Heating the greenhouse with a heating cable

Benefits of using

The heating cable, as a heating element for the soil in the greenhouse, brings many positive aspects to the life of the gardener. First of all, it should be noted the early start of the season - the air temperature in the greenhouse remains suitable for planting and growing all crops all year round.

In addition to early harvesting, in comparison with other types of heating or their absence, heating the soil with a cable is an ergonomic option with significant energy savings. Since you regulate and set the temperature with your own hands, the roots of the plants receive the necessary heating on an ongoing basis. Thus, the prevention of fungal diseases, as well as pathologies of the development of the root system of garden crops, is carried out.

The aesthetic moment of heating the ground with a heating cable is that the system is invisible to an outsider, since it is buried deep in the ground. By creating a warm floor in a greenhouse, you ensure uniform heating of the soil around the entire perimeter of the room.

A heating system using such a system is easier to assemble with your own hands than gas heaters or mounting infrared heaters in a room. This will allow you to allocate the budget much more efficiently, as well as the time allotted for the construction and laying of the heating system under the floor.

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A video about heating a garden bed in a greenhouse using a carbon cord.

Cable installation

Before starting the installation of the cable system, mark the zones where the beds will be located. According to the marking, install wooden or galvanized boxes in which the cable will be laid. A box made of wood will last 2-3 years, and everything else is easy to make with your own hands.

Dig trenches 11-13 cm wide along the perimeter of the beds, measure the depth along the height of the box wall. Rotted manure and bird droppings are laid in these trenches in a layer of about 6-7 cm. Tamp the fertilizers well, then fill the trenches with plant residues and the earth that you dug.

The bottom of the box must be lined with heat-insulating material, you can use polystyrene. This is done to retain heat and prevent it from escaping into the ground. Pour sand on top so that the layer is up to 6 cm high, moisten well and tamp the layer. The preparatory stage for creating a greenhouse heating using cables with your own hands is over.

The soil heating system is based on SN-15 and SN-18 cables. You can fasten the wires to the bottom of the box using mounting tape. Maintain a distance between the turns of 15-16 cm. When you finish laying the cable with your own hands, apply another layer of sand 5-6 cm high, gently moisten the sand so that no air bubbles form.

A perforated sheet of asbestos cement or a metal mesh is laid on top of the sand. This way you protect the cable from damage when caring for the plants. The last layer is fertilized soil. The height of the layer is about 35-45 cm. That's it, you made a floor with heated soil with your own hands.

Features of operation

The floor in the greenhouse should always be well warmed up to give the plants the necessary amount of heat for healthy green mass and fruit formation. At the same time, soil heating, which is easy to create with your own hands using cables, interacts remarkably with organic fertilizers, accelerating their decomposition and the introduction of nutrients into the soil.

They regulate the heating temperature using a thermostat: you set the required value to which the soil should warm up and after the cable heats up to it, the system will automatically turn off. Restarting occurs after reaching the lower mark of the set temperature. Thus, you do not have to constantly monitor the operation of the system.

When floor heating is switched on and off alternately, the above-described energy savings occur, since the heater does not require large resources for productive work.

Taking into account the security system, both the cable itself, which is laid in the floor, withstanding up to 150 kg at break, and the box, mechanical damage is reduced to zero. The iron mesh will not allow the shovel to touch the turns during digging, and the wooden box will not allow the entire system to sink too deep into the ground.

It is best to start the heating system in early spring when the soil needs to be quickly warmed up. A heated floor in a greenhouse will reduce frost damage in the spring months, as well as level the autumn cold for late-ripening crops. Depending on the type of greenhouse cover, active use of the cable system is also possible in winter. In the warm season, the system can be turned off on the thermostat.

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A video on how to heat the soil in a greenhouse for an early harvest.