Choosing a Lighting and Growing System -- Build Your Own or Order as a Kit

On this page, two options for lighting systems and two options for growing systems are explained. Regardless of the systems you choose for your Fast Plants®, remember that they need:

  • Continuous fluorescent light (lights turned on 24 hours a day).
  • Continuous supply of water and fertilizer (use a self-watering system and apply fertilizer through the water or in pelleted form added to the soil when the seeds are planted).

Light Box System Light Bank System
Low-cost, good for group experiments and stacking in vertical space -- asy to build or available in a kit Build your own or buy a kit; efficient for many plants in a horizontal space
Wisconsin Fast Plant®
Growing System
Bottle Growing System

Commercially available, teacher-friendly system Low-cost, easily constructed from a recycled 2-liter bottle

Download a pdf file with complete, illustrated growing instructions, including how to use another type of Growing System constructed from deli containers




Wisconsin Fast Plants® Program • University of Wisconsin – Madison
Science House • 1630 Linden Drive • Madison, WI 53706
1-800-462-7417 • info@fastplants.org Web Credits