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[Radium]

I've built an incubator out of a cardboard box, which contains:

• a yellow 100w light bulb
• a glass bowl filled with water (to provide humidity)
• seeds planted in several small PET pots, watered, and wrapped in nylon to prevent the soil from drying
• an analog Mercury temperature meter
• an small cactus seedling

Questions:

• The temperature meter reads 40 degree centigrades, isn't it too high for the seeds? what about the cactus seedling? I'm afraid of cooking the seeds and cactus.
• Is temperature the only factor required for germination? or is light also necessary?

[LIBERTYNY]

 Im not sure about cacti, but some plant species do require light to germinate (papaver somn.) ,Not much to germinate thow as often seed buried 1/4" - 1/2" still has enouth to germ.

40 C = 104 F  that sounds rather hot to me, I would air on the side of caution and knock the temp down to at least 90 F,  But thats just my opinion

[BubbleCat]

Not even Papaver somniferum needs light to germinate, but it is true, very few species' seeds do need light to germinate.
Your temperature, light and humidity depends on each species, if you are lucky ypu might find a paper publishing online discussing the conditions certain seeds germinate best in.

[LIBERTYNY]

Not even Papaver somniferum needs light to germinate, but it is true, very few species' seeds do need light to germinate.
Your temperature, light and humidity depends on each species, if you are lucky ypu might find a paper publishing online discussing the conditions certain seeds germinate best in.

 I'm a total papaver nut job. and I have never heard that

 But then again their is a ton of B.S. info. out their.

 Will conduct a experiment.

[BubbleCat]

Go ahead, they will pop in the dark. Personally I have the feeling when it comes to light there always is a lot of bluh bluh out there. Small seeds -> 99% chance someone goes "it needs light". Mind: There is a difference between "do not burry" and "does need light". Sometimes it happens that seeds germinate inside a dropped and lost poppy pod, a little later the seedlings show seeking their way out of the pod. I consider the inside of a poppy pod as pretty dark.

Also you can google, for more common plants there always are a lot of published papers about their germination behaviour and effect of ambient conditions on the germination rate and speed. I think I have cited this at various points on STS already: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2802914/pdf/mcm045.pdf

Nicotinia Tabacum just came to my mind, this one is one of those that actually need light to germinate, Phalaneopsis too if I remember well.

[steveoi812]

dont worry about light...and as far as temp goes...I know they can survive a strong winter freeze and may even benefit from it...for temp stabilization I would def look into getting a dimmer switch so you can turn the bulb up or down and adjust accordingly...I imagine that that the cardboard will lower the rh considerable given its nature...so thats something that may be an issue...I would look into a cheap clone tray/dome or buy a cheap sterilite or rubber maid tote with a lid and use that instead...

[LIBERTYNY]

dont worry about light...and as far as temp goes...I know they can survive a strong winter freeze and may even benefit from it...for temp stabilization I would def look into getting a dimmer switch so you can turn the bulb up or down and adjust accordingly...I imagine that that the cardboard will lower the rh considerable given its nature...so thats something that may be an issue...I would look into a cheap clone tray/dome or buy a cheap sterilite or rubber maid tote with a lid and use that instead...

Another option is just a simple timer, You would just have to adjust the time settings according to the temp your looking for, I preffer this option for my DIY jobs as I can set the light(s) to turn off for 15-30 minutes to let them cool to hopefully avoid any overheating / fire issiues

 You could always change the size of the bulb as well, or use christmas lights (they will be cheap in about another month)

 If you choice the dimmer route just be aware that they can also put out some amount of heat

 Cardboard could benfit from a layer of Al foil to reflect the light as well as keep the paper dryer

[LIBERTYNY]

Go ahead, they will pop in the dark. Personally I have the feeling when it comes to light there always is a lot of bluh bluh out there. Small seeds -> 99% chance someone goes "it needs light". Mind: There is a difference between "do not burry" and "does need light". Sometimes it happens that seeds germinate inside a dropped and lost poppy pod, a little later the seedlings show seeking their way out of the pod. I consider the inside of a poppy pod as pretty dark.

Also you can google, for more common plants there always are a lot of published papers about their germination behaviour and effect of ambient conditions on the germination rate and speed. I think I have cited this at various points on STS already: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2802914/pdf/mcm045.pdf

Nicotinia Tabacum just came to my mind, this one is one of those that actually need light to germinate, Phalaneopsis too if I remember well.

 From Kykeonplants   ---   http://kykeonplants.blogspot.com/p/pest-and-diseases-of-plants.html

 I dont disbelieve you, but im quessing a fair amount of light will penetrate a normal capsule