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[patsue53]

What a great thread! Thanks for sharing your greenhouse with us, Fergy.

You MUST meet Mr. Leafmould. I think the two of you would really hit it off!

[Fergy]

The PVC I used was the grey electrical kind, I think it is sched. 80. The original PVC was white and was much thinner. I think it was sched. 40.
The heating cable is a 60 foot, 5watt per foot cable. Total 300 watts. I had a hard time finding info on how many watts per square foot you need for bottom heat. I only found one referance on-line. They said 12 to 15 watts per foot was standard. I made my loops 5 inches apart ( I think that is just a little short of 12 watts. ( 11 I think ) Alot depends on what zone you are in, if you insulate the box, and how much sand you use in the box. I set my thermostat on 72 degrees and the lowest it ever got in the propagator was 68 degrees (even at night when it was 17 outside.

[Gardendollee]

Fergy, I thought that was you as soon as I saw the first picture! Again, beautiful pix. See you at the next meeting! Dolly

[Fergy]

Dolly
Thankyou for telling me about this forum ! I have looked at the Daylily and Iris forums, lots of good info.

[wishiwere]

So, you put the cable and wire mesh under the sand, am I correct? Great ideas and thanks again, so much for sharing your experience with this all!

[Fergy]

You first put down one inch of sand, then the cable, then another one inch of sand. Make sure the structure can support the weight if your not putting it on the ground.
The sand helps to stabalize the temperature (it heats up slowly ) and destribute it evenly, so you don't get hot spots.

[wishiwere]

Okay thanks. Makes sense and I'll have to try that out if I ever get it up and running Hoping to before these seedlings get way too large for this little cart!