DIY Warming Tray for Seed Starting

For at-home seed starters, the simplest and most conventional tool to warm seedlings as they sprout and grow is an electric seed-warming mat, available from most garden supply retailers. However, hobby gardeners can fashion a homemade seed-warming tray from items that are more than likely in storage for the majority of the year.

String of Christmas lights or decorative cable lights
Programmable thermostat
5 pounds of builder-grade sand
Plastic tray or shallow storage container

Instructions

- 1
  Arrange one or more strings of Christmas lights in the bottom of a plastic seed tray, ensuring that the outlet ends remain outside the edges of the tray.
- 2
  Fill the tray with sand while holding down the lights. Most of the lights and plastic cabling should be covered and the tray full to the edge with sand, though the plug ends should remain free of sand.
- 3
  Plug the light strands into a programmable thermostat, setting it to switch on and off automatically to maintain the desired temperature for seed starting. Most plants germinate best between 60 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit, but prefer lower temperatures after sprouting.
- 4
  Place seedling trays directly on top of the sand tray. The sand will distribute heat from the lights evenly and create a uniform heated surface.

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