Do It Yourself
A DIY shelf for light hungry plants
Shelf Type
If you don't own a conservatory or your rooms aren't well lit (especially in winter) you should consider building a shelf just for your indoor plants. It should be big enough to give place for three to six plants per shelf level (the more flexible the construction the better) and you'll have to provide extra light by installing fluorescent tubes or similar sources of light.
Our own approach has been made for a handful of cacti, kalanchoes, and ferns and helped them well to survive the cold season. Every level is lit and filled with plants suitable to the amount of light coming from the lamps.
Assembly
The assembly of your DIY shelf is easy. You'll need a common shelf (four to five levels will suffice), some trays that have to match the size of the shelf's levels, some flat daylight lamps for each level and the right tools to put it all together. You should use energy saving lamps in order to save energy and money.
Building the shelf.
A flexible shelf that lets you decide where to attach the levels would be beneficial. Your plants will get bigger and not all of them are of the same size. If you chose a static shelf your plants will run out of place one day. If you sort your plants by size you'll know how to arrange them in your shelf and what distance the layers must have.
Lamps
Now screw on the lamp holders on the trays. We used here some flat energy-saving lamps which were quite expensive. Common fluorescent tubes will also do. Depending on your plant's needs and the sort of lamps you're using, their number and distance from each other may vary. Have a look at the "Light And Lamps" page to learn more about the "right" light.
Assemble
Fix the trays on the underside of the shelf's layers. This might get complicated and should be planned before purchasing your materials.
The Engineering Part
Attach cables as needed and switch on your shelf. Recommended accessory: a clock timer that does this automatically. Now your plants may enter their new home. You are now ready for establishing automatic watering.