DIY Seed Germination Chamber

For the first several years that we gardened, we started our seeds very simply. We purchased the flats with the clear tops, planted our seeds, and stacked them in our living room, bedroom, laundry room, you name it. The main problem we faced was that only around 50% of the seeds we planted would germinate. If we wanted to have fifteen roma tomato plants, we would have to plant at least 30 seeds to make sure we would get enough plants.

The price of seeds adds up quickly, and we wanted to make the most of the money we spent, so we purchased a couple of heated seed mats. The germination rates still didn’t seem any better with the mats.

When we started taking our produce to the local farmers market, we knew something would have to change. Not only were we purchasing large quantities of seed, but also several different varieties of vegetables to offer our customers. We didn’t want to keep wasting half of our seed, so we started to look at different options to increase the germination rates.

In January of 2019, I got call from James… he had a surprise. Now, I’ve learned over our years of marriage that when James says he has a surprise, not to necessarily assume it will be something like flowers. It’s best to assume that whatever it is, I will truly be surprised!

This time, it was a broken down freezer.

James rescued it from a coworker who was getting rid of it, and declared that all our problems were solved because we officially owned a giant seed starting chamber.

The set-up for the chamber was easy. We needed a temperature controller, a crockpot, a thermometer, and a drill bit.

James used the drill bit to drill a hole in the lower part of the freezer, so we could fit the electrical cord from the crockpot and the cord from the thermometer through it. Once that was done, we filled one of my small crockpots with water and set it on low. We plugged our temperature controller into the outlet, set it for our desired temperature, and attached the crockpot cord to the heat setting of the temperature controller.

 Now, you could just use a crockpot without the temperature controller, however, when we tested it with a normal thermometer, it actually made the freezer too hot. The temperature controller will turn the crockpot off it gets too hot and will turn it back on when the temperature dips too low.

It was a great deal for us! The freezer was free and kept something from going into a landfill, I already had the crockpot, and the temperature controller cost just under $40.

We are on our second season using our giant germination chamber, and not only are we getting almost 100% germination, but our seeds also germinate really quickly. Typically it would take 2-3 weeks for our tomato and pepper seeds to germinate, but with the germination chamber it takes 3-4 days for our tomatoes to germinate, and 5-7 for our peppers to germinate!

If you start a lot of your own seeds, I would highly recommend putting together your own germination chamber. It’s cheap and reliable, and a great way to kick start your growing season!