LED Grow Lights from Johnny's Selected Seeds
Need more light for your growing seedlings? Seedlings in my greenhouse are growing excellently with the addition of energy-efficient lighting solutions from Johnny's Selected Seeds.
My head-gardener Ryan McCallister and I start sowing seeds indoors soon after the New Year begins. We sow thousands of vegetable and flower seeds - all those wonderful seeds I enjoy purchasing during my travels, and seeds I order from my favorite sources. We plant them in seed starting trays and nurture them until they are ready to move into larger pots or outdoors. To supplement the natural sunlight, we set up an area with racks and LED strip lights. The lights are compact, easy to assemble, and provide full-spectrum lighting needs for seed starting and propagation.
Enjoy these photos.
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- One of my favorite garden supply sources is Johnny’s Selected Seeds in central Maine. I discovered Johnny’s years ago and have been using their seeds, plants, and tools ever since. Johnny’s provides practical solutions for both the home gardener and the professional farmer and uses the expertise from great horticultural masters such as Eliot Coleman.
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- Here in my head house, Ryan is assembling this LED Propagation Rack Kit from Johnny’s. It includes eight 48-inch LED strip lights, connecting brackets, four hangers, link cords, and a power cord.
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- The lights are being used for this vestibule between my head house and my greenhouse. Lights are already installed on the left rack. Notice how much more light is provided for the growing seedings.
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- The 48-inch horticultural lights are durable and can deliver maximum lighting without excess damaging heat.
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- Ryan begins assembling the lighting panels – no tools required.
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- The light strips are connected in pairs using the brackets provided. Ryan secures one at each end of a pair of light strips.
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- These click into place easily and can be adjusted in width to fit various shelf dimensions.
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- After attaching the brackets, they are easy to slide along the strips to the desired locations.
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- Link cords connect the two light strips together at one end.
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- Strip light hangers attach to the center of the brackets.
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- The hangers will secure the lights underneath each shelf.
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- And longer link cords connect the paired strips on the other end.
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- Here’s Ryan ready to hang the lighting strips.
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- It takes only minutes to assemble and the lights fit perfectly across our shelving unit.
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- Grow lights are essential for indoor gardening because they mimic natural sunlight providing the specific full light spectrum needed for photosynthesis.
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- Ryan uses “s” hooks on the shelves to attach the light strips.
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- Here they are all positioned and ready to use. They hang just a few inches from the plants. LED lights also consume less energy and have longer lifespans compared to traditional bulbs.
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- For our rack seedlings, we’re also using Johnny’s reservoir trays, which come in a variety of depths and fit perfectly under seed trays to catch excess water.
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- Ryan arranges the trays and pots to fit as many as possible onto the rack.
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- Once all the trays are in place, the lights are turned on. We have them on timers, so they go on and off automatically.
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- These lights will promote healthy growth and maintain compact and robust lush green plants. In time, these plants will move into the greenhouse and more seedlings will fill these racks. I’m so excited for this coming growing season!
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