Re: Okay, serious stuff

Jim, outdoors, I'm sure you have a spiffy misting system for your seeds, but
indoors, at least in my case, it's not practical.  Watering small seeds
indoors from the top is something I have never gotten the hang of (water
dents the soil, seeds swim to the sides, I forget to water and they dry out,
that sort of thing..), so I prefer watering from below.  We've discussed the
APS units before - Accelerated Propagation System - styrofoam setups of 24
or 40 sold by Gardeners Supply*.  I think Lee Valley has a version too.
Resevoir for the water, platform to hold the seed tray, capillary matting
between the platform and tray hangs down into the resevoir, and a clear top.
In my experience, most seeds germinate more quickly in these units and
leaving the lid on after germination makes it too wet.  I just started some
pelargoniums and they were up in 3 days.

*I can't tell you a specific address for Gardeners' Supply.  I'm at work,
with absolutely nothing to do since the corporation changed the internet
service to an intranet service, so I have no access to the internet, even my
home email.  So, to get around that I subscribed the franchise's email to
Chat.  I'm sure someone else will give you the URL or you'll easily find it
yourself.

Kitty
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "james singer" <jsinger@igc.org>
To: <gardenchat@hort.net>
Sent: Saturday, March 05, 2005 3:34 PM
Subject: Re: [CHAT] Okay, serious stuff


> Thanks, Kitty.
>
> Two things. First, I would assume the cookie sheet would be only to
> catch my sloppiness in watering and keep it off the heating mat and,
> maybe, to raise the humidity now and then, not for any capillary
> use--although that's an interesting notion to put in the mix. Second,
> where can I read about APS units? If I'm going to put together the
> be-all-to-end-all indoor seed starting factory, I'd better understand
> all the options.
>
>
> On Saturday, March 5, 2005, at 04:26 PM, Fort Wayne, IN wrote:
>
> > Jim,
> > I've often wondered how to utilize both capillary matting and heating
> > pads
> > as, since I use APS units I sense that my seeds are too distant from
> > the
> > heat mat to benefit.  Your irigation/humidity cookie pans - will the
> > water
> > be always in contact with the medium or is this just to catch the
> > excess
> > moisture?
> > I wouldn't think you'd really need to place anything between your
> > heating
> > mats and the wood.  They only get to something like 75 F, not likely to
> > start a fire or anything.  Heating coils, though - I think some of
> > them come
> > with adjustable temperature gauges and could be set hotter.
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "james singer" <jsinger@igc.org>
> > To: "Chat" <gardenchat@hort.net>
> > Sent: Saturday, March 05, 2005 2:16 PM
> > Subject: [CHAT] Okay, serious stuff
> >
> >
> >> I think I'm going to clean up a big part of my garage workbench and
> >> install a seed-starting station. I've got seed beds outdoors for big
> >> stuff, like palms and loquats, but no really good place to start small
> >> seeds--peppers and cacti and such.
> >>
> >> The bench has fluorescent shop lights overhead and they can be altered
> >> so they can be lowered and raised as need be.
> >>
> >> The top of the bench is 2-inch by 12-inch pine/fir planks. I want to
> >> lay down heating mats or heating coils. What, if anything, should I
> >> put
> >> between the mats or coils and the wooden planks?
> >>
> >> I think I will put something like cookie sheets, the kind that are
> >> shallow pans, on top of the mats/coils so I can control both
> >> irrigation
> >> and humidity. I do not intend to enclose the growing medium [some
> >> variation on peat pots, unless someone has a better idea] in a tent or
> >> one of those little "greenhouses" since the garage never gets below 50
> >> degrees.
> >>
> >> What else do I need to consider? What would you do differently? I've
> >> never started seedlings indoors before [bet it shows, eh?].
> >>
> >> What say ye?
> >>
> >> Island Jim
> >> Southwest Florida
> >> 27.0 N, 82.4 W
> >> Hardiness Zone 10
> >> Heat Zone 10
> >> Minimum 30 F [-1 C]
> >> Maximum 100 F [38 C]
> >>
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> >
> Island Jim
> Southwest Florida
> 27.0 N, 82.4 W
> Hardiness Zone 10
> Heat Zone 10
> Minimum 30 F [-1 C]
> Maximum 100 F [38 C]
>
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