Heated Propagator help please

david7bye

Hello everyone

I am new to gardening and I have been trying to grow plants from seed.

I sowed some Dahlias 'Bishops Children ' about 9 days ago in a module tray. I sowed 1 seed to each cell. There are 6 cells altogether.

I bought a heated propagator about 3 days ago, and I put the module in the propagator. There is 1 seed that has germinated, and the seedling has 2 leaves, but none of the other seeds has germinated yet. It said on the packet that germination takes 14-28 days. 

Please can someone give me some advice. Should I be leaving the heated propagator on overnight, or should I turn it off at certain times. Also, should I leave the vents open during the day and close them at night.

Hopefully, the other seeds will start to germinate soon, but it may be too soon.

Hope you can help.

Thanks
David

Busy-Lizzie

I leave my propagators on all the time. I close the vents and as soon as the seedlings appear I open them. I tipe the condensation on the lids back into the compost. The vents should be open after germination as the seedlings can catch a fungus and die.

barry island

I have propagators which don't have thermostats so have to control the heat output by keeping the capillary matting damp, if the matting drys out the temperature of the compost can get to 30 degrees or more which would affect germination. On hot sunny days I would remove the propagator lid and possibly turn the propagator off.

david7bye

Thanks for your help