One of the easiest ways to start and grow your own vegetable and flower plants from seed is to make a simple seed starting stand to give your seedlings the perfect amount of space and light they need to thrive indoors.
Starting your own vegetable and flower plants from seed is a great way to save on your garden budget. It also allows you the ability to grow an endless variety of plants for a fraction of the cost of buying ready to go plants every spring.
But when it comes to starting plants from seed indoors, many quickly get frustrated with the process. Whether it’s finding a space for a place to grow their plants, or giving them just the right light to grow strong and healthy, gardeners often struggle with getting their plants to flourish – or even to grow at all!
Here is the good news – starting seeds indoors really can be a simple and easy process. In fact, all you really need to do is provide your seeds with a warm room and the right light and soil. And you can all but ensure smashing success. And the easiest way to do that is to make and use a simple seed starting stand.
The Best Way To Start Seeds Indoors – How To Make & Use A Seed Starting Stand
When gardeners struggle to grow seedlings indoors, the problem almost always comes down to three issues – poor soil, a lack of heat, and most importantly, a lack of good lighting. See our article: How To Know When To Start Seeds Indoors – Vegetable or Flower Seeds!
The soil issue is easy to remedy. When starting seeds indoors, it’s always best to use seed starting soil in place of ordinary potting soil or garden soil. Seed starting soil is light and full of nutrients that allow your seedlings to grow quickly.
The warmth issue is fairly easy to remedy as well. Seedlings need warm soil and a warm room to germinate and grow. As long as you place your plants in a room that is near 70° (F), they are going to thrive.
So that leaves lighting as the final issue. Lighting for young seedlings is extremely vital to their growth and development. In fact, it is critical. And unfortunately, although many try, a window or a windowsill is not the place to grow seedlings and will only lead to disappointment.
Why Not To Use Windows To Start Seeds – How To Make Your Own Seed Starting Stand
Although a sunny windowsill may seem like a great location for starting seeds indoors, it’s not. Using a windowsill to start and grow seedlings actually poses several unique problems for plants.
For starters, even the sunniest of windows struggles to provide the right light for healthy seedling growth. There simply isn’t enough daylight in late winter and early spring to power plants. Furthermore, as a seedling grows, it naturally extends toward the light source to absorb its power. In a window, this is a big problem!
Because the sun is so far away, it causes seedlings to grow weak, spindly and crooked as they grow toward the light. It almost always results in feeble seedlings that can’t stand up to outdoor life once they are in the ground.
So how do you grow strong, sturdy seedlings with ease? The answer is by using simple and inexpensive artificial lighting from ordinary LED or fluorescent shop lights.
As it turns out, to grow flower and vegetables from seed, you don’t need special or expensive grow lights – and by hanging them from a simple, homemade seed starting stand – you can grow them anywhere in your home with ease!
How To Make A Simple Seed Starting Stand
Although there all types of growing stands on the market, they can be quite expensive to purchase and maintain. Especially when you consider many come with specialized grow lights that can cost a fortune to replace. In addition, they can also take up a lot of room!
All you really need for a successful stand is the ability to hang lights over your plants. That is why a few years back we came up with a simple seed starting stand design using 2×4 lumber. The stand can hang two ordinary and inexpensive 4′ shop lights that provide all the light your plants will ever need.
Not only is it easy and affordable to build, it’s also small enough to fit on a table or in the corner of any room right on the floor. We do have complete step by step plans for the stand in our DIY Plans Store in our Etsy shop for those interested in the exact plans – but here is a look at how it looks, works and the materials you need to build it.
The stand is built using five (5) 8′ long 2×4’s. The sturdy design allows it to be on the ground or up on a table top for an easier working height. Using basic “S” hooks, the stand holds two (2) 4′ long shop lights.
2×4 Cut List:
- (4) 2 x 4 x 24” – Outer Legs
- (4) 2 x 4 x 20½” – Leg Jack Supports
- (2) 2 x 4 x 48” – Top Frame Side Rails
- (2) 2 x 4 x 21” – Top Frame End Rails
- (4) 2 x 4 x 18” -Top Frame / Bottom Frame Supports
At 24″ x 24″ x 51″ long, the finished stand fits in the smallest of spaces. The smaller size really makes it nice for keeping out of the way, especially when the lights are on! Depending on the containers or trays you use under the lights, you can raise up to 144 plants at once.
The lights can easily be lowered or raised with a chain to keep them at the proper growing height above the plants. With a spacious amount of room between the lights and ground, plants have plenty of room to grow big before transplanting.
Assembling The DIY Seed Starting Stand
The simple design uses the 2×4’s to create sturdy legs. Next, a rectangular frame built from the 2×4’s is attached up top to create a solid frame for hanging the lights. It goes together easily with screws – and if you don’t have storage space, by using screws, you can take it back apart at the end of the growing season.
Cutting the pieces and assembling the stand is easy to do with basic tools. In fact, if you have a tape measure, a power drill and a saw to make straight cuts to the 2×4’s, you are in business! One thing is for sure, it can make starting and growing your own seeds fun and easy!
Here is to creating your own seed starting stand – and to growing your own incredibly healthy transplants this year!
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