PVC grow stand. How much??

Just curious how many of you made the pvc grow stand and about how much it cost, before lights? I have plenty of fixtures and need new bulbs. I am considering whether to buy a plastic shelf unit or make the pvc one.
Thanks,
Michele

Michele - $30.48 I spent on this one without the lights...
http://davesgarden.com/t/169142/

Michele
I agree with Sue, mine cost between $25-$30.
Sears hardware had shop lites on sale for $6.99 and 40W bulbs for 99 cents.
I wouldn't be without mine.

Paul

Thanks Sue and Paul! I looked all over DG for the post, found it one day and then couldn't find it again! LOL My best bet for a purchase was a Rubbermaid unit for $50. Looks like I'll be spending some time at the hardware store this weekend. :)

This PVC light stand looks really great. Questions: I have a cool greenhouse (heat to minimum 38 degrees on cold nights, days normally warm to 55 degrees or better by solar). I don't think this is warm enough for veggies, flowers, cuttings, etc. For example, the fuchsia cuttings I started yesterday are supposed to be about 60 degrees. Currently have them in the family room, but that room is probably 62 at night and 68 in the day. I guess I could put the rack in this room, but I think the shop lights would push the temp up even more and not sure the humidity would be optimum. Where do you all keep your propagators to control temp and humidity?

I have mine in the basement, I built a heat box to control the temp. I also open and close the haet vent on that side of the room to control it.

Paul

I made one before I found T's Seeds plans. Mine is a "countertop model" that can be assembled to hold one pair of lights over 2-4 flats or a second layer to hold two more lights and 2-4 more flats.

The fittings are more expensive than the pipe, but it's been a good investment. We cemented all the shelf pieces together with all the cross-supports. But I didn't cement the vertical supports to the shelves, since gravity keeps them in place. This way, I can disassemble it when I'm done: the shelves store flat in a corner, and all the vertical supports get rubberbanded together and stood up next to the flat shelves. Disassembled, the whole thing takes up a space that's about 6" wide and 12" deep and 4' tall.

Hoping someone will see this the second time around. LOL What wattage are your lights? I ended up buying a shelfing unit at work when they got marked from $69.99 to $35, plus my 10% discount. It was too good to pass up and holds 15 flats. On to my new dilemma. I have a box of 3 dozen fluorescent lights that I got free when my last job went out of business. Problem is they are only 30 Watt and I am thinking they are not strong enough? I have a bunch of four foot fixtures and the bulbs are only 3 feet long. I cut down one light to try them out and it works great, but like I said, I don't think 30W is strong enough??

I answered my own question and went back to 40 watt flouros and 40 watt grow bulbs. LOL Where the heck is everyone today?

I'm here, Badseed, but I shouldn't be! I've got lots of other things to be doing, but that doesn't stop me from dropping into the Garden to have a little walk-about. I should be over in the PDB researching some of these seeds I got in trade!

My DH just set up one of our PVC light stands a few days ago. They are 4 shelves high, 2 back to back, so the whole assembly holds 32 flats. Hopefully he'll have another one ready for me in a week or so. Believe it or not, the first one is already 2/3 full, and most of that is broadcast seed, so things will mushroom soon.

I'm so grateful for that thread Poppysue started last spring. It certainly saved us lots of space! When you compare a 4'x8' table top that holds about 18 flats with a 4'x 2' stand that holds 16, it's really a space saver! And, the cost is significantly different. Commercially made metal grow shelves are often over $300 and only hold about 6-8 flats!

Hey Weezin! Thanks for your message! I was starting to think I was nearly alone in the garden today. :) Who knows what damage I could do alone??? I had to chuckle about your 'broadcast seeds'. I refer to mine as 'throw and grow' and I sure have a ton of them this year. That is okay though, because some areas need new soil and I can be sure they won't sit naked all year. The soil in the veggie garden is about shot, so I am going to use it for a cutting garden this year and use all those throw and grows too. I figure I will ammend it through out the year or top it off in the fall and winter and use it for veggies again next year. Composting has not been one of my strong points. LOL We only have about a 1/4 acre and that includes the space the house occupies. Presently I have beds all the way around the house, plus the veggie garden which is terraced into the hillside, and beds up two fences in the back and across the front yard and the butterfly garden..........LOL Okay, I am pretty much down to paths of grass and a pain in the butt hill. ;o
Oh, and as far as shelves, I used to have our old doors mounted on 2x4s in the basement. Amazing what you can do with what you have. LOL I am so happy that things are working out for you and that you have a market for your hobby and love of plants. Around here people just hire someone or plant the wrong stuff in the wrong place and watch it die. :( I give away a lot of my extras. One of these days I hope to live somewhere that I can build a greenhouse and do what you are doing. It must be awesome!!!
Well, hubby will be home soon and it will be off to the gym with my rotund backside! LOL

I have everything I need to build this but the tees....can't wait for hubby to get home!

"eyes"

Target had a unit this last weekend - open weave on each shelf - 30.00 - got it and moved all the lights to it by using small link chain that wraps around the open weave. Go to target and look it is easy to see how you would use it. And it quite sturdy.

LOL Guess where I work Happy? I bought the black wire/metal one but those stupid connectors were a pain in the butt. I took it back and got an industrial one at Lowes. It is working very well. It is four feet wide, two feet deep and I think six and a half feet tall. The only thing I did not like was that the shelves were particle board so I covered them with plastic.

Seed, if I understand correctly, you found a seedling cart at Lowes? Or, is it a converted cart of some kind? I'm curious about that since my one cart is pretty full.

So you went with the 40 watt, eh? I have the better wattage on the sprouted seeds and the lesser wattage on the seeds that are germinating.

This is my $30 cart from pvc pipe. I much prefer Lowes for lots of stuff but especially for pvc pipe. They offer more choices of lengths!

I ended up buying one of those big shelving units like you would use in a garage or basement. It has metal legs and cross bars and wood shelves. It is like seven feet tall, four feet wide and two feet deep. Easily holds more than four flats each on it's five shelves. I will do the pvc one some day, but for now time is more important than money.

Thanks ~ that sounds like a great unit for the amount of space you get! Not sure which is more attractive; what you got or the pvc pipe in our bedroom ~ lol! I'll probably check it out this weekend since my pvc cart is full right now and I'm not done starting seeds yet.

Thanks again!