MindSoup Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 No idea geez, there's only one way to find out.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hazeytones Posted January 3, 2023 Author Share Posted January 3, 2023 Gonna have to do just that mate. I'm gonna order my bed tonight and get other bits and pieces together over the next few weeks.... I've still got a couple of weeks left on my celia plants then a couple of weeks to dry them that will be me in the no till team Just on a side note how do you no till growers manage if you go away? I'm not away very often but fancy a holiday at some point. When I've gone away before I've either timed it that I have no plants or someone has (not) looked after them. If I were to have no plants in the bed and watered it before going would it be OK for say a week? Or are blumats the only option in this case? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindSoup Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 Yeah nice mate, I'm sure it will all fall into place when its all sat in front of you. I imagine, you could happily leave an empty bed for a couple of weeks, probably even longer if you turned the lights off and the heaters right down, the soil life will be more than happy down to 10-15 degrees. Basically as long as it doesn't dry out to the point that all the worms die it will all spring back into life as soon as it gets wet again. Of course it's best to keep at least something growing in there where possible, even if it's just some cover crop, but if it's a ball ache for whatever reason then no stress.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hazeytones Posted January 3, 2023 Author Share Posted January 3, 2023 Sweet mate that would be spot on. Thanks again for all the help it's much appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindSoup Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 No worries dude, I look forward to seeing it all up and running. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hazeytones Posted January 3, 2023 Author Share Posted January 3, 2023 Yeah mate hopefully in that time I can work out how to upload photos... I really am useless at technology. Tried the other night and thought my head was going to pop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hazeytones Posted January 7, 2023 Author Share Posted January 7, 2023 Well my 3x3 bed arrived yesterday, can't wait to get to harvest and get it all set up. I'm still in a pickle as far as heating is concerned. Ideally I'd like to have heating for the roots and air. I got myself paranoid about using matts under the bed and thought maybe building a frame with tube heaters under would be better. The problem with this is I'm going to loose head room in the tent and if I build it under the tent I might not have room to put the tent up. I'm now wondering if my concerns about the heat matts are really necessary and if I would be OK with the matts under a tray with the bed ontop? This would be the easiest option for me so if anyone can reassure me that it would be OK to have such weight on the matts would be great. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindSoup Posted January 7, 2023 Share Posted January 7, 2023 (edited) I'm sure it would be fine, it's fine with my bed but obviously it's very small, pretty sure that's what other no tillers are doing though. However if you're worried, what about soil heating cable? It's used a lot in commercial greenhouses etc. You lay it out like underfloor heating in a tray of sand (which you keep moist iirc) and have the bed sat on top of that. I think @RUFUS HOUND was playing around with the idea a while ago. If you already have heat mats you could probably do the same thing with them as long as their waterproof. Or just use underfloor heating but its a lot more expensive and permanent. E2A if worst comes to worst and you need to get underneath, you can always dig the soil out of your bed again, just buy a load of rubble sacks and blaze a fat one to make it fun. Edited January 7, 2023 by MindSoup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUFUS HOUND Posted January 7, 2023 Share Posted January 7, 2023 Cheers @MindSoup Im running a heating cable in a sand bed and its spot on. Let me know if you want any details Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hazeytones Posted January 7, 2023 Author Share Posted January 7, 2023 Cheers @MindSoupI'm sure I'm just overthinking it a bit but since I'd have to get new matts was looking at other/safest options. I think I'll end up just going with the matts to save the fucking about. @RUFUS HOUNDif you have any pics of your set up I'd be interested in having a look. I just think I'd have trouble sleeping having cables in a moist bed of sand which is how it works yeah? Cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindSoup Posted January 7, 2023 Share Posted January 7, 2023 2 minutes ago, Hazeytones said: I just think I'd have trouble sleeping having cables in a moist bed of sand which is how it works yeah? Cables that are specifically designed it be sat in a moist bed of sand* Can't be any more dangerous than having a heat mat sat on the ground 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hazeytones Posted January 7, 2023 Author Share Posted January 7, 2023 Yeah true mate suppose any form of heating poses some sort of risk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUFUS HOUND Posted January 7, 2023 Share Posted January 7, 2023 (edited) as @MindSoup says, these heating cable are designed to be buried and are fully waterproof. main reason I choose the cable over under floor heating type I have a 6m cable snaked back and forth in a grow bag tray and then covered in sharp sand. My cable is 15W per metre so 90W total, temp is controlled on an inkbird with its probe buried deep in one of the pots. The pots sit directly on the sand and the runoff, when watering keeps the sand damp, which helps with the heat transfer. heres a current photo but it doesnt show much - I dont have one of the cable being buried but Im going to change my traty to a wooden frame with DPM (pondliner) to increase the heated bed to the tent floor size (1200 x 600) Edited January 7, 2023 by RUFUS HOUND Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUFUS HOUND Posted January 7, 2023 Share Posted January 7, 2023 This is the type of thing your looking for but wattage varies from make to make Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hazeytones Posted January 7, 2023 Author Share Posted January 7, 2023 Cheers @RUFUS HOUND Do you lay the cables down on the sand then add more to bury it or do the cables go direct onto the tray? Also how long have you been running them? I'm not sure what the exact problem was but I think @lildaveham mentioned @FarmerPalmersNThaving some sort of problem at some stage ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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