I've seen the cheapie shop lights, retrieved and taken apart a few too. They have a small circuit board and a different kind of ballast and are made cheap, won't last, and maybe even won't work when you get them home. Now, for me, I can take them apart and put in an electronic ballast, rewire if I have to, and then will have a $29 shop light. Of course it helps that I have a couple dozen ballasts laying around and have always canibilized old florescent fixtures for the end parts.

The cheap home depot shop lights used to have a very good electronic ballast that you could overdrive t-8 flourescents with. I recently purchased a couple more last week and they are now made with cheap ballast that doesn't appear to be overdriven, can only use t-12 bulbs, and is much much smaller than the sunpark ballast that they used to come with. However they are good buys for the money.

my "cheap" Home Depot shop lights are still going strong

I have some that are 5 yrs old and as I keep enlarging my garden some 1 year old lights...all seem to work just fine....my plants don't seem to be any different regardless which lights the were grown under

I purchased some of these lights last week. I was not happy with their quality. There was no on/off switch and it was hard to plug the bulbs into the fixture without one of them turning off or blinking like crazy. I returned them.

But, if your set works, then the lights are probably a good deal for the price. Another drawback seems to be the fact that they are T12. Other posts on here suggest that a T8 or T5 light would be more energy efficient.

Let us know how it goes...

Cheap lights are cheap lights. These fixtures are remarkably good for the price. If you're growing low-energy short crops these will work fine, and they're great for starting seedlings to get a jump-start on planting outside. That's what most people use these for.

I'm pretty sure you can get overdrive-able ballasts off eBay for cheap if you're electrically savvy.

Maybe someone could be so kind to read this and see if this will do for my plant and veggie seeds. I will be using shelves in the basement.

This is from the Univ. of N. Hampshire extension office. I live in Omaha, Ne. Thanks, Annie
Lighting: A simple 2-bulb 4-foot fluorescent fixture with standard COOL WHITE bulbs is
adequate for most leafy vegetables. Do not buy any of the fancy fluorescent grow bulbs; you are
wasting your money on these expensive bulbs. When we set up a fluorescent light system to
grow vegetables, what we are paying for is the intensity of light called lumens. For plants the
more lumens the better. Advances in fluorescent fixtures and bulbs now give us significantly
more lumens per watt of electricity used than ever before. These highly efficient fixtures and
bulbs are called T8 fluorescent and are available at all home improvement centers at a very low
cost. These new fluorescent COOL WHITE bulbs produce 2850 lumens per bulb. This is more
than adequate to keep lettuce, Swiss chard and spinach very happy.
What You Will Need: A 4ft. T8 fluorescent fixture that will accommodate 2 bulbs, two T8
fluorescent bulbs, a 2ft. x 4ft. space with an overhead means to suspend the fluorescent fixture
and adjust to different heights above your plants, and a 3 prong grounded, mechanical timer
available at home improvement centers.
Lighting set up: You must be able to adjust the height of the lights so that they are always 3-4
inches above your plants as they grow. Lightweight chain with links is very effective. Program
your light timer to be on 14-16 hours per day.

When would I start planting the seed. They tell me that I can transplante to outside May 1. Also, I've saved some plastic containers, milk jugs and water bottles to use with Shultz potting mixture. I have a spray bottle ready and a fan for circulation.

Hello, anniebetannie--but maybe this article has the information you're looking for?

This post will show you how I raise plants from seed, indoors, under artificial lighting...

They look like they are using the same instructions that you quoted up there. It's very similar, anyway.

I can give you a little advice on your seed planting, though. It depends a lot on how quickly the plant tends to develop, and how large you want the plant to be when you set it outside. For example, I am growing Shasta daisies and Lobelias in my cold-frame. The daisies will be quite tall by May, and I'll have to figure out where to put them since they won't fit in my cold frame any more. But the Lobelias will still be quite small and I won't have to move or repot them until I feel like it.
Most seed packets will tell you the plant's mature height, and how many days it takes the plant to grow to adulthood. Other than that, you just need to take your best guess. You should have an emergency place, indoors or out, where you can put any plants that have gotten too tall to fit in your shelves. Hope this helps!