How to Make a Wooden Plant Stand for Grow Lights

If you garden and want to save money, one way is to start your own seeds and grow them to a decent size before planting the seedlings outdoors. To do that, you'll need a reliable source of light. One way is to put the seedlings in an east- or south-facing window, but for more control, and to keep the seedlings from getting leggy from low light, you need to use grow lights. Grow lights can be spot lights or a light strip, like a fluorescent light strip, but whatever form they take they need a stand to hold them.

Measuring tape
Two-by-four boards
Saw
Drill
4 4-inch carriage bolts
2 5-inch carriage bolts
6 washers
6 nuts
Hammer
Adjustable wrench
Drill with Phillips head bit
2 1/2-inch wood screws
Clamps

Instructions

- 1
  Cut four 3-foot-long pieces for the four legs of the plant stand, two 2-foot-long pieces for the end braces of the plant stand and two 3 1/2-inch spacer blocks from the two-by-four boards.
- 2
  Drill a hole wide enough to fit the carriage bolts through in one end of each of the four leg boards. Center the hole 1 inch from the end.
- 3
  Place two of the legs of the plant stand on top of each other with the holes aligned. Insert a carriage bolt through both legs, slip on a washer and tighten the nut most of the way down. Repeat for the second pair of legs.
- 4
  Drill a hole through both legs of one pair of plant stand legs. Ensure that the two leg boards are stacked on top of each other evenly before drilling the hole, centered 4 inches from the bottom end. Repeat for the other pair of legs.
- 5
  Stack the two end braces you cut from the two-by-four boards, lining up the ends and sides flush with each other. Drill a hole through both end braces 4 inches from one end of each brace and a second hole 4 inches from the other end. Drill a hole through the center of the two adjustment blocks.
- 6
  Spread one set of legs apart far enough that the holes in the brace board can line up with the holes in the legs. One leg will be closer to you and one will be further away. Insert a 4-inch carriage bolt through the hole on one end of the brace board and through the leg that is closest to you. Add a washer and screw on a nut most of the way.
- 7
  Line up the other hole in the brace board with the other leg that is further away from you. You will notice that there is a space between the brace and the leg; place the spacer block between the brace board and the leg, lining up all three holes. Insert a carriage bolt through the holes in all three pieces of wood, add a washer and tighten the nut most of the way. Repeat with the second set of legs.
- 8
  Tap the head of each carriage bolt to sink it partially into the wood and tighten all the nuts down using an adjustable wrench for the final few twists of the nut. Don't overtighten.
- 9
  Cut four 3-foot boards from the two-by-four boards for rails. Have an assistant help you stand the pair of end legs up, parallel to each other and 2 1/2 feet apart, so that each end forms an A, with the brace board to the inside.
- 10
  Lay three rail boards across the brace boards, even the ends of the rail boards so the ends are flush and the boards extend evenly beyond the two A-frame pairs of legs. Insert a screw through each rail board into the A-frame legs on both sides.
- 11
  Place one rail board across the top of one side of the A-frame legs and secure it in place with two 2 1/2-inch screws per end. Clamp your grow lights to the top rail.

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