I like the idea of using magnets for the plastic. I think the easiest way to get the plastic off of the deck would be to make the entire row into a mini hoop house. Lift the plastic maybe a few inches off of the bed then you wouldn't have to worry about cleaning the plastic or it interfering with the starts. Would also be good for humidity as well. Really enjoying your channel, cant wait to see what's next!
Commonly accepted method of sprouting is to stack the seeded trays up. We stack 5+ trays up on top of each other. Maintains moisture on all the trays and applies pressure which helps to stimulate strong growth. No heat or encapsulating needed. When seeds sprout (3-4 days) unstack the trays into the bottom water trays and you are good to go.
Have you looked at having a pump fill a black water tank on top shelf? Then use the gained head pressure to flow to each system. More electrical efficiency to switch pumps on once in a while to fill tanks instead of the repeated end rush for each zone fill.
Try waterbed heaters make a thin frame to go over the trays stretch the plastic over it and lower it on to the trays with small pulleys and rope from the top shelf.
TRM, You could use a heat gun to make the tray have a depression in the tray for the drain. That will only work if the pan is made of the correct plastic.
A sheet of styrofoam insulation under the Matt would make it more efficient, but a germination chamber doesn't have to be too expensive. I found a free non-functioning commercial upright freezer, building it out with second hand crock pots filling one with oil for heat and one with water for steam. Both will run to their own respective humidistat and thermostat. Got the design from farmhack.net.
Hey RM, check out Bright Agrotech on UA-cam. They used a siphon to drain their trays. Basically just a bulkhead but on the interior they cut a short length of tubing plugged it into the bulkhead from inside the tray and then attached a 90 degree fitting on the other end of the tubing. Also lots of growers make their own germination chambers out of old chest freezers, once again search UA-cam for ideas. Love your channel.
The key we have found is that germination does best with weight on top of the trays. It simulates the seeds being underground and have more of the seeds sprout.
heat gun. heat up the plastic tray with the drain fitting installed and push down on the tray . it should deform the tray enough to get your 1/8 or 1/4 inch.
put the drain in and heat around it with a heat gun and pull down on the drain.... Look into a Bell siphon for draining your beds and kratky float valves for water level.... depending on what you need.
This might sound crazy but you should try water bed heaters they lay flat and are pretty cheap and water proof plus there highly adjustable. just my 2 cents
Run those beds just like the building, put in some simple ribbing. As to the drains, worse comes to worst, you could run some stainless screws into them from the bed and silicon over the heads for food safety/rust prevention, should the weight prove too high for the glue.
I like the idea of using magnets for the plastic. I think the easiest way to get the plastic off of the deck would be to make the entire row into a mini hoop house. Lift the plastic maybe a few inches off of the bed then you wouldn't have to worry about cleaning the plastic or it interfering with the starts. Would also be good for humidity as well. Really enjoying your channel, cant wait to see what's next!
Commonly accepted method of sprouting is to stack the seeded trays up. We stack 5+ trays up on top of each other. Maintains moisture on all the trays and applies pressure which helps to stimulate strong growth. No heat or encapsulating needed. When seeds sprout (3-4 days) unstack the trays into the bottom water trays and you are good to go.
Have you looked at having a pump fill a black water tank on top shelf? Then use the gained head pressure to flow to each system. More electrical efficiency to switch pumps on once in a while to fill tanks instead of the repeated end rush for each zone fill.
Try waterbed heaters make a thin frame to go over the trays stretch the plastic over it and lower it on to the trays with small pulleys and rope from the top shelf.
Was the glue food safe?
How come you didn't use the hot blue PVC glue?
TRM, You could use a heat gun to make the tray have a depression in the tray for the drain. That will only work if the pan is made of the correct plastic.
what about using a space blanket - looks to be made from mylar stuff
A sheet of styrofoam insulation under the Matt would make it more efficient, but a germination chamber doesn't have to be too expensive. I found a free non-functioning commercial upright freezer, building it out with second hand crock pots filling one with oil for heat and one with water for steam. Both will run to their own respective humidistat and thermostat. Got the design from farmhack.net.
Hey RM, check out Bright Agrotech on UA-cam. They used a siphon to drain their trays. Basically just a bulkhead but on the interior they cut a short length of tubing plugged it into the bulkhead from inside the tray and then attached a 90 degree fitting on the other end of the tubing. Also lots of growers make their own germination chambers out of old chest freezers, once again search UA-cam for ideas. Love your channel.
Wouldn't it be easier to just cut some slots in the top of the drains to provide channels to remove the water?
Instead of the plugs to germinate seeds, why not install a valve in the drain line?
Use longer plastic and put magnets onto the shelf. No glue needed and no safety issues 👍
The key we have found is that germination does best with weight on top of the trays. It simulates the seeds being underground and have more of the seeds sprout.
heat gun. heat up the plastic tray with the drain fitting installed and push down on the tray . it should deform the tray enough to get your 1/8 or 1/4 inch.
+Randy J that's a great idea
put the drain in and heat around it with a heat gun and pull down on the drain.... Look into a Bell siphon for draining your beds and kratky float valves for water level.... depending on what you need.
This might sound crazy but you should try water bed heaters they lay flat and are pretty cheap and water proof plus there highly adjustable. just my 2 cents
Way to go Jeff! :)
Use the single pump and update the software. Then look at a redundant pump as a separate issue. That way you don’t have a SPOF.
Run those beds just like the building, put in some simple ribbing. As to the drains, worse comes to worst, you could run some stainless screws into them from the bed and silicon over the heads for food safety/rust prevention, should the weight prove too high for the glue.
grow tents are cheap alternative/dark room 4by 8 foot. make a great germ chamber for under 500$
Forget the heat mats---in 30 years never found one that increased heat more than 2-3 F over ambient.
They use metric SI units on Mars