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Start a closet garden!

Growing indoors with LED lights

  It's easy to convert a closet, pantry, or a grow tent into a place to grow plants and start seeds.  This system uses flat LED panels, which are excellent due to their thin shape and wide light coverage compared to tubes and bulbs.  They can light most plants up to about 12 inches (30 cm) tall and often taller, and they won't burn leaves if touched.  They may be hung from either wall-mounted track shelves, or free-standing shelves such as wire shelving ("Metro" shelves).  Both have adjustable heights, so you can group plants by height.

LED Panels -- These come in different sizes, but i use 4x1 foot (1200x300 mm) panels, which are currently around $50-80 each.  Panels are offered in various power levels (watts).  Brightness is usually proportional to watts (but not always).  Choose brighter panels for taller plants or plants that need sun, while dimmer panels are ok for short plants or low-light plants.  I usually choose the highest watt panels, with "cool white" or "day light" color light (not purple).  Panels also have brightness ratings, called lumens, but these numbers may be inaccurate, especially with generic brands.  Watt levels may be inaccurate too, so purchase from a reputable source.

Shelves -- I use ClosetMaid SuperSlide shelves on a wall-mounted track (either single- or double-track works).  The shelves are 4 feet long and 16 inches wide, although 12 inch wide shelves may be used instead.  They can be cut shorter if necessary using bolt cutters.  It's good to cover the shelves with a shelf liner to keep the LED panels below them clean & dry.

Happy growing!

- Jeff

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