Heat cables....???

I bought several new heating cables at a yard sale, they were cheap & I thought someday I might try them... There were no instructions. Being new to seed starting, I'm not sure exactly where to put them. Under the soil in the seed tray,
Under the whole seed tray. Anything between the soil & cable/tray & cable???
Geeze, I'm just not sure exactly how to use these.
Any advice would be so very helpful.
Thank-x Bj

Hi BJ, I am not sure if what I had is the same as you got. Mine were wires covered in some type of blue plastic/rubber. There is a plug on 1 end and then a section that is inside a clear sealed bubble which is the thermostat. Sound like yours?

If it does, then here is what I did. I laid them under the soil in my starting tray and just left it plugged in. Worked great for a while & then one day there was no heat & after I took the wires out I found that they had melted together because I crossed some of them.

A suggestion? After you get them all laid out without any contact, lol, cover them with your soil & then lay a thermostat inside & watch it for a few days before you plant your seeds.
Good luck,
Donna

Here is what I did.
I laid the cable out in a 'snake' zig-zag such that no point within the area that it enclosed was more than 3" from the cable. Then I kept moving this around with the same restrictions until the most useful area was enclosed (in my case it was about 15" (38cm) by 30" (75cm).

Then I made a base using old pallets which was a bit more than those measurements long and wide and about four inches deep. Then I lined it with black polythene and filled it to a depth of two inches with coarse grit. then I laid the cable as planned (having drilled a hole of the right diameter to take the exit wire). Then I put another inch of grit over it.

I wanted a propagator, so I made a matching lid with colour balanced fluorescents in it - all using discarded pallets.

I get 50 2" square pots in it...

Mike

Wow! Thank-x for that information.
Sounds like the same "Beasts" as you have. I'll give them a try.
Appreciate the info.
Bj

cinemike, you wouldn't be able to post a picture of your setup would you? It sounds great and a picture is worth a thousand words!! Thanks, Legit