Keeping Seedlings Warm at Night

Hehehe .. used to live there - not for 12 years or more though Was this in the post, or did you rock up there in person ?

 

Ahh, the internet is out of date then Just dropped them in the post, would have knocked if i'd gone there.

 

Thanks Ziggy that was very kind of you ... maybe they'll forward them on, maybe they'll just plant them ...

 

I've blown the Elephant of Suprise now, but if you want some, pm me where you've moved to now & i'll send you some Those roots you sent me to make coffee are still growing happily in the garden, will take them with me when I move.

 

Nah, that's OK, I won't tell myself ...

 

Its arrived ...

Took an hour to assembled. Turned the cover inside out (velcro straps to secure cover to frame sown on wrong side, or the cover is packed inside out). The "vents" are covered with a very thin polythene sheet - it looks like you are supposed to cut that out when you are ready. So I'm not sure there is anything actually wrong with it. (The plastic is the reinforced mesh type, not sure how much that will effect light transmission after its come through the conservatory twin-wall perspex as well ...)

It would be easy to roll up the sides a bit for ventilation ("roof" will still be hot, but won't matter for seedlings at "ground level")

The frame is quite flimsy, but all the tubes have sprung-loaded nipples that engage in correponsding socket, so its pretty easy to put together (and take apart for storage).

Not sure how strong the frame is to put something else over it at night for insulation.

It would be possible to build only one "bay" (reducing the length from 3M to 1.5M) [by 1.9M wide] - which might be a more economical size to look after seedlings as per my original concept. Plastic cover won't be much good in that scenario.

I think I'll still the Grow Lamp in there tonight, along with the weather station, and see how the "indoor temperature" sensor changes when the lamp comes on at 10pm

I'll post some pictures in a mo. for some reason UPLOAD button not working ...

 

Can't upload a file in either Chrome or IE ... I'll try another machine ...

 

Nothing can be uploaded as the RHS / Daily Express members have taken over the forum ...

Perhaps a Mod or Admin member can get involved here ...

 

Managed to upload on a different machine (or maybe the News Feed has stopped hogging the server ...)

 

for a bit more strength build a frame from 2x2 and drill holes to put the feet in,to stop them spreading.The cover when fitted outside is trenched in which adds to the strength.
If you dont need the extra height why not leave the bottom section off as long as the height doesnt get to near the lamp you should be ok.
I have read of the grow tents no bigger than a wardrobe with 600w in but they have extraction to take the heat away and with lights on tey struggle to keep below 30o
You should have no problem keeping the seeds warm as long as you can restrict the area you want to heat.
Just be prepared for the helicopter and a knock at your door when they notice the heat source and notice the light!:WINK1:

 

Yup, that thought had crossed my mind. Bit fiddly to get in to water though, but would be volume area for heat insulation. The cover would be all over the place at the bottom though. Might be better to lift the plants up (staging, or similar) so they are nearer the "roof" and in an area of more heat as a consequence perhaps.

Lifting on/off [during the day] would be straightforward but:

I'd need somewhere alongside of equal size to lift it off to!

With the light [now] dangling from the top frame its added some weight ... I think if I want to lift on/off I'll need to hang the lamp from a separate frame.

"I have read of the grow tents no bigger than a wardrobe with 600w in but they have extraction to take the heat away and with lights on tey struggle to keep below 30o"

True, although their surroundings will be room temperature - 18C - 20C - whereas my conservatory may get down lower. TBH I don't know what temperature it does get down to in March / April, but I suspect its below 10C which is the lowest I want my Toms / Cues / Peppers to fall to.

 

Um your frame seems to be a bit wrong ?
The opposite sides should match each other? ( equa ecua equlaeralateral eccy something)

Jack McH

 

The "horizontal" bar half way round the curve? If so they just clip on (and slide down 'coz they don't fit very tightly ...)

 

Put the weather station (indoor control panel) in the "tunnel" last night with the grow lamp on. I reckon its a success. I have no way of logging the temeprature in the conservatory, so all I have is outdoor (not particularly cold) and indoor [inside the tunnel].

Initial (green) temperature drop is when I carried the controller from hosue to tunnel
Blue is when the lamp went off at 8am
Red is when I carried the controller back to the house to download the data.

I'll put it in the tunnel earlier tonight, before the lamp comes on.

Maybe most of the heat is radiated, from the lamp, but the temperature fall when the lamp went off is a bit of a shocker. The controller was right on the edge of the "light canopy", I'll put it a bit further away tonight so I get a better feel for how quickly the actual heat in the tunnel escapes into the conservatory.

 

Kristen - given that the the outside temperature usually drops at night - I see no problem with it happening inside.

I think with a radient heater - you would expect a quicker drop off than with a fan heater.