My husband put together a DIY seed heating tray to start some of our seedlings in our greenhouse this winter.
Here is an example of what is available online they are typically called a seedling heat mat…this one is sold by Burpee.
My husband pretty much found everything for free, although he did have to buy a plug. You know if you look around as you are driving down the road people throw away all sorts of things you can use for projects around your homestead.
Materials for this project:
stainless steel tray
pipe heating cable (12-15ft)
thermostat
gravel
potting soil/soil amendment mix
electrical outlet plug
First my husband secured the cable to the bottom of the metal tray with some heavy foil tape. He then set the gravel on top and then filled it with soil mixture. Next he wired the heating cable to the thermostat and mounted it to the side of the tray. He then installed the electrical plug and made sure everything was properly grounded.
And then we have our own DIY Seedling Heat Tray!
We planted some tomato, ghost pepper, and some Texas Blue Bonnet seedlings that all came up within 2 to 3 days!
This might be a project you may want to do if you have the electrical skills on your homestead. I know I would not have done this project myself but it was really neat to see him put it together and its going to be a lot of fun to experiment with seeds with it this winter!
Happy Planting to all those who are seed starting now!
Fondly,
that is awesome! I am jealous, I would love a greenhouse. Did you really find the stainless tray too?
Yes my husband was working near a shopping mall where a store had thrown one in the dumpster. It was a great find!
What a fantastic job your husband did Karen Lynn. How exciting for you. I am still working on the Hubby to make me one of those awesome pot hanger racks your Hubby made for you a while back. I’ll hold onto this idea for his next honey-do…
I couldn’t believe it but I think the seedlings came up a lot faster! It’s a keeper…
I’ve been wanting to do this. As soon as the Handyman gets home tonight he’s going to hear about it! 🙂
You have to do this one!
I am soooo putting this on my Pinterest for a future project. Thank you!
Sharon I will look for you on Pinterest!
I am going to have to show this post to my husband. I would love to have one of these.
This project came together really fast! I think someone might have pinned it thats what I have been doing lately with anything I want to remember to do….LOL! 😉 Thanks for hopping over here!
wouldnt a ele heat tape work for this ?
Cotton yes that is what we used 🙂 Let me know if you make one and how it goes!
sure will …..we got a new place and i will have room for the green house i have always wanted so this will be awesome