New lights and shelves!

I've remarked a few times lately that I've been running out of indoor growing space. I've been wanting to get a new set of lights and somewhere to put them, and yesterday I finally made it happen. I had considered getting a 4-bulb T5 fixture, but instead went with a repeat of the double 3-bulb T8 setup I've already got. There wasn't a good selection of T5 bulbs at the shops around town, and I know that my plants really respond well to the current lighting conditions.

The shelves are heavy-duty steel storage shelves. I'll be able to fit 3 sets of lights/trays on there, including a bit with more clearance on the bottom rack for larger plants (eventually). First though, they had to be assembled.

It was raining hard all day, and this box was heavy. Fun trip to the hardware store.

It was a little fiddly, but not too terribly difficult. I also used a mix of 3 different temperature bulbs, just for kicks. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out, although my girlfriend is concerned someone might break in/call the police, thinking we're growing marijuana. The lights are bright.

The feet have these little adjusters on the bottom that keep it level and steady. Nice!

I ended up putting aluminum foil on the sides for reflection/light containment, and there's a piece of cardboard on the front at night. I want to focus on using these lights for propagation and seedling/plantlet development, so I moved my leaf cuttings and various seedlings over there first. Let's see how they're doing!

D. burmannii from Humpty Doo Australia. Stunning color on this plant.

The big guys in this pot are getting a lot of food, and are putting out new growth to match. I'm going to bring this group as part of the show-and-tell at the next BACPS meeting. I really love this plant.

D. capensis 'Albino'. The little seedlings that could.

Finally got some action in the D. 'Albino' pot. Feeding really makes a huge difference – the first ones to get fed end up getting fed more, since they're larger, and it just multiplies from there.

Drosera intermedia 'Cuba'. I'm really pleased with how these are looking.

D. 'Cuba' seedlings in a transplanted pot, not growing quite as quickly, but still kickin'

The first pot is going nuts, and some of the larger plants are getting that nice upright leaf habit that makes full-grown D. intermedia varieties look so nice. The bottom photo is of the seedlings I transplanted back in late February, and they seem to be lagging behind. Not sure if it's from root disturbance during transplantation or if they don't like that media mix as much. (peat:sand instead of LFS). Still alive though, and as long as they grow up eventually I'll be happy.

Drosera capensis seedlings for my windowbox. I'm slowly hardening off the seedlings so I can start feeding.

Lots of moss and algae among my D. capensis seedlings when I changed the humidity tent and topped up with water. Maybe next time I put together a pot for seedlings I'll try microwaving the media for a bit first to see if that helps. I've heard that's one way to get rid of a lot of spores and stuff.

Now I've got space for whatever I win during the NASC auction. Guess that means I've gotta bid more!