Jump Start CK64060 120V 17W Germination Hot House with Heat Mat, Watertight Tray, Cell Insert and 7" Humidity Dome

I bought this specifically to start my garden from seed. Save money from buying plants. So I'm keeping track of all my $$. The heat mats are not cheap to buy. This heat mat is plastic but does not feel brittle. It fits under the seed tray. The clear plastic lid comes with the side vent half circles open. So care will be needed to untake the half circle vent covers on and adjust to how you want them. The total hight is meh, I dunno maybe 6 inches from clear top to bottom of mat. Some might consider upgrading the plastic lid that this company also sells. Some might consider also buying the temperature adjusting thermostat. But EVERYONE who wants to use this will have to also purchase some sort of growing medium. The inside of each cell is small. If you have ever bought a pack of plants you know the plastic isn't very strong. Well this is like that except it has an outer base so the water tripping don't run out. I read a lot of reviews about this project and they seem across the board. When the box arrived on a cold day, I waited hours for it to warm up before I opened it (plastic gets brittle). Nothing was broken here. Just understand that when your seedlings get their true leaves you will need a real light source to avoid spindling plants (like 3 inches above the plants). It's also easy to confuse which seed you used in what area. There are 72 cells. I cut up an old plastic milk jug into spikes and labeled with black sharpie marker. I used rock wool as medium because I knew transplanting out of these tiny cells would be a challenge (Grodan a-ok 1.5 starter plug sheet of 98). These did work (I cut each square into 1/4 and stuck 2 per cell. One seed per 1/4 cell. I put a heavy boot mat under the whole thing to give it strong stability and prevent possible water damage to anything in my home. How has it worked? In 3 - 4 days I had 90% germination with my Sun King Broccoli. And now 4-6 days my Granex onions are coming up well. A lot of people are suggesting regular shop lights 3-4 inches above will make them nice and strong. I went ahead and invested in a grow light (not sure how that will work). I share this with you because I reviews as well. If you are going to plant with a heat mat, go ahead and get this station but understand that getting your plant out might prove to be a challenge.

The dome has 3 vents, 1 large top vent and two small side vents. The side vents have very very very cheap covers which do not work so a little tape and this baby is ready to grow! The dome and tray are made up of thin plastic, very light and easily broken if not given any care. The entire set up is very good and functions but with a few hiccups here and there. The condensation builds and drips off the dome outside of it, not into the tray, so I have to constantly wipe the side dry so my heat mat doesn't sit wet. The plastic is very flimsy so you have to be delicate when handling this product. Comes with 0.5oZ of CloneX and the tray holds most of the root riots i use in place, except for the top centimeter which is fine. The cord for the heat mat is about 6-7' long, everything is MADE IN CHINA. Every single part of this set up. 3.5 stars due to the almost useless side vent covers and for being such a cheap product and not striving for quality which I will be looking for once I upgrade from this. Gets the job done, but there are better quality products available. ***UPDATE: After using this for a quite a while now it has paid itself off ten fold. Although the materials used are thin and cheap feeling they get the job done. Seeds are germinating within 3 days to sprouts sometimes sooner, all clippings are at a 100% success rate. The heat mat is a winner and such a steal when alone it can be up to 25$! Very good product for the price. Recommended! Five stars for functionality, perfect plant starter! Updated 7/2/12

The product itself was great, BUT I believe I accidently over used it. The heat mats helped us have sprouts within 2 days and we were so excited! We continued to watch in awe at how fast everything was growing. Here's where we went wrong: Too much heat caused everything to grow too fast. Everything got tall and skinny (leggy). There was no fan creating a breeze (which simulates the sprout to grow stronger to stand up against the wind) we ended up losing some sprouts over this. This is great for germination, but a green house with a fan will help after things have sprouted. Some cons: thin seedling trays- probably not really good for reuse. It was only a matter of days before sprouts were hitting the dome. Pros: jump start seedlings- very effective. Overall packaging - great! Tips: cut the trays into smaller sections for easier use. Becareful with too much heat. Have fun, give yourself grace- it's all a learning experience 😊

