Seed Germination

Over at Living Web Farms, I was introduced to the concept of a seed germination box through Patrick Battle's video workshop on Seed Starting. The concept is simple: a box that holds seed trays in a warm, moist environment to get the seeds to sprout, after which they can be moved outside or to a greenhouse. According to Mr. Battle, a germination chamber significantly increases the % of seeds which will germinate. That and the fact that we need someplace to start seeds that stays warmer than outside was good enough for me! I decided to make one. So here's me putting the frame together:

And here's the frame supporting a seed tray:

Each shelf should support 3 trays, so with 3 shelves, that's a possibility of 9 seed trays germinating at once. Aim high. For a little more support, I added some leftover window screen on the top shelves. The bottom shelf I kept open so I could drop a water tray in.

 I decided not to build any more of a wooden shell around it. The 3 shelves with the 4 upright supports was pretty stable, any more hard structure would simply be unnecessary weight. What was needed was insulation, so I went with 1" thick rigid foam insulation. 

 The front door just fits in via friction/compression. A couple screws sticking out provide the means of removing it.

To keep the chamber warm and humid, I have an aluminum tray that fits in the bottom, to be filled with water. The heat is supplied by a 100 watt aquarium heater with a built-in thermostat. I plan to set it at 76 degrees. We'll see how it works!

EDIT: I had a conversation with Patrick Battle, and he's doubtful that the aquarium heater will work. In his model, he uses a remote bulb thermostat which hangs in the air in the middle of the box and that's what triggers the heating element. So the heating element gets very hot and promotes evaporation as it the water becomes much warmer than the box. My heating element won't warm the water as much, and won't provide as moist an environment. Still, it's much easier to set up, and I'm going to give it a go.