Grow box...

[ChelC]

I was reading earlier about someone who used a cardboard box lined with foil and a light at the top as a grow box for seedlings. The idea was that the box would hold in the heat, and obviously the foil would reflect the light around. Since I'm in the middle of building an incubator with my son, I'm thinking of applying the same principles to a grow box. Basically wiring up a light and a wafer thermostat so that I can control the amount of heat. If I used a 25 watt bulb, I wonder if it would remain on long enough to provide enough light without providing too much heat?

Now that I know how not to wire a thermostat (yesterday will live on for my son as the day his mother almost set the house on fire. (In and out power interrupter not black AND white, duh!)) - I think it'd be pretty easy.

[InIraq03]

One thing to remember with germinating seeds and growing seedlings is that soil temperature is more important at first than air temperature. A problem with a heat source like an incandescent light bulb is it will provide an uneven heat source and could dry out the soil that is close to it quite rapidly. A heat source underneath the planter may give a little better result. After seedlings sprout you need to be careful of their proximity to the bulb so that close ones don't get scorched.
Something to think of. Good luck.