![]() THESE ARE THE TYPE OF LED LIGHTS YOU’LL NEED - 4-ft LED Linear Shop Light. LED lights average at 5,000 lumens, so you’re covered if you go with LED. The sizes of the bulbs do not matter (T12, T8 or T5), but you’ll want at least 2,000 lumens for seed starting. If you have a 48” shelf, you’ll want 48” lights. You will want shop lights that are the length of your shelving. Fluorescent shop lights ruled the seed starting world for a long time, but LED lights are much brighter, give off a larger spectrum of light, and are much more energy efficient than their fluorescent counterparts. LED lights are the way to go for seed starting. No holes means you’ll have no way of hanging the lights. Your shelving units must have holes on the actual shelves, or the shelves must be made of metal wire. In that case, you could opt to buy shelves of a different length and width. If you prefer to start seeds using a soil blocker, perhaps your trays require less space than the 1020 trays. ![]() For instance, four trays per shelf would mean you need a 48-inch wide shelf. If you are an avid seed starter or farmer that grows a lot of seedlings, buy a bigger (wider) unit than you think you need! I keep going through shelves because they aren’t big enough.įor 1020 trays (typical size plug tray), assume you need 1 foot of shelving width per tray. In short, here are tips for choosing shelving for a seed starting setup: Related: How to Start Seeds with a Mini Soil Blocker ![]() The shipping was an astronomical $80.00 to get to my house, but I foresee finally keeping this shelving unit as a seed starting shelf going forward. This unit is substantially larger than the other units I’ve had in the past simply because I need more growing space. In 2023, I bought yet another metal shelving unit, this time from Webstaurant Store, that measures 6 feet across with a depth of 18 inches. With this unit, I was able to fit (4) 1020 trays across and in total, the unit supported 16 trays. In 2022, I bought a metal shelving unit from Home Depot that had 5 shelves measuring 4 feet across. In total, this plastic shelving unit fit up to (12) 1020 plug trays. The downside: I was only able to fit THREE (not four) 1020 trays on each shelf because the vertical posts are thick and take up space inside of the 48” width - this was disappointing at first, but I now use the plastic shelf as storage in my barn. I would have preferred it to be on casters so it could be easily moved around, but I ultimately chose this unit because it cost less than a metal unit. This unit is made of hard plastic and has the openings in the shelves where I can easily hang shop lights with S-Hooks. This is the plastic shelving unit I used for seed starting in 2021: Commander Shelving Unit from Lowe’s. Related: Our Favorite Resources for Backyard Gardening I would shop around for the best price on Amazon, Webstaurant Store, Uline, Lowe’s and Home Depot. There are lots of options for shelving online or at big box hardware stores such as Lowe’s and Home Depot. You can opt to buy a metal unit or a plastic unit, but you must make sure the shelves on the unit are not solid (you will need openings on the shelves to hang shop lights from). ![]() You’ll be able to fit (16) 1020 trays in a system like this. These are good 1020 size plug trays: 50 cell tray, 72 cell tray, 128 cell trayįor a 48” wide by 24” deep shelving unit, with five shelves, you will have space for four shelves of four trays across. I highly recommend spending the money on the 20-24” deep shelf. If you skimp and go 18” deep then the 1020 trays will hang off the edges of the shelf and risk being bumped into. Assuming you are using plug trays of that size, you will want shelves that are 48” wide by 20-24” deep. These 1020 trays are a standard size if you are growing plugs in the 50, 72, or 128 plug trays. ![]() Your shelving unit will need shelves that are wide enough to hold at least three (better if they hold four) of the typical 1020 seed starting trays. How to choose shelves for a seed starting setup ![]()
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