Has anyone tried one of these from Harbor Freight?
Comes with a heating mat and a 50 cell insert.
Looks like a good price to me...
Let me know what you think.
Thanks,
Mary
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=94241
I haven't but I am going to. That is a great price for the mat alone. I ordered a greenhouse from them and we are going to put it together Sat if this rain ever stops.
You might save money by buying the Jiffy system with a low cover at Wal-Mart and buying the domes at one of several online stores. I've bought 16 of these domes over the past two years and they really help propagating low growing plants.
http://botanical.com/hydro/propagation/cloning.html
http://homeharvest.com/propagationflatsdomesinserts.htm
http://www.4hydroponics.com/clone/propdome.asp
http://www.granitehydro.com/old/aids/proptrays.htm
thanks that site http://www.4hydroponics.com/clone/propdome.asp is great. No jiffy at my Walmart. Heating mats at Lowes are in Jiffy kits only that were useless to me for nearly 40.00. I think I am still going to check out the harbor freight mat by calling to see if it is in store. No shipping cost helps lower the price. If it is comparable to my other mat I think it's a good deal at 19.95 with a dome.
Sorry mc6466 I didn't mean to hyjack your thread.
No problem! No Jiffy stuff at my WalMart either, Riverland. Shipping from Harbor Freight.com is really reasonable.
Which greenhouse did you get from Harbor Freight? Let me know how you like it! (BTW, my husband is from Mangham!)
hcmcdole, thanks for all of the great info! I really appreciate it!
Hey great ! That's a great little town. I got the 10x12 one. My sister in law got the smaller one about a month ago and really likes it. She and I both have never had one so really did not want to sink thousands in it. When I read on most sites(small Print) that the life expectancy of the panels or covering for most green houses is only three years due to the uv rays breaking down the material, I surely did not want to spend that kind of money. If I really get into growing a lot seeds and plants I will purchase a more expensive one that you can add all the bells and whistles. Yours and my area doesn't get that cold so I think we can get away with something less elaborate. As for the heat in the summer I really don't intend having much in there then. I did get the automatic vent openers. I have fan and heater.
I hope you read my dmail.
Well Mary now I can't see the dmail I sent you. I guess I never hit the send button. Dmailing you again.
Mary did you ever order this? I went to there store today in Alexandria but they did not have it.
Cindy, matter of fact, I ordered several and they came in yesterday. Not bad for the price. The heating mat is worth the $20 price alone, in my opinion! The mini greenhouse itself is not as sturdy as I had hoped for. The ones Park's sells (with the hard plastic top) is what I had in mind! The greenhouse part from Harbor Freight is more like what you can get at Lowe's (I got a couple of Ferry-Morse 72 pellet greenhouses for a little under $5.00 each.) The heat mat that comes with it does not have a thermostat, but is the perfect size to warm the flat that holds 72 seedlings. I wish they would sell the heating mat seperately, but I don't think they do. That is what I was most interested in. Oh, and I should tell you, it did not come with any of the little peat pellets. I had already bought a couple hundred of those of off E-Bay for around 15 cents each a few weeks ago. I planted seeds all afternoon yesterday!
It's still a deal for the heat mat alone if it is a nice one.
I paid $29.99 for each of my heat mats which fit a 72-cell tray, so $19.99 for a slightly smaller mat plus the tray, dome, and cell pack seems like a good deal.
I'm very satisfied - already putting them to good use!
Riverland,
I have a greenhouse from Harbor freight too, the small one, 6X8. Did you put yours on a cement pad like the instructions said? After I read the instructions that said I needed a pad, I gave up hope of ever putting it up because I can't put one in myself and it is very hard here to get someone to do such a small job. They all seem to want the larger jobs.
Terri
I did put mine on asphalt but we had to reinforce base. My sil and another woman put up hers(6x8)
in one afternoon in the ground. She is handy though. She built a base out of treated wood. She said the little one was quite simple to put up.
Not sure if this is true for Harbor Freight or not, but many of that sort of hobby greenhouse come with an optional base that you can purchase. The one I got with mine had spikes that pounded into the ground to hold the base in, then the greenhouse gets fastened on top. You could probably go without a base too if your ground is reasonably level and you don't get a lot of wind, just set the greenhouse on the ground. Or if you go to the greenhouse forum, I think some folks over there built their own bases out of 2x4's so if you're handy with a hammer you could try that approach too.
Couldn't you build a base by just finding a level spot and putting down cinder blocks?
I just stopped by Walmart on the way home to look for the Jiffy supplies.
It looked like our walmart (on the beltline here in Mobile) was smack in the middle of a massive garden center restocking; they were putting out gobs of new pots and all sort of plants and supplies. I found a freestanding display just full of Jiffy stuff. There were the 72-plug domed kits (for $5.87 IIRC), jiffy pots, etc. Also replacement plugs and replacement pots.
I'm looking at the 72 piece plug kit, but I have some questions in another thread (http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/681570/ in the tomatoes forum) first.
David
I think there is an optional base for the 6x8 Open the box and look in the manual. cinder blocks would probably do fine but you still have to have a base that can screw from the greenhouse to some sort of anchor. The wind really plays havick with these. The small 6x8 green house can be put together then set on a base then anchored if you can get a couple of people to help you move and set it. I would do this without the panels in it. the frame is lightweight aluminum. The 6x8 does not come with a base ,it is optional.
Thanks Riverland and Ecrane! I checked the instructions and online at Harbor Freight but there is no optional base available. What's funny is that the instructions say to put on a concrete base but the online picture shows the small and large on on a grass base!
I would rather not have the cement base anyway, I am so tired of trying to uncompact the soil where the trucks go through! we have a new house and the ground is clay so it was hard for even the weeds to get growing.
I'm going to figure out a way to get my dirt floor, yet keep the greenhouse anchored. We do get some high wind gusts here during storms so that is a concern.
I would look around on the greenhouse forum and see what other people have done, or if you can't find the right threads you could start a new one asking for suggestions, I know you'll get a ton of ideas!
OK, I broke down and bought the mini greenhouse from Harbor Freight. Of course I have some special seeds on the way and need a place to start them.....
