Hi all, a few months ago I've decided I would like to try creating an indoor herb garden in my closet using a grow light. As I do not have a lot of experience with growing herbs indoors during winter, this is mostly just a fun experiment. I picked up a cheap aliexpress grow light which promises to be enough light for a few herbs. (Reviews said so too). Now, I know it's probably not the best thing I could've bought.
This is how I started with the grow light (about 6 weeks of growth). Planted my basil Waay too thin and didn't have it close enough to the light so they got super stretched. Anyway, doesn't matter. I pinch out the tops every 2/3 days and I now have way too much basil I'm starting to regret.
Later I found this is one for all the people with little budgets like me!
I recently bought four of these grow led strips off AliExpress for €14.85 including shipping. (Orders over 10 euro come with free 12 day shipping!) They arrived 8 days later, and I've been running them for about a month.
These lights are perfect for starting seedlings and or supplementing light for your indoor plants, as they're a nice white color with full spectrum wavelengths. I screwed mine into 2 planks and hang them up with some string so I can even change their height easily (you wanna keep these close to your plants for maximum results). The lights draw 28 watts with my 4 in series. I've started tomatoes, lettuce, peppers and other veggies with them, and they provide enough light so that your seedlings won't stretch!
These lights provide way more light than those clipon / tripod lights you find on Amazon, for a cheaper price.
Honestly, these are a great buy if you can create a nice little setup to maximize their performance. Attached is a picture of my little seed starting setup, with the grand total cost of: 18 euro! If anyone interested in grow lights I can send the link of the aliexpress store I bought from.