Homemade Seed Sprouter

Discussion in 'Seed Starting / Propagation' started by nan1234, Oct 9, 2007.

  1. nan1234

    nan1234 Seedling

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    I made a 200 gal glass box from wood, acrylic glass, ceremic heating bulb and a therm controller. It is spacious and works much better than small ones available from stores.

    The box has two parts which can be separated. The bottom part is made entirely by pine wood (1X12 board with 1x4 trim). I installed four wheels for easy moving. The upper part is made by wood frame and acrylic glass and can be opened from the top. Cutting acrylic glass is tricky and must be handled carefully because its very easy to crack. I use a table saw and a new blade with smaller and sharp teeth.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    In the center, I installed 500W ceremic heating bulb. You can get it from pet store in the Reptile section. The therm controller (as shown in the bottom center picture) are installed outside of the box. The sensor and the thermometer must be placed inside and far wary form the heating bulb (as shown in the bottom left picture).

    When seedlings outgrow the box, I just open the lid and cover a plastic sheet on the top. With this method, I had 4 fully grown eggplants before the weather is warm enough to transplant.

    I use storage boxes as tray to hold small containers. Some insulation must be put under the tray in the space directly over the bulb; otherwise, it may get too hot on this spot.
     
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  3. eileen

    eileen Resident Taxonomist Staff Member Moderator Plants Contributor

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    WOW!!! :eek: Nan your seed sprouter is a real work of art. I'd love to have something like that to start my seeds off in.
     
  4. Frank

    Frank GardenStew Founder Staff Member Administrator

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    I really like this Nan, did you have some sort of plan to work from when constructing it or was it an original piece? I suspect you have made a few jealous :D
     
  5. redrose

    redrose Seedling

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    Very impressive!!
     



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  6. Droopy

    Droopy Slug Slaughterer Plants Contributor

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    That is the most beautiful sprouter I have ever seen. :D I'm that envious.
     
  7. cajunbelle

    cajunbelle Daylily Diva

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    Wow, talk about envy, I would love one of those too. It is beautiful, great craftsmanship.
     
  8. zuzu's petals

    zuzu's petals Silly Old Bat Plants Contributor

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    Jiminy Crickets! :eek: What an awesome contraption! :smt023
     
  9. bsewnsew

    bsewnsew Hardy Maple

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    gees

    What an invention ....
    You got smarts like anything there.
    Did you get the glass ready cut or what .
    Back here flexiglass is the popular tool for that stuff.
     
  10. nan1234

    nan1234 Seedling

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    I'm glad that you like it and thank you for the complements.

    Frank, for things like this simple, we do not draw a plan. We get all material and figured out the right size in order to use most of the material with minimum waste. My hubby helped to cut all material into the right size and I use glue, clamps and a cordless nailer to put pieces together. I know that building things without a drawing plan is not a good habit. Once, we started a project for a entertainment center and end up with a china cabinet!

    Bsewnsew, we use acrylic glass or sometimes called plexiglass. I don't know whether it is the same material as flexiglass that you mentioned.
     
  11. scareyut

    scareyut New Seed

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    All I can say is wow! We usually get by with leftover trays and pots and some shelves with lots of lighting down in our furnace room. My mom, who starts almost all of her flowers that she plants from seed does them same. The system you have is amazing!
     
  12. dirt2diamonds

    dirt2diamonds In Flower

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  13. Biita

    Biita Arctic-ally Challenged Forager

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    I can never find my husband when i need him,,, he has got to see this,,,

    That is great Nan, very nicely done, and i want one too,,lol.
     
  14. nan1234

    nan1234 Seedling

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    My seed sprouter is now in use. Here is the picture of what we have inside:

    [​IMG]
     
    GreggG likes this.
  15. Frank

    Frank GardenStew Founder Staff Member Administrator

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    Looks like it's working extremely effectively from the photo Nan. What are you growing in there at present?
     
  16. toni

    toni Mistress of Garden Junque Staff Member Moderator Plants Contributor

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    Nan what a sucess your seed sprouter is, congrats.
    Nice healthy looking seedlings.
     

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