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Buffalo, New York

how do heating cables work? you burry them underneath the small seedling plant?

how about when the plant gets bigger, how do you remove cables?

just curious....will look into getting some next year.

5/21/2008 12:58:08 PM

Northern New York

Jeremy, Good question. The nights are very cold here - high 30s and I'm scrambling to keep these suckers warm.

5/21/2008 1:00:35 PM

Pembroke, New Hampshire

Cables are good for keeping the roots warm, but make sure to keep the thermostat in the area you are heating. That way they won't "fry" your roots by overheating the area. They are left in the ground for the remainder of the season and removed once the growing season is over. I put my cable a foot down below my plants. I used a 40 foot cable for a 4ft. x 4 ft. pit, crisscrossing it back and forth so that each cable is only 2 inches away from another cable. That gives the whole area an even heat. Once the weather is consistently hot and the rest of the soil is able to remain warm without cables, just unplug them. I plan to unplug mine in the next week or two.

5/21/2008 2:23:46 PM

Western NY

I used them for the first time last year, and put them in again this year. well, for a few of the plants anyway, not all of them.

I think they do give you a little benefit, but as I am finding out this year, it doesn't make a difference when there is no sun and you don't get above 50. the green parts need a fighting chance, or the plant just sits there.

5/21/2008 5:11:10 PM

Dorval,Quebec

I find I get a few extra weeks of warm weather growth in early May when the nights are cold(late May,tonight 5 celcius).The shelters are a little steamed up in the morning when I open them. Just remember to pull up the cables before you start digging at the end of the season.

5/21/2008 10:41:05 PM

Buffalo, New York

i put my plants in last saturday and have had them covered with 5 gallon buckets almost every day since alot of rain and cool weather here, starting friday temps will be over 60 F. so i will remo0ve them then.

My plants are also behind, only 1 true leave on each plant, hopefully six weeks until pollination correct?

so say around july 7th, correct?

5/22/2008 2:21:54 AM

Pocatello ([email protected])

I tried heating cables once, using a thermometer to actually check the temperature under the soil. I found that heating cables AND a weed mat or plastic over the soil actually works. If you have heating cables only and bare soil, there is virtually no temperature increase. The heat escapes.

5/22/2008 10:40:48 AM

Somers, CT

You plug them into one of the sockets on the side of your house and that meter disk goes round and round real fast. Kind of makes you dizzy looking at it.

5/22/2008 11:51:33 AM

Sort of Sunny Sometimes, WA

In my three big greenhouses I have heaters that come on at 7:30 p.m. and stay on until 7:30 a.m. In one of these greenhouses I also have 3 soil heating cables. The plants in this greenhouse are by far healthier and bigger than those in the other greenhouses (which aren't doing bad either). Keeping the soil moist helps conduct the heat.

5/22/2008 11:04:42 PM

Sort of Sunny Sometimes, WA

But I forgot, my plants are all dead.

5/22/2008 11:05:15 PM