I use one of the "heated windowsill propagators" mentioned above - I am a big fan. It is long and thin and fits on a windowsill (I suppose that much is obvious!) and then plugs in the mains. It doesn't have controllable heat. It came with 7 half trays (with covers) which are perfect for starting seeds off. It will also take the larger trays turned sideways.
I have another version of the same thing which is one of the self watering ones (trays stand on a bit of material which soaks up water from a resevoir below). So when my seeds have germinated on the heated one I move the trays onto the self watering one, and then eventually they get moved on to the unheated greenhouse - so from Feb onwards I have a sort of production line going.
Both my windowsill contraptions are made by Garland - I think they are called something like Mini-7.
I have bought 2 different propagators. My first one is Bio Green's jumbo propagator with heat mat, mini staging, thermostat and polypropalene cover, which works brilliantly, though would be about the same price. The advantage over the vitopod one is that it already has plenty of head room, the down side is that the condensation runs down the covering and onto whatever surface it's on, mine being wood = mould, where as the vitopod one is encased and the condensation runs back to the tray, however, for the height of the Bio Green propagator, you'd have to buy another layer, which is not cheap at all. That said, even though I've got the Bio Green one, I can see that both are very much the Rolls Royce of the gardening world.
The second one I bought is from TwoWests and Elliotts, and it's the electric blanket with cover. This comes with polystyrene sheets, heat mat and thermostat, (feels better built than the Bio Green one) plastic protective covering, and a self assembly polycarbonate and metal casing unit. It is highly, highly, impressive and I think, will whip the other 2 for what you get.
The way I look at it, is that buying just a single heat mat, nothing else, and not even to the length of the Bio Green jumbo propagator, and certainly nowehere near the TwoWests electric blankets, will cost anything up tp £200, yet, for the same price or just £100 more (that's assuming you can stretch that far) you get so, so, much more, which in my eyes, though costs more, is more economical and so, so, much better. Honestly, the way this spring is going, I'm so happy I bought them. My cheaper propagators would see 2 foot high seedlings and no true leaves about now, and it has certainly saved money on heating as it's far more localised than heating a whole greenhouse to tropical temperatures.
Does anyone know how well how well Vitopod propagators do at the top of the thermostat range around 30C please? I have had excellent germination at this temperature but other thermostatically controlled propagators that I have used, struggled to achieve the top of their range.
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Blackest and Jane, thank you very much.
I use one of the "heated windowsill propagators" mentioned above - I am a big fan. It is long and thin and fits on a windowsill (I suppose that much is obvious!) and then plugs in the mains. It doesn't have controllable heat. It came with 7 half trays (with covers) which are perfect for starting seeds off. It will also take the larger trays turned sideways.
I have another version of the same thing which is one of the self watering ones (trays stand on a bit of material which soaks up water from a resevoir below). So when my seeds have germinated on the heated one I move the trays onto the self watering one, and then eventually they get moved on to the unheated greenhouse - so from Feb onwards I have a sort of production line going.
Both my windowsill contraptions are made by Garland - I think they are called something like Mini-7.
I have bought 2 different propagators. My first one is Bio Green's jumbo propagator with heat mat, mini staging, thermostat and polypropalene cover, which works brilliantly, though would be about the same price. The advantage over the vitopod one is that it already has plenty of head room, the down side is that the condensation runs down the covering and onto whatever surface it's on, mine being wood = mould, where as the vitopod one is encased and the condensation runs back to the tray, however, for the height of the Bio Green propagator, you'd have to buy another layer, which is not cheap at all. That said, even though I've got the Bio Green one, I can see that both are very much the Rolls Royce of the gardening world.
The second one I bought is from TwoWests and Elliotts, and it's the electric blanket with cover. This comes with polystyrene sheets, heat mat and thermostat, (feels better built than the Bio Green one) plastic protective covering, and a self assembly polycarbonate and metal casing unit. It is highly, highly, impressive and I think, will whip the other 2 for what you get.
The way I look at it, is that buying just a single heat mat, nothing else, and not even to the length of the Bio Green jumbo propagator, and certainly nowehere near the TwoWests electric blankets, will cost anything up tp £200, yet, for the same price or just £100 more (that's assuming you can stretch that far) you get so, so, much more, which in my eyes, though costs more, is more economical and so, so, much better. Honestly, the way this spring is going, I'm so happy I bought them. My cheaper propagators would see 2 foot high seedlings and no true leaves about now, and it has certainly saved money on heating as it's far more localised than heating a whole greenhouse to tropical temperatures.
Does anyone know how well how well Vitopod propagators do at the top of the thermostat range around 30C please? I have had excellent germination at this temperature but other thermostatically controlled propagators that I have used, struggled to achieve the top of their range.