View Full Version : Heating cables
xyzzy
01-27-2009, 04:46 AM
Too late for this year, but if we are going to get colder winters again, I was thinking of protecting my M Itinerans with heating cables next year. I have lost all the leaves this year, though the stems are fine - in fact better than my basjoo, but the itinerans are sheltered in the orchard and the basjoo exposed in full wind.
Has anyone tried using heating cables?
jmoore
01-27-2009, 10:46 AM
I've used heating cables in a propagator, but not in the ground. I'm assuming that's where you are going to put them. They are a good cheap alternative for a heated propagator.
xyzzy
01-27-2009, 10:50 AM
We can buy heating cables which you can twine around outdoor plants with a thermostst which turns them on at 5 degrees C.
51st state
01-27-2009, 10:10 PM
it really would cost a fortune to do trace heating undersoil like that, the heat losses are just too great. you could wrap the plant in insulation and then trace heat around the stem. I heat my bubblewrapped poly tunnel (see photos in my gallery somewhere) with a 3kW fan heater controlled by a frost statand I'm going to have to hide the electric bill from the Mrs...
got to address a new htg. system for that this year, either solar or heat pump, feeding undersoil water pipes
xyzzy
01-28-2009, 05:03 AM
I don't have any real problem with soil temperature as a good mulch is sufficient in coastal Devon, but I was thinking of next year protecting p-stems with heating cables so they don't lose height each year from frost/wind chill damage.
See
Frost Guard Cables (http://www.jungleseeds.co.uk/HardwareOrders/contents/en-uk/d27.html)
The cables are 100 watts-ish and only switch on when the temperature is below 5 degrees, so compared with your greenhouse, the heating bill would be quite small.
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