Heating my plants in the cold basement advice

8 years ago

I have finished my growing station, with LED lights and insulated with foam and reflective mylar. My basement gets very cold in the winter when I will be starting my tomatoes, peppers etc. I have a controller to kick on a fan as the lights heat up the interior and that is working fine, but I am sure I will need to add some heat when the lights are off especially when it gets down around 40 degrees down there in winter. I have seen the ceramic heating bulbs, are these a good choice for plants? Seem to be used a lot for reptiles! Any other suggestions for heating? I have a couple heating mats for the initial seedlings but I thought it would be good to keep the enclosed box (2'x2'x4') at a constant temperature as well?

Featured Answer

aruzinsky

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

The internode lengths of many plants increase with the difference between light and dark period temperatures. The main reason to avoid 40 deg. dark period temperatures is that it will cause some plants to become etiolated, not that it will kill them. You can even make plants extra stocky by making the dark period temperature higher than the light period temperature.

I have no other suggestions.

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Comments (7)

Stu Zone 7a NY
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks aruzinsky, went ahead and got a small ceramic heater to put in there to keep things at temperature during the dark periods. It will turn on and off with the same controller that handles keeping it cool when the lights are on.
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David Smith
8 years ago
One small thing would be to make the dark period during the warmest part of the day. Also putting them in a grow tent would help retain some of the heat.
Stu Zone 7a NY
Original Author
8 years ago
- Was curious about that too... thought it would make most sense to run the lights overnight to help offset the heating needs during the coldest part of day (night). Any worry about upsetting some kind of natural rhythm? Worried it may throw them off when i take them outside and sun is opposite cycle? Probably overthinking it! They are in a fully enclosed 2x2x4 box with foam insulation on 4 sides and acrylic doors on the front. I have a venting fan for cooling which seems to be running a lot now with lights on but probably won't much when temps drop into 40's! Would think that would provide as much heat retention as I could hope for? The small ceramic heater seems to work well, blows a gentle breeze of warm air, nothing too hot. My plan- and controllers ability- was to set a single temperature and maintain 24 hrs regardless of light status.
David Smith
8 years ago
Yes, that sounds like it should retain heat well.

When it gets close to the time to take them outside, you could start adjusting the dark time to put them back it sync. That should work out well. because the temperatures will be warming up.
Stu Zone 7a NY thanked David Smith
Stu Zone 7a NY
Original Author
8 years ago
Ok great- thanks!
aruzinsky
8 years ago
Don't bother. There won't be any synchronization problems.

Anyway, if your basement is like mine, its temperature will be slightly higher than the temperature of the surrounding ground which doesn't change between night and day. Same for the temperature of cold water from your faucet after it runs awhile. It will still be cold in the late Spring because it takes a long time for the surrounding ground to warm up.