Market Farming

["MAsteveINE" <MAsteveINE AT 207me.com>]

 

The system you discribe is available from suppliers under several names but commonly referred to as spaghetti tube, another alternative puts fin pipe (as is inside hot water baseboard) suspended under the bench. For a

DIY system on the cheap use common black 1/2 inch plastic pipe in runs a few inches apart; running warm water,

with a Taco 007 pump, from some type of water heater. ( longer pump runs of warm water is better than hot water which can overheat your crop, get your system together early and make a check run for a few days to see what is what; I like having the probe of an indoor/outdoor recording thermometer burried in the soil)

My small system ran a Katz engine heater which is available at auto parts store; that was at the house (residence) where heat requirement was minimal

 

For late season we needed something for lots of  vine crops direct seeded in 804 cell packs so we

 put a 4' x 16' bench at about waist height, covered and skirted with 6 mil poly, a 1500 watt electric heater

under there on a bulb type line voltage thermostat  Worked very well, and even better when we had

the time and remembered to water with warm water!

 

MAsteveINE

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I’m looking for people’s experience heating seedling trays.  I’ve used heat pads in the past but I saw a system recently on a farm near Olympia, Washington.  This system consisted of a hot water tank used to heat water which was circulated through small diameter tubes under seedling trays.  The farmer indicated that it was a less expensive system to run than resistance heat pads.  I’m wondering what the experience is of people on this site and what their recommendations would be for efficiently heating seedling trays.  Any and all thoughts would be much appreciated.

 

Regards,

Roy

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