I was gifted 3 T5 4 lamp fixtures on BuyNothing. They would be perfect for the bottom shelf in my East window. I could fit 8 trays on the shelf instead of 4. The problems were:
- The shelf wasn’t strong enough to hold 8 trays
- The shelf brackets weren’t long enough for the wide fixtures
Having already built a small frame to hold a 4 lamp T12 fixture (see Building a 4 Bulb Plant Fixture Frame:
https://steemit.com/growingislife/@goldenoakfarm/building-a-4-bulb-plant-fixture-frame), we again looked to that design.
The old shelving in that window
It was going to have to be altered to hold the 2 light fixtures above the shelf. I had originally thought I’d use the existing shelf, just run a support underneath it. But as we looked at the area, we realized we could drop the shelf lower than the supports and put it right on top of the frame. This would give me 6” more for shelving and lights above the frame.
We had run baseboard chases for the electric outlets and they stuck out 4” from the wall. We decided to make 4 legs and get it as close as we could.
The next problem was we didn’t have enough 2” pipe. We determined the leg bracing could be 1½” pipe and we had some of that.
The overhead frame to hold the fixtures was to be 24” above the pot tops, allowing for growth and for the fixture hangers. Having high enough lights had been a problem with the other set-up. Now we had a design.
My husband picked up the connectors and adapters he needed and made the sides of the frames. These were glued together as the original ones had been. He cut all the long sections to length and we put it together. It seemed sort of rickety but we put in the screws that would hold the pieces in place and allow them to be taken apart for storage.
It was still rickety, even with the wire shelf in place. The span was definitely not sturdy enough to hold 8 loaded trays. He got some more connectors and made a central leg that would support both frame crosspieces. That helped some, but there was a lot of sway.
We pushed the dining room table up to the center support and that helped some. I wasn’t sure it was going to be strong enough over the 99” span. Also with the 2” leg and the 4” baseboard we lost 6 precious inches in the dining area.
As often happens with me, I woke in the very early morning and mulled over the problem. Then it came to me. Why had we not put the leg on top of the baseboard, right against the wall? It would give us the needed 6” in the dining area, receive support from the wall, and be closer to the window for the needed light.
Much to my husband’s delight, I asked him this question before he had had his coffee. Once he had woken up and thought about it, he realized it might be just the fix we were looking for. He suggested finding a sort of bracket to go around the legs to be screwed into the wall for more support.
So he sawzalled off the back leg slightly above the baseboard so he could fit a piece of wood under the leg to protect the baseboard. Then he put the bracket around the leg near the top.
Once both legs were done, the center brace adjusted and the table pushed up to it, the shelf was really stable and strong. We brought up the fixtures and hung them up. The support bowed a bit in the middle, but it would be ok, as there would never be more weight that the 2 fixtures.
So the frame is a success. Now I just need to get extra bulbs because it seems I only bought enough for 1 fixture, so the other 1 only has 2 in it that I was able to scavenge up.
I did the second seed starting today and there are 3 trays of Walla Walla onions on a shelf above the frame. When they come up, they will easily fit on the shelf.
This one cost $48.75 to build, due to the center support. It would have been $35, much the same as the first one was, without it.
