Janet Tweedy wrote:

put in one of those large metal potting trays/stands then put in a
soil warming cable and fill with sharp sand and compost so I can strike
cuttings directly

It depends on whether you want to pay somebody to fabricate the thing for
you. Sounds like you're already adept at striking cuttings, and you
certainly could build something a lot cheaper than buying. Some kind of
transparent cover would likely help, as would lining the bottom and sides
with polythene foam board conserve heat. I haven't had good luck with
heating cables in general; the built-in thermostat seems to go bad, so an
unregulated cable with outboard thermostat would probably be more reliable.
I use a rubber heating pad meant for warming seedlings to do the same
thing. I already had an electronic thermostat I'd built for film
processing, so I used it for control. Don't know if the plants care about
control to 0.1 degree F, but it gives me bragging rights.


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at www.albany.net/~gwoods
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1200' elevation. NY WO G