I'm looking for ideas on a light setup for growing figs, or at least the fig trees, indoors this winter. I have a T5 fixture and a couple flourescent fixtures I used to overwinter my hot peppers last year, but I constantly struggled with a good way to hang the lights over the plants. So let's see pics of your setups or a description of them!

Nick

I use resin shelves from Home Despot.  I loop chains over the plastic and keep in place with carabiners.  The chains attach to my fluorescent shop lights with S hooks.  Easy and adjustable.

Bob what do you do a month or two in when the trees are larger than the spacing on the shelves? Or do you remove a couple of shelves to give yourself more room? I'm assuming you meant one of the shelving units they sell with like five shelves like this one:

http://cn1.kaboodle.com/hi/img/a/0/0/e/0/AAAACmo8ZGcAAAAAAA4BEA.jpg?v=1156777915000

KK nice setup! Those look like metal halides on the right, no problem with how hot they get? Which plants do better, the ones in the window or under the grow lights?

Nick, I use four T-8 appliances that I hang from the ceiling down to tables during the winter. In the spring I move them back up to the ceiling. It looks like this.

That's a great set up Mike, that looks like your garage, does it stay warm enough for the ones in cups?
What kind of bulbs do you have in there?

Tami, that is actually an unfinished part of my basement. It has heat and AC. I use T-8 bulbs.

Nick, sorry, but here is paradise we use sunshine. ;-))

Great question!  Will be interested to hear the other replies.  I use cheap light fixtures (T12 I think) with standard bulbs.  I think I'll be switching to the daylight bulbs though I don't pretend to be an expert on indoor growing.  My main concerns were/are startup cost and then cost to operate.  I run about 9 sets of lights (18 bulbs) on a timer setup to run 16 hours a day.  Will probably scale back significantly this year to 3-6 sets of lights.

I'm thinking about switching to an all 4x4x9" treepot setup as I had good luck with those last year and I'm thinking they may give me more growing density.  I start my trees directly in 4x4x9" pots using parafilm on the exposed (out of ground) end to reduce desiccation.  My setup is in the basement, fairly close to our oil furnace, so it probably stays 65-68 all winter.

Tim

Here's my setup-- still in experimental phase, with some more features to add. Worked well as a seed starter in late winter for summer veggies, but I'm trying to turn it into more of a mist bench/winterization area. It's in a back room, unheated, so I'm not sure how warm I can expect to keep it. Added a cool mist humidifier and might add some kind of irrigation.

 

Anyone use reflective insulation/materials to decrease light loss and somewhat increase humidity?  If so, what material do you use/recommend?  If you've decided against it, why?

I'm looking for something that's cheap and does the job well.

Would something like this work well?  Is it worth the cost? http://www.homedepot.com/p/Reflectix-4-ft-x-25-ft-Double-Reflective-Insulation-BP48025/100052556#.UjxmS8ZJOuk

KK, I like your setup. You guys have inspired me. I stopped growing in Winter last year but I might try it with a setup like KK's. I have the lights ready to go. I turn them on when there's no is no sun.

My garden supply store has a setup like K k's but it is very expensive for an out of the box sysem. It's around $300 bucks and I need 2 of them! KK I like how yours are stacked.

I already have a setup built inside my garage but that space is for dormant trees. Here are a few pics.

Mike and Bob, man you guys have a great setup too!

Guys. check craigslist for grow lights. There will be many for sale as people are always upgrading and getting rid of them as they realize growing dope is not as easy as it seems. If I recall, a 400w MH setup will cover a 4X5 area, the higher the wattage, the more coverage area, and higher electricity bill. I had a meyer lemon tree under a 400w light last winter and the thing grew and flowered like crazy. I'll be finding out how figs perform this winter under the lights. In addition I have some 400W T5 setups I use for vegetables and flowers. A little costly, but they help keep my sanity when it's dark at 4:00pm during the winter!