Before I start to share with you there are two items that recommend purchase as well. 1. Hydrofarm CK64081 7.5 Inch Vented Dome 2. Jump Start JSV4 4-Foot Jump Start T5 Grow Light System 3. I purchased my first Hydrofarm CK64050 Germination Station with Heat Mat year ago January 2015. I live in the northwest and always have purchased my starts from the locate hardware store or nursery for our box gardens. Since I have never started anything inside I only started out with one. Within one week my peas and bean starts were1 to inches tall. Some already had grown to the top of the 2" humidity dome. Purchase three more units and another Jump Start JSV4 4-Foot Jump Start T5 Grow Light System with the side extensions to make the height up to 6 feet [tall]. Our crop was outstanding this year. 4. We started all of our vegetables in the Hydrofarm and the family said they were healthier then ones we purchase in the past for our box gardens and we added six more box gardens this year for a total of 16. Our home lot is 100x100x100x100 which houses the Pawhut 96" Wheeled Tractor Hen House Chicken Coop w/ Run which we also purchased in January 2014. 5. As it was set up in our garage for trail run we now have update the space and will be adding 4 more Hydrofarm CK64081 7.5 Inch Vented Dome with the heat pads. If you follow the directions you will not have the problems that I have read prior here. Recommend you always use bleach after each unit is used again. For the first time user they work great! Hydrofarm CK64050 Germination Station with Heat Mat

Excellent product, reasonable price. The heat mat works great, and my tobacco seeds sprouted well. The vents on the side and top are a nice feature, although I wish they were a little sturdier in the way they are attached to the cover. But they did fine. Contrary to other reviewers, I found the plastic cover itself to be sturdy enough for the job. True, if you put much weight on it, it's going to crack or crinkle. But if you use it as designed, that won't happen. Since this unit was used outside in natural sunlight, I put an old ashtray on top to weigh it down enough to keep the wind from blowing the top off... and that worked great, but I wouldn't put any more weight on it than that. That being said, no plastic dome of this kind was intended to hold much weight to begin with, regardless of the manufacturer. They are designed to keep the moisture in and still allow light to get through, and that's it. This one did an excellent job at that. I wish the price were lower, as it was only a few years ago that a local retailer sold something very similar to this for $20, but other than that, this is a great product.

What I liked about this kit, is, that it included the heat mat. The mat seems to be of a pretty good quality. It is made in Mexico, not good. The lid and tray are very thin and only repeated use will I know how well they hold up. I'm not using the cell tray, I have 2 1/4 in rose pots in it. Black is a hard color to see things on, but I didn't see a slot for the cord, so I ran it through the side / end vent. Seems a bit overpriced for the tray / lid. As far as the cell tray, it depends on what you are going to use it for. Stout seedlings wouldn't be to hard to remove from the cells, But I'm growing fragile native plants that won't tolerate much handling, so it isn't of much use for me. I'll try it in early spring with some vegetable seeds, should be fine for that. They should offer this with the temperature controller, it would add considerable value to this package. I thought about cutting a slot for the power and temp probe, but with plastic this thin, it would likely crack in short order. The plastic dome is actually thinner plastic than what the cake trays you get with cakes at Sam's Club or Costco. The cell tray that comes with this is not very useful, as some have pointed out, because one cannot handle the cells as individuals. Of course the Ray Leach Cone Tainer system is the best that I have found for flexibility. Saying that, I got an idea of how to add the flexibility of the Ray Leach system. I cut the cells off the sheet. I took rose pots, which are 2 1/4 in sq. x 3 1/4 in deep. I put the individual cells into the rose pots, and you have a system that allows you to remove the germinated cell from the tray and put in a fresh one. As a bonus you can replant these small cells into the rose pot. This makes for just the right size to bump up to. You say why not just plant the rose pot. You could, for large seeded plants, but for smaller, slower growing plants that would make them over potted, and they would struggle and maybe even die. Now you cut down the capacity of the tray to 36 but at least can replant and keep the system working. I'm working with native plants and if I can get 36 plants going at a time I'm a happy camper.

Works great anyone needs this if starting from seed.

I bought this to improve germination times for my favorite tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, beets and basil. I placed the planted seeds in the Hot House (over the heating mat) in my kitchen window greenhouse. I also used the Jump Start Digital Controller, set for 80F. Within 3 days, seedlings were starting to emerge. Within 7 days, all of the tomatoes had emerged. Peppers and eggplants took a bit longer. Once the tomatoes were up, I reduced the temperature to 70F. The seedlings continue to mature, and I will need to transplant soon. The hothouse does a great job of keeping the soil moist, so it is not necessary to water too often. The hothouse is somewhat fragile, but is sturdy enough. The mat heats well, and does not generate 'off-odors' when heating. At night, the window greenhouse does cool. I live in Idaho, where the nighttime temperature this season has dropped into the 20s. So, the mat was not able to maintain the set temperature, but it remained within 10 degrees of the set temperature. I did try moving the hot house-mat-thermostat combo to a warmer location for one night, and the set temperature was maintained. I choose to leave the hothouse in the window greenhouse for convenience. Considering the observed germination times, the seeds were not adversely affected by the temperature fluctuation. This product works, and is an efficient method for seed germination! I'm very happy with the purchase.