seeds Germinator and Cup Holders for Seeds

Monday:
Well, the germinator I just built was tested last night. Temperature was 90 degrees in the germinator and in my work shop when I got home. Turned on lights and monitored through the night. This morning at 4 am, the germinator temperature was 74 degrees and the ambient temperature was 50. Seems the light source inside will only keep the germinator 24 degrees F above ambient. Will increase wattage of the 4 incandescent lights and retest tonight.

Built a germinator seed cup holder last night. Made out of 1/4" plywood 15" X 36". Will hold 60 cups. This rack is to test the design. Other racks will be built that will be 2' X 2' square and will hold 40 cups each. Will need 4 of them to accomodate 256 germination cups.

AJ

Tuesday:
Retested the germinator last night for temperature. I changed the 4 incandescent lights from 40 to 100 watt bulbs and insulated the front and back with 3/4" insulation board. The back is made of 1/4" plywood and the front is 1/4" plywood with 1/4" plexiglass access doors.

The combination of increased "wattage" and the insulation resulted in much greater temperature deltas. After a three hours on, the ambient temperature was 60 F and the inside temperature was 114 F. I think I have the temperature under control now. I will have to wait until the cold, cold days come before I know exactly how many lights (one to four) will keep the germinator at the temperature of 86 F.

AJ

Southern Guy,

I built my germinator today, using only materials at hand. Twenty-five years ago, I had made my son a toy box. That's the container. I drilled a hole in the side and ran the cord from a water bed heater, along with the thermostat, through that hole, then stuffed it with insulation. I put a plastic tub - it's about 18 inches wide by 30 inches long in the box, over the heater. It's set to 85 degrees. The seeds are planted in a stryofoam container - eleven cells long by five cells wide. They are one inch at the top, tapering to half that at the bottom, and three inches tall. I packed the cells with damp potting soil, placed a seed on top of it, then added 1/4 inch of dry potting soil. The entire thing was soaked using a sprayer. That tray was placed in the tub and it floats on the water. The top is covered with a thick piece of plate glass.

I planted 28 seeds, I'll be curious to see how many sprout and grow.

While typing this, I had to take a break to go upstairs and turn my grow lights off. Before doing so, though, I found a real nice mirror laying around, one that will completely cover the box. I'm thinking about adding a 20 watt, narrow spectrum CFL with a timer, so it burns 16 hours a day (using a whole 320 watts or about 2¢ a day.) Oh, and I found a socket laying in an alcove - I love doing this without spending any money!

I'm using a whole room for germination, and it's doing great!
It's gotten really cold lately, it's 60F if I'm lucky and the sun is shining like crazy.
Still many seeds have sprouted, and some still do.
Maybe later when it will get colder, I'll get a better heating solution, but for now it's all good.

AlabamaJack said:

Built a germinator seed cup holder last night. Made out of 1/4" plywood 15" X 36". Will hold 60 cups. This rack is to test the design. Other racks will be built that will be 2' X 2' square and will hold 64 cups each. Will need 4 of them to accomodate 256 germination cups.

Click to expand...

What sized cups?

I use plastic totes to hold the cups, and use cheap plastic drinking cups for the seeds. I can get about 24 16 oz cups, or 36 9 oz cups per container. I really prefer the 16 oz cups for starting peppers, but I have to consider space sometimes.

The combination of increased "wattage" and the insulation resulted in much greater temperature deltas. After a three hours on, the ambient temperature was 60 F and the inside temperature was 114 F. I think I have the temperature under control now. I will have to wait until the cold, cold days come before I know exactly how many lights (one to four) will keep the germinator at the temperature of 86 F.

Click to expand...

I use the seed starting mats on an open rack, with foil insulation covering the shelves. Here:



Heat at soil level stays about 80 F, and the peppers are on the top shelf.