[Armleywhite]

As im new to all this the use of certain items alludes me a little.  I have, so far sown and grown seedlings of the following species.

Tomatoes
Chilli's
Onion seeds

All have been sown into reclaimed trays, Ie, supermarket mushroom trays for example and I seem to have growth from all.  All this has been done without a propagator or other such equipemnt and on our kitchen / bedroom windowsills.  So, my question, how would a propagator have made this easier / better?  Or would it?

Sorry for my continous stupid questions. 

[bravemurphy]

If its working for you then i would keep doing what you are doing.

A propagator (heated one) would just speed things up keeping them at a constant temp, the way this weather is speed is the last thing we need for the seeds that you mentioned cos it seems its going to be a while before they can go in an unheated greenhouse.

[gavinjconway]

I've grown for years on the window sills and only this year have a heated prop. As said above it just speeds it up a bit. But then you also have to keep them indoors for longer till you can plant out..

[ally]

Also be warned you have to ensure that you watered often as the soil will dry out very quickly.  last year i lost over 50 chilli seeds as i didnt keep and eye.  this year i have put some stones and wet sand in the bottom so there is no direct contact with the warm bottom of the propagator and the seed trays ... it caused a nice level of condensation so it was like slow rain  

[gremlin]

By saving money using reclaimed seed trays, it sounds like you have the right approach for allomenteering. I believe Advanced Allotmentering requires the ability to borrow someone else's propagator, and not give it back until July. Next Year.

But seriously, I think a house is the perfect big propagator to keep seeds at an even temperature of 20 degrees. But I cant find places in my house with the correct light levels.  South facing windowcills fry my seedlings, even with shading.  North facing is too dark, even with tin foil. I don't have any east or west windows.

So in my case, I have found no benefit from posh propagators.   A seed tray in plastic bag works fine to germinate seeds.

[Armleywhite]

Many thanks for the replies. 

[Mark's Sussex Allotment]

If you want a windowsill propagator, and you have an ALDI nearby, they are doing (unheated) windowsill propagators for £1.99 at the moment.

BARGAIN!!

[BabbyAnn]

I've never had need of a heated propagator and used a south facing bedroom with a pasting board in front of the window - most things germinate quite well as the room heats up when the warmer sun shines at a lower angle in spring (even in this arctic weather, the little bit of sun has definitely helped).  But chillies can take ages to make a show and often weeks go by before they start coming up.  Even when large enough to be moved into an unheated greenhouse, most chillies just don't get a move on for my liking and only start flowering until very late.  Too many times the year has ended before the fruit are ready.  So sowing early (or overwintering the plants from the year before) seems to be the key.  Now I go for "chitting" the seeds (seeds placed between 2 sheets of damp paper towelling and put into sealed plastic bags and put in a warm place like the airing cupboard) and it's amazing how quickly they sprout (and you don't waste compost on seeds that won't germinate).  So a heated propagator is not really necessary, and of course you can sow virtually most seeds that way but you do need to keep a daily track of what is happening and plant them right away 

[Pimento]

Hi Armleywhite,

I have one of those windowsill heated propagators with 7 mini seed trays, which is excellent for germinating stuff quickly while only taking up a little bit of room. But apart from that, I do like you - I save all kinds of plastic supermarket trays to make bases and lids for mini-propagators to go on my window sills. I heat a screwdriver over a gas flame and use it to make drainage holes in the bases, and I hold the lids on with plastic bands if necessary. The seedlings certainly can't tell the difference! 

Pim.