My "IncuTainers" Are Now "Cooking" at 78 Degrees (pics)

[rnewste]

After reading some of the stories posted here about early plants freezing, I decided to try to keep mine from taking a "dirt nap" if we hit a cold spell.

Enter an aquarium water heater that maintains the water at a constant 78 degrees:



The heater is fully submersible with a built-in thermostat and fits nicely into the 3" deep 'Tainer water reservoir laying down:



As I had already put my seedlings into the IncuTainers (is that a word?) a week ago, I did not want to dig them up to remove the aeration bench and then install the heater. Fortunately, I was able to just pull up the filler tube, insert the heater with a bit of manual wiggling, down under the aeration bench and into the water. I then just fed the power cord up the filler tube and set it back down into the aeration bench:



So now, the 'Tainers should stay fed with heated water at a constant 78 degrees all day, and I am expecting a faster growth rate from this addition:



At night (or when we have bad weather) I will put the cold-frame covers on and the warmth from the heated water should keep the plants cozy:



I am thinking about doing the same for a couple of "production" EarthTainers for my early varieties so they get a jump on the season. At about $14.00 per unit, not a bad investment for "happy" tomatoes!

Ray