On Mon, 05 Apr 2004 16:05:38 +0100, Mark Allison
wrote:

I have some tomatoes, aubergines, peppers and chillis sown in my heated
propagator in the greenhouse. I only switch it on at night to keep the
temps at around 18-20C at night.

However, during the day I switch it off but I am seeing temps between 25
and 40C. Is this too hot? If I take the lid of the propagator the temp
drops to 12-18C. I can't be there all day to put the lid on and off, so
I just wondered what would be the best thing to do to get the seeds to
germinate.

The ideal germination temperatures for the veg you mention are around
21-27C, so you're dealing with both too hot and too cold. How does the
temperature in the propagator get to 40C in the daytime without the
heat on? Is your greenhouse that warm? It doesn't have an automatic
vent? I don't know whether heat or cold is more detrimental. The cold
will retard germination. Heat may be less injurious.