Heated Propagator - is it worth it?

Hoping for some advice, as I’m thinking ahead to next year and debating if it is worth getting a heated propagator.

At the moment I set everything off in my unheated greenhouse. It’s usually end of March before it’s worth starting and some seeds take a while to germinate, presumably because of temperatures.

We live in a small old cottage so no room indoors suitable for raising seedlings or young plants. This means if I did use a propagator, seedlings would be quickly moving into the unheated greenhouse and I’m wondering if that will negate any benefit of the quicker propagation? I’m guessing I wouldn’t be able to bring forward my start time or not by very much anyway?

I could probably manage a couple of small pots on one windowsill, which faces East, but no more.

I have this debate with myself most years so thought I would pick all your experienced brains

Thank you

 

I used one for squashes for the first time this year, and it certainly got them going...
(The plants have not accelerated since that time, but that could be down to many other factors...)

 

I use a heated propagator for a few tender veg. My poly tunnel isn’t heated, so I bring them back inside every night. It is a pain, but it results in a longer growing season. However, because this would become too onerous once the plants got quite big, I sow a little later than I could do. I don’t use the Propagator for hardy veg, so can’t say much about that.

 

Depending on what you are sowing, quite often lack of germination can be down to not enough heat at germination time.
In your situation I would use it just for germination and remove any seedlings fairly soon after they appear.
Even with hardier plants it can mean germination in a week, which might be almost a month without some steady heat.
Having said that there are always some plants that really benefit from no artificial heat.

I'd not be without one, but you would need to experiment a bit, as I agree, your sowing times will probably not be much earlier due to not much heated growing on space.

 

I would recommend a heat mat as that way you can use any existing equipment you have. Being modular it surely will have a longer life too, plus can be used in other domestic scenarios.

I've had this model for four years and it has been absolutely fine, different eBay sellers will stock it too if you don't want to buy from those tax dodgers
Amazon.co.uk

 

Monty did an experiment with seeds using a heated propagator, plastic cover and plain tray - all on same windowsill. The heated ones germinated much quicker, but eventually all grew about the same.

For tomatoes, cucurbits, etc - it would give good results, especially as March to May can be still too chilly even on south facing windows. If I had one, it would improve my seed success, but not sure the cost worth it for me.

 

That’s interesting @AuntyRach, but I suspect all were quicker than my seedlings germinating in a cold greenhouse?

I have tried germinating tomato seeds in small pots on a couple of our window sills but the one with most room is in our kitchen which has no heating so the temperature varies widely between day and night. It’s also west facing so not as much heat from the what little early spring sun we might get either. The other small one with space is east facing and although heated, the light isn’t very good due to trees.

Mmm a bit more thinking to do. I need to investigate costs etc. It can take up to a month for some seeds to germinate in the greenhouse so a quicker germination could give me several weeks extra flowering/earlier cropping.

 

Hi,

As @AuntyRach mention of Monty Dons seed growing, they do all end up together, but using a propagator does give a much higher germination rate imho.

We use the seed tray sized ones which only use a few watts so cost very little to run, though you can buy larger or more modular ones.
Stewart Heated Propagator 38cm | DIY at B&Q

You mention moving the seedlings straight onto the bench of your cold greenhouse and that could cause a serious check to some plants, so we would suggest you make a simple enclosure to fit over the propagator, say two or three time its size, and cover it with some thin clear polythene etc. so that you can then let the heat from the propagator warm that space a litle so you can grow on the small plants before moving them onto the colder greenhouse bench.

 

Thanks @ricky101 but the problem is I haven’t got room to keep the seedlings in the house. But good point that some things will probably sulk so maybe cancelling out the speedier germination.

The propagator will have to be quite small and the only place available is on the dining room table, but that would be too dark for the seedlings so they would quickly become leggy and OH grumpy. I think he will be ok with a propagator been there for a couple of weeks but not trays of seedlings as he uses the dining room table as his office space

 

I sow tomatoes in the greenhouse, @JWK , around end Marc/early April but they are slow. I would like to be able to do peppers and aubergines as I struggle to get these to germinate. I think I need a very big budget for an extension

 

One in a framework with an adjustable strip light across the top helps the seedling grow straight up. I connect my plug to a timer to adjust the heating as the one I previously purchased had a built in thermostat which broke and fried my seedlings. I also read in a forum comment that one actually caused a wooden greenhouse to burn down. I really felt for that person.

 

Unfortunately not @JWK