Germination Chamber

[relichound]

I was going out the other day to purchase some more heat mats for my pepper plants. I decided to try this instead. I got some 1/4 foil face insulation board and made a box. In the top I used Velcro to mount a small florescent light. It worked so well I have constructed another box but used two compact florescent bulbs instead. Both boxes when closed are keeping temps at around 85 degrees. If temperatures start to get a little high you can just crack the lid to the box a little. With the compact florescent bulbs you can just cut one light off if you have to much heat or just use a smaller wattage bulb.

Jerry

[Worth1]

I don't know germination chamber sounds spooky to me.
Seed starting habitat sounds friendlier and more inviting.
You could never get me to go into anything called a CHAMBER.

Let us know how it works.

Worth

[relichound]

Good point!!

Jerry

[newatthiskat]

I don't know...Germination Chamber sounds all sciency. I like the sound of it . Makes it appear that what we do to start seeds is hard and requires great skill. I like to keep that persona alive I really like your design. I might steal it if you don't mind
Kat

[salix]

I'm planning a variation on that theme - using the foil covered boards as insulation for the sides of a large box outside to use in hardening off seedlings. Will have a clear lid for daytime, and was planning a light and more insulation on top for night time and freezing temps. My not-quite-gelled plan involves pushing those little Christmas mini-lites through pegboard as a low, safe heat source. May need to just use the trouble light, but the Christmas lights were on sale...

[veggie babe]

relichound and salix both are really good ideas. Why can't I think of something like that?

not creative,

Neva

[relichound]

It seems like my germination boxes are working great. Both boxes are being able to hold soil temperatures at 85 to 90 degrees with boxes closed up. During the day I'm opening the boxes a little just for some fresh air. Getting pepper germination from 4 to 5 days.

Jerry

[outsiders71]

Relichound, very nice. I was thinking about building one of these this year to help me in my germination battles.

I was thinking though...water is a better distributor of heat than air. You could buy a small aquarium heater and heat the water to say 80F and it would distribute the heat more evenly. The problem though is how do you set 1020 trays into the water? Hmmm..

[David Marek]

Depends on how much you're working with. I have tried a few water heat systems. All I needed was 3 or 4 trays worth. To begin with I got a bulb thermostat, which is the only component that I still use in my current system. First system had two plastic trays and one steel. I used a 350 watt block heater with a magnet, a small submersible pump and two 1/2" U shape pipes. Lost the siphon but the thermostat bulb was on the metal tray with the heat, so the house was spared from burning down. Second try I used a single tray from a rubbermaid container in place of the two trays. It fit 3 so I now had room for 4 trays. This worked reasonably well if I added water every few days. I did have plastic wrap over the water to reduce evaporation. Anyway, the water overflowed a few times. I then switched to using an old regular fishtank heater in the rubbermaid lid. It pooped out and the new heaters don't really get the water warm enough for proper heat transfer. Probably good if you don't want to cook your fish. I now use jumbo waterproof heating pads for people. They have 4 heat settings so I can have different "zones" all running on the same thermostat, which also gets set to desired temp. I put the bulb under the tray on the pad set on high so it will cycle properly- they turn off after 2 hours if run continuously. So that's my adventure with electricity and water. Oh, and this was all done in the greenhouse. I would never do this on a light stand.

Somebody posted a picture using a heated waterbed, plenty of thermal mass there. I thought it was pretty clever.

[mtbigfish]

Relic
Question
Do you germinate the seeds with only heat and then turn on the lights once the seeds germinate?

Do you turn it off at night so the plants get their "dark cycle" ??

Dennis

[outsiders71]

Hmm...

I would have thought a 50W aquarium heater would have rose the temps enough, especially since they are made for 10-15 gallon setups. I would probably only be using 1-2 gallons of water in some kind of rubbermaid container to heat the trays.

[David Marek]

OK, a few more things. The heat pads are 50 watts each (a lot for one tray), so with a high capacity thermostat you can put up to 30 on one circuit. They cost $26 each and the thermostat was about $30. Unlike my water system, I do use these under lights.

The aquarium heater was 200 watts!!! It has a built in shutoff, so the water got to about 82-85 degrees F max. They also need to be submerged somewhat vertically. With air temp of 60 at night and plastic wrap over the lid the soil temp barely pushed past 70.

Another idea: I run my lights at night so I have two "mornings" per day to do watering. They are in a dark room so they still get their dark period. As for me, I turn the lights on right away to help with germination.

[relichound]

Originally Posted by mtbigfish

Relic
Question
Do you germinate the seeds with only heat and then turn on the lights once the seeds germinate?

Do you turn it off at night so the plants get their "dark cycle" ??

Dennis

Dennis,

The lights stay on 24 hrs until germination then I move them under 4 foot shop lights and then begin a light cycle. The main purpose of the lights in the box is to provide the heat for the seeds to sprout. I don't think believe the light and dark cycle is that important until after the seeds have germinated and the plants are starting to grow. The main purpose of this box was to keep from having to buy those expensive heat mats and it has worked out great so far.

Jerry

[mtbigfish]

Jerry
Got it - so you are just using like a heat mat to keep the soil warm for germination - looks like you have 2 boxes - how much cost and time to make them?
I ended up replacing my 2 old style heating mats and they cost me $59 ea - are 20X48 " and 100+ watts each (holds 4 1020 trays each) and $30 for the controller that will run 4 mats - though 2 mats are plenty.
I do a semi dense planting method like nctomatoman (Craig Lehoulier from NC also) uses except I use only about 1/8 the # of seeds all outside under a patio roof. I wait until 80-90% sprout and then under the flouro lights they go - lights on for 12 hrs during the day mostly then off at dark - my seed starting cart has a clear vinyl cover and is outside also, it has 4 shelves and 4 4' fluros per shelf - I just ended up buying instead of rebuilding my old rusted out ones - will do that later when I get ambitious
It can be unzipped and rolled up/open to vent during the day if needed and I have a temp probe to monitor the temps on the mats and under the lights
Sounds like you use the box for exactly the same reason and once under lighrts do start a new batch of seedlings? How many at a time?

Good Growing
Dennis

[relichound]

Dennis,
I can get the insulation board here in NC for about 10 dollars for 4x8 sheet. You can get about three boxes out of a sheet. The sockets and bulbs cost a couple of bucks a piece. It doesn't take a lot of time to assemble them. Just need a box cutter and some duct tape. The first one I did I used some Velcro to hold a small under the cabinet light in place. I have since found that it is easier just to use the sockets and put them in a hole in the top of the box. The advantage to this is you can cut one light off if you are getting to much heat and the sockets are a lot less expensive. I think the next one I build will hold two of the flats instead of one and just use a some higher wattage bulbs . I have also started using Craig's dense planting method, so I can get a lot of plants started in the box at a time.

Jerry