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Post by dcdahlia on Feb 16, 2014 17:51:49 GMT
I have been using parrafin heaters under the trays for bottom heat for years now and have had great sucess,but this year certain varieties that are usually ok seem to be struggling a bit,so I have built a poropagating bench 8 feet long by 2 feet wide and 4 inches deep.I have bought a 12 metere soil warming cable and thermostat and now have tubers on a heated bench so hopefully it will start more into life.(but I don't hold out much hope for oakwood goldcrest i struggle with it every year, so I have ordered 16 from station house).I can get 12 mushroom boxes on it.It took 7 bags of sharp sand to fill it.I have 10 ground tubers of jomanda and only 1 is showing signs of life so I have ordered 12 of these too from a nursery called pheasant acre.They were only £1.80 per plant with a quantity discount.I have taken my first 20 cuttings today 6 westerton lillian,6 hillcrest divine,2 charlie two,1 hillcrest candy and 5 of a seedling I am trying for gordon hodgson a small /mini dec called westerton reserve.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2014 18:02:44 GMT
Dcdahlia, that is exactly the same size bench I've built, down to the 7 bags of sand. Made a mistake with the polystyrene boxes, but they are rooting, so I just have to be patient.
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Post by steve2t on Feb 16, 2014 18:17:19 GMT
Dug up some tubers today, will set them off tomorrow.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2014 19:56:51 GMT
Dcdahlia, that is exactly the same size bench I've built, down to the 7 bags of sand. Made a mistake with the polystyrene boxes, but they are rooting, so I just have to be patient. These are what I use, they are made by Garland and are 500 mm wide x 1000 mm long by 15cm deep.  I use 5 of these, each one can hold anywhere between 20 - 30 tubers. Yes they are big and can take about 70 ltrs of compost to fill each one, but they suit my needs. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2014 20:12:14 GMT
 And here they are in action. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2014 10:05:42 GMT
And here they are in action. They look much more efficient then polystyrene. I can see your heating method is cable laid in plastic trays, not like mine, in a wood framed box. Is it one length of cable, passed through one tray to the next, and how do you connect the thermostat to the tray. Sorry to be a pain, keep asking questions, but I just want to the best I can. Mark |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2014 11:49:12 GMT
And here they are in action. They look much more efficient then polystyrene. I can see your heating method is cable laid in plastic trays, not like mine, in a wood framed box. Is it one length of cable, passed through one tray to the next, and how do you connect the thermostat to the tray. Sorry to be a pain, keep asking questions, but I just want to the best I can. Mark I have used two heat cables on this run, one is 12m the other is 6m giving a 18m length which is as you say passed through the base trays via a 8mm hole. I have a working heated base length of 3m, which uses 6 runs of heat cable. Both the cables are wired into a thermostat 'Probe' which is fixed via tiny bolts through the tuber trays. I can easily maintain a soil temp of about 24 degrees. I also put a single glass soil thermometer in each tuber tray to keep a close eye on the temp at root level. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2014 13:35:00 GMT
Ah, so your thermostat is put into the tuber tray, not in the sand tray with the heat cables. My heat is made up of 12 metres of cable a parsene thermostat, covering a length of 2.2 metres. The temperature is set at 25'c, but the polystyrene boxes the tubers are in seem to keep that heat out. Obviously didn't think my plan through with any great intelligence  . Still, I will make big adjustments for next year. Thank you for all your help, it's much appreciated. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2014 16:41:30 GMT
Hoo-ray, at last. I have life in one of my tubers. Small, but life nonetheless . The only trouble is, it's one of 7 mystery tubers I got from the National Dahlia Collection. They do this every year when labels have fallen off, so they put them on sale for £9 for 6(although I got 7 this year) plus £3 P&P. I grow them in a separate bed or large pots, and it's quite exciting finding out which ones you get, and disappointing when they turn out to be, either one you already have, or you don't like!!!. Still, I now feel the seasons started. Happy days |
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Post by Tel on Feb 19, 2014 15:10:22 GMT
Taken 150 cuttings now.
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Post by derekbrooks on Feb 19, 2014 19:18:25 GMT
I've taken 63 so far
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2014 18:36:14 GMT
I haven't taken any cuttings yet  . But I do have signs of life  . Not long now I hope. |
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Post by Tel on Feb 21, 2014 19:52:37 GMT
Taken 27 cuttings from this seedling now.  |
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Post by dcdahlia on Feb 22, 2014 12:23:21 GMT
It looks good that Tel,what are the stems like.
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Post by Tel on Feb 22, 2014 13:16:34 GMT
It looks good that Tel,what are the stems like. They were fine last year, the plant did not have any feed all season. will see how it looks this season. |
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. Still, I will make big adjustments for next year. Thank you for all your help, it's much appreciated.
. But I do have signs of life 
. Not long now I hope.
