[Darrensissons]

Hi there,

I recently acquired a 2x6 (I think) greenhouse and am now looking at heating it for seed starting etc.

Would I be better to have a electric tube heater to heat the whole greenhouse or use a heat Matt with propagator on top?

I do have a a parasene parading heater but have not yet used it.

Thanks

[JayG]

It mainly depends on how early you want to start things off to try for very early crops - for instance, if you are looking to sow tomatoes as early as February you would need a heated propagator to get them to germinate, then greenhouse heating to keep the temperature high enough to keep them alive until warmer conditions arrive.

Some people do just that, but it's obviously quite expensive, both in equipment and running costs.

If you are happy to just get a slight jump start on the season by growing under glass you don't even really need a heated propagator, although that would be insurance against colder weather in late March/April.

[Darrensissons]

JayG,

Many thanks for the response, so would you say that it’s best to go for a heated greenhouse over heated matts or propagators.

I am not looking to sow super early but more successful seed starting and early growth prior to potting out on the allotment. Sometimes I sow seeds and absolutely nothing happens and I put that down to the greenhouse isn’t warm enough?

[Alank]

I would have facility to properly heat the greenhouse as matts etc are fine for an early start then the seedlings are pricked out and take up more and more room.
The problem is the late spring prolonged cold spells that could wipe out or knock back your seedlings, we had 16 nights of consecutive frost in North Durham this spring and unless I had the greenhouse heated I would have lost loads.
I prefer to prepare for a cold spring and hope we get a warm spring than loss seedlings for the sake of some heating.

[Lardman]

I created a large heated bench with propagator top using a warming cable a few years back. It was very good at bringing on seedlings / seeds for the initial stages, the problem came in the transition period between bench and conditional being warm enough to plant out. The cost of running the bench for 2-3 months even thermostatically controlled made things impractical just to speed up production on a few low value veg, I gave up on the venture after 2-3 seasons.

[Darrensissons]

Hi all,

Thanks for the responses! I shall go for the heated greenhouse option, now I have a parasene heater but I have electricity nearby and would prefer electric heating, is it best to go for a fan heater or tube heater?
Thanks