I use old electrical blanket set on low. You might find one on winter sale now.

Thanks for the reply Linda, but I like to regulate the temps, plus a blanket would be way too large for my prop bed.

Look at Park's seed catalog for heat cables. Those with blue wires and a built in 70 degree thermostat work well and are in Park's as well as most garden centers. Al

Just ordered some seed from Parks cause I had a refund certificate and could not find the cables anywhere on the net catalog, unfortunetly I misplaced thier catalog when it came during the holiday rush. Our garden centers don't even know what a soil heating cable is around here! Better yet, ask em about organics at Lowes or HD and I end up directing people to the fish emulsion, lol. Charcoal, yep, it's in the orchid area. Thankfully the feed store is now up to speed for Fertrell supplies and I can special order.

I bought some off of e-bay last year. I've got a propagation mat somewhere as well- I think I lent it to my Dad though and he's using it to start his precious giant pumpkins.

How do you build a soil box? I'd like to do something like that. I've got tons of new bed space to fill thanks to a landscape makeover but little budget. I've started seed indoors for years but never on any larger scale. This is the year for that. A soil box sounds like it might work well in my unfinished basement- or is it something you put outside as a transition kind of space?

I experimented with these sorts of thing when I had a greenhouse. I never was fond of cables but this could just have been a personal thing as quite a few people seem to like them. I was rather fond of a rather expensive mat that I got from a catalog from a company no longer in business.

My favorite thing was a green box with a thermocouple on the end of a wire. The thermocouple could be placed in soil anywhere within six feet or so. The box had places to plug in a standard 110 volt extensions and a dial to set the temperature. One could take a heating pad or an electric blanket or a cable or a mat and the thermostat in the box would turn the temperature on and off as need to keep the temperature where you set it.

I calibrated it with a candy(?) thermometer.

Yeah, I went on Ebay and am bidding on a mat, found some cables there also. I have used a cable system on and off for years with great germination rates.

Bindersbee: The soilbox, propagation box I made was wood sides cut to the size to fit the size 3 regular flats inside it with pegboard on the bottom if it needed drainage. Next I put styrofoam as an insulator ontop of the pegboard. I put a layer of sand next. Went to the hardware store and had them cut hardcloth the inside size of the box. I attached the heat cable to the hardcloth with zip ties. Turning the heat cables towards the sand. Then I put soiless seed starting mix ontop of the hardcloth.
I used this ontop of an old chest freezer that has been in the basement for who knows how long and is gonna take 3 men and a small boy to get out of this "ole" house. My basement has very low ceilings due to being a 200+ yr old house. I used the wood beams above to hang 2 sets of flourescent light fixtures.I put pulleys up to move the lights up and down. After I sowed the seeds I placed a old glass storm window on top placed the lights ontop till they germinated. Soil temps ran in the unheated basement in the prop box at 76 to 78 degrees.
When the seeds are up I remove the glass topand grow on.

I hope you understand I don't have any pics and gave away the wood box.

If you go to Harbor Freight right now they have a mini dome hot house on sale. The size is 22-1/8" L x 12" W x 5" deep it comes with a heat mat. It was $29.00 its now on sale for $19.99. You could use the hot house or throw it away and just keep the heat mat.
Heres the link.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=94241

Thanks for the info cmoejr.
I have never ordered from Harbor Freight before I had looked at some other things they had a few years ago and forgot the name.

I just got a couple of waterbed heaters from ebay. I am still waiting for them to arrive. There are quite a few of them on ebay.

Dale

I just got the "Germination Station" which works well. I got a domed plastic flat with it and I'll start leeks this weekend.
I love the waterbed heater idea though. I have to think about how to use that idea! Maybe some kind of outdoor seedbed if the pad is insulated enough.

Look out for those waterbed heaters! Not sure why, but I have one in perfect condition that gives substantial shocks. It's not meant to be used out in the open, and in fact is downright dangerous.

That waterbed heater that you have is not in any way shape or form usable i would throw it in the garbage if it is shocking you. I have my waterbed heaters set up on a White Rodgers model # 1687-9 thermostat with remote bulb that is hardwired from the breaker box then from the thermostat it is wired to a recepticle which I have the heater plugged into then I put the remote bulb in the cell trays thru the top of the dome. It is set to turn on when the temp falls to 80 deg. and turn off if the temp gets around 87 to 89 deg.The thermostat justs cuts the power to the recepticle when it hits the preset temps. This method is working without any problems and the temps are right on the money. I personnely would not use a waterbed heater without a seperate thermostat. Dale