EASY Heated seed bed DIY

Perfect for propagating cuttings and seeds

I am loving my heated seed bed that I made my self. It was a super easy and relatively cheap garden DIY. I am using mine mostly for starting my dahlias early.

If you would prefer just to watch the video of how I did it, you can watch it here or read on below:

I am completely taken with my raised bed. Over night the soil warmed up evenly and beautifully. It was noticeably warm to the touch and once the pots had been on the bed for a few hours the soil inside them was noticeably warm to the touch too. Everything on it has been coming along beautifully. My only regret was not making it bigger.

You will need:

1. Enough wood to make a frame to fit the space and size of the bed you want.

2. Sharp sand

3. Insulation to fit in the bottom of your frame (natural or otherwise)

4. A heating element / soil warming cable (predictably, I bought mine off Amazon)

5. Nails or screws.

NOTE:

Before you start think carefully about where you are going to have your bench and what you are most likely to grow on it, this will help you decide the best position for your bench. Also make sure you will be able to plug the heated cable in somewhere near by.

The soil warming cable

Assembly:

1. Make the wooden frame for the size of the bed you want. The frame must be deep enough to accomodate the insulation in the bottom and the sharp sand on top.

Laying out the frame to fit the space

Adding the insulation as the base

2. Add the insulation in the bottom of the frame. See my video for the one I used. The wooden frame needs to accomodate the insulation plus about an inch of sharp sand. You can lay the frame on top of the insualtion and use it as a template before you cut the insulation to size.

3. Next lay out your heating element so that the heat will be able to radiate evenly throughout the bed.

4. You can secure the ends of the element with screws or nails. Obviously do not nail or screw through the element.

Adding the heating element.

Sharp sand above and below the element

5. Place the sand under and over the element. You can always add a 1/2 inch layer over the insulation first if you prefer. Then another 1/2 inch over the element until it's covered. The sand should be damp. If it's not you will need to spray it until it's damp.

6. Switch on the power and wait for the sand to warm up before using. Preferably over night.

Now you have a brand new Heated seed bed DIY