[philskin]

Hiya ive been absent for a while but ive finally done one of the jobs that needed doing but always had an excuse not to  ( we have all been there ) i sorted this mess in the shed





  and made myself a propagator with a 5ft low energy pipe heater underneath a bed of sharp sand 2" thick and a low energy strip light on adjustable chains so i can raise or lower them .The whole compartment is made of 9 old internal doors that i recycled and is lined with polystyrene sheets



 

 

  I have got a temperature of 60 f  but what worries me is except for me switching it up and down manually is there a device that i can plug in the mains then plug the heated pipe into that and the device regulates the temp by switching the electric on and off ,i cant explain it better and don't really know if these things exist but some wise person might be able to help thanks for looking  phil

[8doubles]

Amazon have got them. Google `thermostat plug'.

[philskin]

Amazon have got them. Google `thermostat plug'.

 cheers your a star has i didnt know what they called them i couldnt search

 just looked but it needs the temperature sensor to be on a lead so i can put it in the propagator and leave the control plug outside the room if you understand , thanks anyway

[janet12000]

impressed 
well done!

[philskin]

impressed 
well done!

 thank you janet

[chopkins1313]

you can get such a device for reptile tanks, try your local pet store. they come with a temp sensor (or two) on about a metre of cable. Think they are also referred to as habistats. Looks good though, very good effort!

Chris

[DD.]

Is that an ordinary fluorescent tube in there Phil, or a "Grow Light" one.

An ordinary one does not give out the correct spectrum of light for proper plant growth.

[philskin]

Is that an ordinary fluorescent tube in there Phil, or a "Grow Light" one.

An ordinary one does not give out the correct spectrum of light for proper plant growth.

 its an ordinary one at the moment just wanted to show it with a light on

[philskin]

you can get such a device for reptile tanks, try your local pet store. they come with a temp sensor (or two) on about a metre of cable. Think they are also referred to as habistats. Looks good though, very good effort!

Chris

 thanks chris will try that

[philskin]

have got the proper grolight in now it was the dearest part £ 9.50 ,some of my plants in and some flowers for the wife

[JayG]

Using a reflector over your fluorescent tube will double the light reaching the plants. You can buy them (I'm thinking of luminaires intended for aquarium use; expensive) or make your own from aluminium sheet or even aluminium foil glued to a suitable curved backing.

If a mod reads this something has pushed the page over the boundaries (usually an overlong web link but can't see one here; is it the pics?)

[Yabba]

Your light looks pretty high, mines about 4" above the top of my seedlings

¥

[philskin]

ok thanks for the advice will make a reflector tommorow and will lower the chains for the light

[Trillium]

Wow, it's bright in there Phil. You'll be able to do DIY suntans  Wish I had one of these against my pesky cat which always thinks the trays are nests.

[philskin]

just another alteration to the hothouse ,ive got plants ready to come out of the propagator now so ive sorted another problem out ive run two flexi pipes into the hothouse
 

 

 this runs under the bench which is made of latts the heat rises up out of the pipe and warms the polysyrene sheets up this provides bottom heat for the seedlings

 

 its covered in perpex this lets light in as well as helping to hold the heat in. Here is the heart of the system its a 12 v  fan out of a scrap pc its running on a 6 v transformer so turns just right this is sealed in the middle of the pipe so it acts as a flow and return valve ,pulling hot air out of the hothouse feeding it under bench then pushing the warm air back in the hothouse
 recycling at its finest