seed startin' on the cheap

oppalm · Post by **oppalm** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 5:59 am

following is a picture of a seed starting rig I built this year. I needed something that would provide bottom heat on the cheap. I put 2 X 4 lumber on edge, screwed it all together, put a strand of 300 christmas lights inside the 2X4 box, put a wire shelf on top , put my seed starting containers on top of the shelf and the lights keep the conatiners at about 80-85F degrees. Perfect seed starting heat. The best part is it cost me $0. It doesn't get better than that. The one I built is 42" long x 14" wide. I also use 2 big rubber made plastic containers (they are 12X18") with lids to put on top of the rack to hold more containers. I have 18 conatiners of seeds going right now and it works like a charm. Check it out.

oppalm · Post by **oppalm** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 6:35 am

I meant to put this under "Germination" heading. My bad.

Kansas · Post by **Kansas** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 6:37 am

Looks great!!!
Are those the containers that you buy sliced meat (Turkey, ham, etc.)? I used those recently and have had good luck (Dioon Edule) with them. Seem REALLY air tight.
The ONLY other thing I might do is maybe put tin foil on the part of the top that doesn't have anything, that way the heat doesn't escape and it will send more heat to the side with seeds on it, if you follow what I am saying.
Other than that, looks pretty darn cool.

oppalm · Post by **oppalm** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 7:53 am

Those are not the containers for meat, although I do use those too. the containers in the picture are regular disposable containers you buy at the store. I don't dipose of them though. I ususally have the left side covered with seed starting containers (larger rubber made conatiners with lids). I took them off so you all could see the brilliant construction method I used.

Barrie · Post by **Barrie** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 11:16 am

What kind of temps are you getting in the growing medium to start these seeds? I'd imagine the older/larger type bulbs would throw even more heat. Nessecity is the mother of invention.

Cheers, Barrie.

oppalm · Post by **oppalm** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 11:25 am

the temp of the medium is 80-85F (27-30C) . Very consistent temps. I use the smaller mini-lights because they are not quite as hot and I have this thing inside in my basement and I feel more comfortable using these smaller lights. Quite honestly my intentions were to add another strand of mini-lights to get the soil temps up to 85F, but I did not need to. 1 strand did the trick, plus the lights are safe to run 24-7.

Knnn · Post by **Knnn** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 11:38 am

Thanks for posting this, I can use the money I was saving for a heat mat to buy more seeds

Barrie · Post by **Barrie** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 9:57 pm

Knnn,
Save your money. Heat mats are great for providing heat, but the soil or growing medium dries out closest to the heat mat first. If you don't notice this, it can be very detrimental to seedling growth as the tap root desends to the bottom of the container.

Cheers, Barrie.

Knnn · Post by **Knnn** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 9:38 am

Barrie,
Noticed that effect with a small propagator I've been using, switched to perlite which helps a little but still can't leave anything in it for too long.

Also have built some rigs out of used crock pots being run through a variac, etc. Usually results in waking up in the morning with the smell of cooked spagnhum moss in the air

Seems its always the simplest things which work the best...

Steve

Knnn · Post by **Knnn** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 5:48 pm

Oppalm ~ Thanks for the idea, put something similar together using an old aquarium.

macario · Post by **macario** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 7:52 pm

I have to say you guys are very creative. This stuff looks great

Barrie · Post by **Barrie** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 9:36 am

...and the biggest problem, where to put the seedlings once they're potted up? Too cool yet in many instances with overnight temps to have them put out.

Cheers, Barrie.

Knnn · Post by **Knnn** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 7:18 pm

Since my GH is full,

I mostly just put them in the dining room

Wes North Van · Post by **Wes North Van** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 10:47 pm

How do you get away with that!
There is no way my wife is letting me put palms in my dining room.
The greenhouse looks great

Knnn · Post by **Knnn** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 8:22 am

With the promise that everthing would be moved out of the house this Spring

Going to start on my GH addition in the next couple weeks.....

Steve

Barrie · Post by **Barrie** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 9:47 am

Ya that wouldn't fly at mt place. I don't think I'd want to either. I'll start seeds (in most cases) indoors trying to time it so that when they germinate I can at least get them into a coldframe. I'd like to have a "half way" house for these but I know it never would be big enough.

Cheers, Barrie.

Knnn · Post by **Knnn** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 11:15 am

Has been a bit of a chore to keep up with stuff spread out all over

Hoping to get a big enough GH set up by the end of this year, might even be able to take some time off then.

Steve

oppalm · Post by **oppalm** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 6:36 pm

Knnn - tried to get some styrofoam cups at the store last week and they said some guy in central Kansas has cornered the market on styrofoam in Kansas. By looking at you GH picture, I figured out it was YOU. Man just keeping all those seedlings watered must be a chore. I thought I had a lot of seedlings but you win, I quit. I am not sure a bigger greenhouse will help you.

PalmsNorth.com

seed startin' on the cheap

seed startin' on the cheap

Temps?

Nice Setup

Seeds

What next?

Barrie,

Knnn

Wes,

Barrie,