Topic: Cheap heated progator

[ina]

All my warm temp seeds (tomatoes, peppers cucumbers etc) go in a window-sill propagator on top of a cheap hotpad (a kind of flat pillow for sore backs you buy in the departent store) on the lowest setting, this keeps it between 20 and 30 C.  Use a thermometer and if it's too hot you can put newspapers in between the pad and the propagator. This set-up costs about a third of the small 'heated propagators' you buy at the garden center but works the same.

[Roy Bham UK]

Sounds interesting, any chance of a piccy Ina?

[ina]

Here it is. Nothing special really.
I just took all the seedlings out this morning and potted them up so the propagator is now empty.
The pad is plastic with a cotton pillowcase around it, to keep it clean I put the the whole thing in a plastic shopping bag with the opening where the cord comes out and place the propagator on top.

[Roy Bham UK]

No sooner said than done ;) Thank you Ina, Like Tim said, water and leccy don't mix, I would be a little worried about plastic shopping bags as they have safety air holes in them :-\ just wondering if these heated bean bags could be used but perhaps wouldn't hold the heat long enough :-\

[wardy]

My niece got a heated propagator the other day for a tenner from Wyevale Garden Centre (well she bought two as they were so cheap)  :)

[ina]

Ohhhhhhhh, that's a good price, I would get some of those if I could.

As for what Tim said about electricity and water, no water ever gets on the pad. I never water after putting the seeds in anyway, as soon as they have germinated they come out of the propagator.
Of course I would never advice anything that might not be safe so if you think it's not, please don't do it.

Watch for pictures of my electrified tomatoes hahaha, they may even glow in the dark.

[wardy]

I went away for the Easter weekend and left my propagator switched on and it was on a rattan topped table.  Oerr.  I knew I'd left it on but daren't tell my old man or he would have made us go home.  He won't even leave the telly on for the dog when we go out  >:(      ;D

[moonbells]

I got a Sankey full-sized seed tray heated propagator 2 years ago for a tenner. I got it from B&Q and they were in plain boxes with no frills - just the base and a lid so they were not the most obvious things to see on the shelves.

At the same time they were selling the with-frills version for about £16, with capillary matting and a couple of half seed trays thrown in.  Matting plus two trays = £6? I don't think so. I opened the boxes while considering and the actual base units were identical. It's currently cooking a batch of tomatoes and chillis :) and has really revolutionised the germination of sweetcorn and squashes in the last couple of seasons - hardly get any no-shows.

moonbells