Propagating Units

[Bill]

I am thinking about building a propagating unit. So looking for ideas, I know Bob has a pretty smart set-up, but what about the rest of you, where do you grow your seed?

[iann]

I grow inside a box made from white chipboard with a glass front. I have two compact fluorescent lights inside that provide light and heat. The glass front is less useful than I had initially hoped but it lets me see how things are going. I thought I could let natural light in but most of the time it lets out more light than it lets in so I keep it covered.

I also have a larger "box" lit by four four-foot fluorescent tubes, but I use that for overwintering older seedlings, some winter growers, and any other warmth lovers that I have room for.

[Roy]

...any where I can squeeze one in then one on top if I can manage it!(:P)

[iann]

Roy, I have some small Lithops pots standing on top of seed trays where the cacti were foolish enough to leave bare patches of soil between the plants! Works quite well, the Lithops like the strongest light and give a little shading to the cacti.

[jamesfe]

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[jamesfe]

I just use baggies on a heated mat under a light. it's as easy as that

[Trevor]

I have yet to embrace the baggie method so early last year I built this puppy. It's pretty full on, a stand alone unit that i can move around the house, it's basically two wooden boxes lined with plastic and filled with a bottom layer of sand, all on a stand with lighting. I use the 2.5" square pots for my seed raising and I think if I totally fill the boxes I can fit around 80 pots is each. Each contains a flexible thermostatically controlled heat pad (which I already had), and has lighting provided by 3 x 18 watt flouros for each tray. The lids are clear acrylic (probably the most expensive bit !) and hinged, with a slope to let condensation drain back into the sand base. The height of the box is adjustable in relation to the lights and next season I'll be raising them closer to the lights as I think they were a bit too far away as my first sowings last season etoliated a bit. For my second sowing though, I moved the whole unit into the greenhouse as it was getting warmer...this sowing gave me my best results I think. At the moment the stand and one tray is in the laundry and a tray alone is still in the greenhouse less heat pad, growing on some of the later sown seedlings. All in all, I'm pretty happy with it.
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[Martin]

Trevor

Thats a very sofisticated unit but well done for a home build unit !

I built mine from ply wood about 5mm and 2 double 5ft double standard domestic flurecent light units, I already had a soil warming cable and thermostat.

I run the lights for 14 hrs a day on a timer from around 5.00pm through the night. as they generate quie a bit of heat the heeting cable only really comes on during the day occasionaly. Temperature is ~ 18 dec C at night and about 22-24 when the lights are on.

I also use square pots of either 2 or 3 inch size and if i fill ther unit can get about 200 pots in it. But as I keep aeeds in for about 18 mths each seasons batch is about half the propogator so I can rotate them.

I will post some pics its a little rought around the edges but works well. I use the bag method inside this

[Bill]

Excellent so far Guys. Keep them coming.

Trevor that's the sort of thing I have in mind as it's going in a windowless unheated outbuilding.

[ralphrmartin]

I have a talk on seed raising I can give to branches if you want to see how I do it.