Should i buy a heated propogator?

Furny

Hi Folks
Reading about many of you mentioning the cheap B & Q ones i'm trying to decide if i need one, i know you can't make the decision for me but your advice will help me decide.
Because I'm a neewbie how valuable are they especially with the weather how it is at the moment? I live in North Yorkshire by the way.
I'm having a go at growing a few different things & only really have windowsill space then everything will be in containers on a patio.
I have read up a little on them but obviously you lovely people have propagator experience or have bought the one in question.
We don't live close to a B & Q but my hubby is working near one on Wednesday so could pick one up for me,I've got until then to decide, i know they are only cheap but what do you think?

misskool

how much do you intend to grow? They are only really necessary for stuff that needs heat like tomatoes, chillies, aubergines. I germinate most of the other stuff just on the windowsill. The more important problem is the lack of light rather than heat.

Have you got an airing cupboard? or a hot kitchen? That will suffice as well if you're new to this. If you can afford it and would like to treat yourself then go for it.

One_Day_Rodney

To save buying a heated propagator, I put my chillis, peppers, tomatoes in normal propagators but on a sunny window sill which has a radiator below it. They germinate just fine.

This year I sowed 28 pepper/chill seeds (2 in each individual pot) and they have all come up in about 14 days.
(The seeds were freebies from a magazine)

Once they establish and I transfer them to their next pot, they will go onto a bright but cooler window sill and then, later, into the greenhouse.

balloo_2

Good advice there from misskool and One_Day_Rodney then wait untill all the gardening is finished and go to your local store like Wilkinsons and you will buy it cheap I Did Sankey heated propergater £4 Kingfisher hose and reel £3.75 Stainless Steel Spade & Fork £6.00 for the 2 Water Timer £1.00 People looked at me stupid when I was buying gardening stuff after the event but now i'm smiling

lunar

I have the B&Q heated proporgator and I love it, I seem to be having really good results from it. I dont have a airing cupboard and my radiators are not under the windows on the sunny side of the house. As Balloo said though, at the end of the gardening season this year I am going to try and get a second one in the sale.

Furny

Thanks so far folks, to answer your questions...
We live in a converted bungalow.
I have a large windowsill in the front room South facing which gets the sun for quite a bit of the day but the radiator is at the opposite end of the room but this feels the warmest room in a daytime.
The dining room has a radiator with shelf but not much light in there.
Kitchen & spare downstairs room are North facing,small windowsills, radiators in the rooms but not under the window sills.
Main upstairs bedroom is an attic conversion with veluxs, can get warm,south facing.
No airing cupboard as such,the boilers boxed in in the main bedroom but could maybe squeeze some trays in there.
Hope this helps! I'm still deciding, just been looking at the plastic sets of 4 propagators in Lidl as another option.Really appreciate your help folks!.

valk_scot

I bought two big (three standard seed tray size) heated propagators from B&Q about...10?? years ago. Can't remember what they cost but it was worth every penny. I use them for starting off most seeds, even the ones that don't strictly need it. I have two unheated ones too and the four of them sit side by side along a rack in front of my utility room window, which is quite sunny.

Now I propagate a lot of stuff and this sort of size is best for me. But I don't think the standard seed tray sized heated propagaters are particularly useful tbh unless you really are just starting off a few seeds here and there. Save up and get a big one instead is my advice.

Oh, and to help with illumination, make a sort of three sided screen out of a cardboard box, cover it with foil and put round the back and sides of the propagator to reflect the sun back onto it. Makes a big difference.