In article , Gary Woods
writes
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,


Just a few, as no doubt some of my fellow Urglers will vouch .



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 don't find that covering cuttings helps a great deal, well not with
the plants I usually strike. It seems to encourage mould etc. They seem
to do well with fresh air and warm toes !


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.


Would that regulate the cable or give it a kick when the temperature in
the greenhouse gets low?


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.


Thanks for the information Gary, it sounds a good way to go.

Janet

--
Janet
Hedgerows & lawns
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk/plants