Soil Heating Cables

Electric Soil Heating Cables

Making sure your seeds get the best temperatures so they can grow and give you the best looking plants is crucial. For that you might need to set up what is called a hot bed. A hot bed is simply a cold frame in which a mechanism to produce heat has been placed, since most seedlings seem to perform best in temperatures that are at least 70 to 80 degrees. There are a number of ways for you to make sure that the soil actually reaches and keeps this temperature but the most reliable heat source for your hot bed is soil heating cables. As their name suggests, they’re made exactly for heating up soil and can be found in all major garden centers and greenhouse supply houses.

The main advantage of soil heating cables is that they speed up germination and growth by emitting constant bottom heat. So even when temperatures haven’t reached that optimal level where your seedlings can thrive, you can still get a head start on the growing season by placing them under your containers or in the soil. They generally require standard 110 volts and have a built-in thermostat that activates the unit once the soil temperature drops below seventy degrees.

Using soil heating cables is fairly straightforward. You dig a shallow pit about three inches deep and lay the cables in a coil-like pattern to make sure that the heat that is given off by the cable into the soil is pretty evenly distributed. Fasten down the cable with either landscape staples, or cut clothes hangers that have been bent into a staple-like shape. Avoid any risk of short-circuit by not allowing the wires of the heat cable to cross. It’s also good to make sure the outlet you use to plug it in has a ground fault circuit breaker installed in it. Now all that is left for you to do is to cover the heat cable about one inch of dirt, which you will in turn cover with some fiberglass window screen to prevent you from cutting the electric cable by accident if you start digging. Finally, cover the screen with about two inches of topsoil or potting soil.

From then on, your soil heating cable should properly warm up your garden’s soil and allow you to reap the benefits of growing seeds and other gardening activities a couple weeks before most other gardeners can.