How To Start Tomato Seeds - part 3

Here's my lighting rig. This is where I've started all my plants for the last 10 or 12 years. I made it out of 2x4's and 1/2 in plywood. In it I have 5 - 48" neon shop lights. The intent was to have 6 but I think I was running low on funds at the time and never got around to adding the sixth light. They are just your cheap shop lights you can pick up at the local home center. The bulbs I use are also the basic home use bulbs you find with the fixtures. I have one warm and one cool bulb in each light. I don't use grow lights because I don't think they are worth the extra money.
The entire unit is wrapped in plastic. There is a sheet that rolls up the front. The top shelf has a single light and is where I place small narrow flats shortly after they emerge.
the middle shelf is where I start most of the seeds. You can see the lights are fairly low and I have foil on the bottom, back and top of the shelf. The intent is to increase the amount of reflected light the small plants get. I can't say for certain it makes any difference but at least its brighter than it used to be so i can only assume it works. The bottom shelf has the lights about 14"-18" from the shelf. This is where the plants go as they get bigger.
Here is a close up of the bottom shelf. There are two things I want to point out. The first is obvious while the second isn't. You can see it is lined with 8"x8" floor tiles. The second thing is that underneath the tiles is an electric heating cable. The cable is used only when i start seeds. The tiles help disperse the heat evenly. The middle shelf has the same set up. This has helped my seeds germinate and also helps fight the cool temperature of my basement.