We rig ours up the easiest way possible, chains and S hooks with many rubber bands between the chains. If a chain is used, put an S hook in each end of the chain and connect the ends with rubber bands, one at a time until you have a strong enough joining. It's easier to move the lights when they need it. The many rubber bands allow you to make it stronger than just a big one.

Having arthritis and carpal tunnel, I find that using larger hooks and chain makes it a little easier to adjust. These hooks I just happened to find on the ground where I walk my dog, behind an industrial hardware plant. They really came in handy, but you could make something similar out of stiff wire. My light hood is heavier than a shop light and it's nice to have something larger to grab onto instead of struggling to keep hold of small s-hooks. The white chain is from an old lamp kit, but it is available at most hardware stores. HTH
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Thanks for the ideas. They gave me a few of my own. Tomorrow I'll be changing out the S hooks for something that can NOT fall off and end up trapped inside the light. And I'll switch the chain arrangement around, too, for easier adjusting. Before I guess I was too mad to think of a reasonable way to change things :)

Now if only my peppers would start to grow as well as the tomatoes. Only a few peppers have grown great. Hopefully the others will take off soon.

Using 2 sections of chain with the s hooks in the middle, much like the pic above might be easier. Pinch one part of the s so it won't fall off the chain.

I do two different approaches. I remove the back or top of the florescent lights fixture. I either drill a little hole for the 'S' to pop back out and use pliers to close the 'S'. This way it cannot fall back inside. The other option is to take a two pieces of wood, 2" x 8-10", I screw the top of fixture into the wood. Now I attach a hook to the wood and this controls two racks of florescents with one chain on each side.

Hang the lights high, pile up boxes or books under the plants, and remove them one at a time to lower the plants as they grow :-)

"Hang the lights high, pile up boxes or books under the plants, and remove them one at a time to lower the plants as they grow :-)"

jessicavanderhoff: How did you know I did that last year when my regular light broke? I don't want to try it again! It does work, though :)

Thanks again, pepper lovers, for the advice and laughs. Most of my frustration with lights is probably because I'm stressed by an elderly relative's declining health. Your discussions here and in other pepper threads have been a good theraputic break for me.

My situation is funny:

I sprouted different varieties of pepper seeds at the same time. My sweet Banana peppers are almost 5 inches tall, while other varieties (such a tepin) are barely 2 inches tall. I have to keep raising the florescent light, in order to not touch the top of the banana pepper plants. When I do this, the shorter pepper plants are penalized, as the light is further away from them. As a solution, I stack up DVD Jewel Cases under some of the pots, putting them closer to the light. I can't do this with all of the shorter pepper plants, as the Cases are wider than the base of the pots, and I don't have a lot of free space, as my light fixture is only around 4 feet long. I rotate the plants.

I'm sorry to hear about your family situation. Here is something that may amuse you: My light has been on 24x7 for almost 1 month. It is an interesting experiment. I don't see any harm yet.

Later