Most serious Alaska gardeners start their seeds indoors several months before it is warm enough to plant outside. I use commercial shelf units with Grow Lights for starting my garden seeds and I use the same equipment for growing some fresh vegetables indoors all winter here in Wasilla, Alaska. My shelves sit in the corner of my TV room and my Grow Lights are controlled by an automatic timer switch set for for 16 hours each day. Anyone can find enough space inside to set up a simple plant shelf for starting seeds. Why not use them for growing salad greens and a few super dwarf tomato plants too? Using your shelves all year will help to make them more affordable. I recommend getting wheels for moving your shelves whenever necessary. I also recommend plastic shelf liners that will prevent soil and water spills from falling through.
These commercial shelf units come in many different sizes to fit your space. You can pick the size, but the bigger 48X18” units work with 48” grow light fixtures. Each shelf will hold 4 - Park’s Bio Dome 40 cell seed starting trays side by side or 2 - 10X20 seed flats end to end. You can adjust the space between shelves to make room for your plants and lights. I have been covering my shelves with reflector sheets that I made from silver Mylar coated camping “Space Blankets” that I can get at any local sporting goods stores. This helps to block the strong light and makes my Grow Lights more efficient. These are easy to find but the cost for enough blankets to cover several grow racks can be expensive and you need some way to attach them to your shelves. I tried short bungie cords and office spring clips that worked but were difficult to use. I looked into the different Grow Tent products that are also available at online garden suppliers but the right size was hard to find and they were expensive.
I recently found shelf covers that are made to fit over these commercial shelving units. I couldn’t be more satisfied. They are silver coated inside and you just pick the size to fit your specific shelf unit. They are heavy and black to block light. They have nice full length zippers at each front corner. They come with Velcro straps to attach at the corners and even Velcro straps to hold the front cover when rolled up for plant access. I have seen similar covers before as these shelf carts are commonly used in hospitals to move supplies around the building and these covers were common but quite expensive. They were quite big when I opened the package and it was not real easy to get them over my shelves by myself. A little effort and a step ladder were needed. It was well worth the effort and not very expensive for what I now have. You can find more Indoor Garden Supplies Here on my Alaska Grow Buckets shopping page.