Propogator

[osmosis]

My project over Christmas was building a new propagator for bringing on Sarracenia seeds. 

It is built with 18mm varnished plyboard, with 50mm foil backed insulation on external surfaces and under the base. Internal grow space dimensions are 54 x 140cm. Total height is 60cm to fit under greenhouse benching.

Inside is lined with Hydrogarden Orca grow film, which is highly reflective but gives a white diffuse light and is a useful tough cloth like material to work with 

In the base is a thermostatically controlled Bio Green Sahara heat mat. 

Lighting is a MarsHydro SP 250 mounted into the lid of the propagator about 15 inches from the foliage. Out of the box, it provided 45000 lux @230watts, but the its wattage can be adjusted down which I have done to about 19000lux @90watts directly under the lights, to about 10,000 lux in the far corner of the propagator. It’s a white spectrum light but claims to have a good PAR rating. As its size and shape fits the unit well, the light is reasonably even within the grow space – much better than my other propagator with a smaller light where the difference between lux in the centre and corners of the unit are 5x compared with this at 2x

 

Edited January 2, 2020 by osmosis

[ada]

Looks very posh Dave,got the seeds in yet?

[Neil_C]

Could I ask how you've found/gotten on with the MarsHydro SP 250? Presuming as it's a white light you used a LUX meter when adjusting the Watts/Lums ?

[osmosis]

I'm pleased with it 

Sarracenia seedlings are growing and colouring up nicely under it (which you can actually appreciate compare to blurple), it's heat burden is low, there are no active cooling fans to go wrong, I love the adjustable driver, and most importantly it lights the space evenly.   

I have another propagator of a similar size that I have been lighting for a couple of years with a 'Platinum LED' P300. It's a great light, but it is 13000 lux in the center down to about 2000 at the edges, so it doesn't light that space effectively. It would be fine in a smaller space. 

Consequently, I just bought another identical MarsHydro and will be replacing it this week 

Hope that helps,

Dave  

 

[osmosis]

[Neil_C]

23 hours ago, osmosis said:

I'm pleased with it 

...

Hope that helps,

Dave  

 

Thank you, very helpful.

 

 

[Keith Nigel]

Hi Nice job by the way. What is the front panel when closed plastic glass or completely covered. 

Thanks Keith

[osmosis]

19 hours ago, Keith Nigel said:

What is the front panel when closed plastic glass or completely covered. 

It is also solid (plywood). & the whole inner face of the propagator, including the door, is lined with Hydrogarden Orca

The lights are very bright, the whole thing would stick out if any part were translucent 

[Neil_C]

Hi Dave,

 

 Could I ask what you use to measure the Lux? I've tried messing the lux using an app on my phone, but that only reads/shows 1000!

 

Cheers 

 

 

Neil

[osmosis]

1 hour ago, Neil_C said:

Could I ask what you use to measure the Lux? I've tried messing the lux using an app on my phone, but that only reads/shows 1000!

I bought an affordable Light meter (ETI-1301), but I'm sure they are all much of a muchness

I use it to judge light levels broadly, and make comparisons. I understand that PAR/ colour temperature add considerable complexities