Keep Seedlings Warm Outside With Holiday Lights

Warm your cold-sensitive seedlings with repurposed holiday lights.

Launch Gallery

The holiday season seems to formally end when you have to take on taking down the lightness and ornament put up only a few weeks earlier . While I was doing so a twain of calendar week ago , I think about how I might be capable to repurpose , or find additional uses for the lights . I had used some rope light in a lined form , attach to a circuit board , to ignite indoor seedlings . This“holiday light heat mat“did the job admirably .

I coiffure my sights higher with a grown challenge . I want to see if outside vacation twinkle could sufficiently stir up an outside area enough to protect seedlings and transplanting from freezing overnight temperatures . The location ? Inside my newly - rebuilt wood insensate frame .

Here ’s what I ask :

1 . spark – incandescent , at least 15 - 18 feet longsighted , outdoor give away , larger bulb the better2 . Staples and staple gun3 . Thermometer4 . Extension cord5 . timekeeper

footstep 1I stapled the lighter along the sharpness of the cold frame , about 3 - 4 inches from the bottom . I had three six - metrical unit lengths that were connected together .

Step 2Ran the extension service cord from the house to the cold chassis , and connected it to the lights . All systems go .

Step 3That even was the ultimate trial , as it was supposed to be at or below freeze . I purchase a respectable - quality digital thermometer that had a wireless remote . This was well deserving the price , as I could monitor the temperature from a distance ( in other words , inside awarmhouse ) .

Step 4Put in the plants , and placed the thermometer outside the cold skeleton . hold back a few minutes for it to register the correct temperature . It finally show 29 degree Fahrenheit .

Step 5Put the thermometer inside the cold frame , and again , wait a few minutes for it to register the temperature .

The results were amazing . A comparatively short distance of Light Within successfully raised the temperature over 20 degree ! It top off at 50 degrees Fahrenheit , which would be sufficient to keep cold - tender plants like pepper and tomatoes from price .

tight - forward to yet another triumph . I had some seedling in the cold frame two nighttime ago , when we received an unexpected half - column inch of snow in the other forenoon hours . The “ holiday light fastball ” did its line and kept the inside warm .

The labor was a success , and it will definitely help my Spring veggie and herb transplants transition themselves to the outside world .

Watch Greg give you a tour of his holiday - light - warm up cold framehere !

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Photo/Illustration: Greg Holdsworth (All photos)

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