I wanted to grow 1000 seedlings in pots. I had tried growing seedlings in community pots, but disentangling roots and the like was very frustrating and time consuming. I wanted my seedlings to bloom in two years, not three. I looked around for quite a while before I settled on this design. 4 levels, each level holds 6 1020 trays and has three shoplights. The whole thing is assembled with cable ties to hold the two sets of shelves together and to hang the shoplights. The two sets of shelves are tied together so that the whole assembly is 3 feet by four feet: then the lights are hung along the 4 foot direction. The thickness of the shelves and the depth of the lights leaves roughly one foot for the plants and pots. The 38 cell tree trays are roughly 5 inches deep, which leaves 7 inches for leaf growth. I find that's adequate, since the leaves can press right against the bulbs without harm. 24 of the 38 cell trays totals 912 seedlings. Parts list: 2 24" x 3', 5 shelf Workforce Storage Organizer @ $50 $100 (ventillated shelves) 12 Lights Of America Shoplights @ $9 $108 Six Outlet Power Strip 2 pack @ $7 $7 Triple Outlet 3 prong extension cord @ $8 $8 Heavy Duty Grounded 24 Hour Timer @ $10 $10 8" Cable ties, pkg of 100 @ $4 $4 24 34 watt fluorescent bulbs @ $1.50 $36 ---- Total for the stand and lights alone: $273 24 1020 trays (and pots and soil mix, rough cost) $75 ---- Total for the stand, lights, trays, pots, soil: $348 electricity for 210 days, 13 hours per day @ $.12/kwh $267 ---- Grand total for the first year: $615 Everything is reusable for later seasons, except the soil and electricity. The bulbs and the fixtures are short-lived: I'd plan on replacing the bulbs on the average every two seasons, and expect these cheap fixtures to last at most 4 seasons. I start my seeds in Oasis Wedges. When they are ready to transplant, I just pop them out of the wedge tray with a butter knife, and press them into the mix in the tree trays. The tree trays are a joy to transplant from: I can just grasp the seedlings by the leaves and slide them out intact to lay in shallow trenches. I've already had all winter to label each seedling individually with clear laser-printed labels placed on pieces of miniblind slats. Using this system, I get about 15% bloom the first year, and close to 100% the second year. I start the seedlings some time between September and December. Mike Huben mhuben@world.std.com http://world.std.com/~mhuben/garden.html Arlington, MA AHS Region 4 USDA Zone 6 NEDS Secretary Hortspeak, not Hemspeak. Start a trend! From mhuben Tue Jan 2 09:02:18 2001 To: daylily@ma.ultranet.com Subject: tree trays Hi, Judy. Here's the info the exact way I got it from George Zurles. Mike Huben Date: Tue, 3 Feb 1998 10:25:30 -0800 From: "George Zurles, Burligton CT. (zone5-6)" Subject: Tree Trays (38 Cell x 5 inch deep) Tree trays are 38 cell trays which will fit inside of the 1024 bottom trays. They cells are 2+ inches in diameter and 5 inches deep, and there are 38 cell per tray. The trays are manufactured by LANDMARK PLASTIC CORP. I obtain the trays from W. H. MILIKOWSKI INC. 10 Middle River Drive Stafford Springs CT 06076 Phone 1-800-243-7170 I spoke to "Brian" there and was given the follow pricing: Catalog # L38ST---38 count tray size----50 trays per case----- $74.75 per case-----they only sell in case quantities. The handling and shipping charges range from $9.50 per case in CT/MA area to a high of $21.50 per case to LA. California. The case of trays weigh about 33 pounds. If you have troubles with your order ask to speak to "Brian" Geo. George & Susan Zurles E-mail geozurles@internet-95.com 32 Ford Road, Burlington CT. 06013 -1515 Phone 860-673-1776 Work Fax 860-675-9312 USDA Zone 5/6 AHS Region 4