Customer Reviews

Hydrofarm CK64060 Hot House with Heat Mat

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I bought this for the warmer and high cover. I throw out the seedling planter as I hate to grow seedling in them becuase they are way to difficult to transplant. I plant seedlings in peat pots which makes planting a snap. I use the warmer and cover with the peat pots.

The high dome is good for the aggressive seedings. There's vents in the top if things get to moist or too warm. The warming pad works well. The trays on mine are 2.5" deep compared to most typical trays that I've seen.
Overall I just like this setup.

This is such a nice product! just cut the pastic in the desginated areas for your desired level of humidity control. Fill the 72 cell insert with your choice of growing medium or you can just use the tray with your choice of soil medium. I used Jiffy 7 Peat Soil Pellets in the bottom of the tray. Plug in the matt, put the tray on matt, water seeds or cuttings to their required amount of moisture, cover and relax. The only thing I found I needed to monitor was the moisture in the growing medium. I just used a spray bottle to mist it every now and then. My only complaint is that the dome is very easy to damage. It could have been better if it was more riged and had pre installed device to control humidity cause once you cut a hole thats it unless you want to tape over it.

Lots of pros and only one minor con. We love the fact that it works...no weirdness, no learning curve...just plug n' go. This was our first "greenhouse" experience and we were completely wow'd by the seeds sprouting in two days (yes, two days!) Using some annual seeds, it actually came to fruition much quicker than anticipated and we couldn't plant outdoors yet because the cold wasn't going to stop for another week or two. The hate part, however, is that when you remove the lid quite a bit of water pours off of the lid. We tried every maneuver possible to stop the water from dripping all over the floor when we removed it, but never found a way. We just had to deal with it and wipe it up quickly. Other than that small issue, we loved this thing :)

I got this from Amazon because they were hard to find locally. Dont you know it Lowes and Home Depot have started carrying them now for the same price. This does not have the grow media with it so I had to go to Lowes to get some starter soil for it where I saw Lowes had started carrying them and they had the media included.Yeah I was pissed. This one has a taller dome which was a major attraction for me but the moisture condenses on the dome runs down the sides and pours out of the planter as the dome lip sits on the outside of the tray. So if you have this in the house its gonna make a mess unless you put the tray in a bigger tray to catch the water. So buy it locally that way if you dont like it its easy to return.

Excerpt from Amazon description: "The system includes 72 seed starting plugs. These OMRI-certified pre-sized drop-in plugs provide for quick, easy starts without the fuss and mess of dealing with dirt. A tall domed cover makes it perfect for starting cuttings." *** there are NO GROW PLUGS INCLUDED!! ***
This was a Xmas gift & the one that bought it THOUGHT it was a COMPLETE kit, well it AIN'T! So now I have "the fuss and mess of dealing with dirt" - LOL
The dome fits OUTSIDE the 'waterproof' tray and will drip condensate on your work surface, mine is a wood table, so another 'waterproof' tray is needed to put this grow tray in, whats up with that? Poor design? The dome is also very thin & came with crease/dents due to shipping damage (maybe poor packaging).
The same item from the big-box store does include grow plugs and sells for about the same price, or less.
The heat mat works great, I have a thermostat with mine & am happy with both them & the waterproof tray.........
I'm only using this for seed starting so I bought plastic six packs & root riot grow plugs, the plugs will NOT work in the 72 hole insert - so it went in the Gar-bage, just cover the 6-paks with cling wrap if you want or need humidity, done, IMHO.

I bought this setup for it's simplicity and dome height, heat mat, and cubes. I have found in the past a cheap trick for 100% propagation with this system. Weather you purchase here on Amazon or at Home Depot/Lowe's. Buy the cheapest maybe even cracked two 12" x 12" floor tiles and place the heat mat on top of them, then the dome tray on top of heat mat. What this does for the cuttings is allow the roots to cool slowly and still grow with the free warmth of the tiles. It works every time for my cuttings or seedlings. Try it it works! Best of luck!

I have no moisture dripping outside of the tray everything stays inside as it should.

Seedling spout fast. Tray could be built better. Will last for this season. You can go to a nursery and ask for some flats that they get rid of and the dome will fit nicely on them.

I read the reviews other people wrote and thought well some like it and the complainers don't. Well, I'm not a compainer, but the lid does leak. And, the vents on the end are flimsy and don't fit well. I went on vacation for a week. While I was gone, all the water leaked out and the seedlings all died. I had to replant everything when I returned.

Awesome product and definately glad I purchased. The dome even has little vents that you can turn to adjust the amount of moisture inside, adn the heat pad works great in mkaintaining the temp level inside. Definately recommend and would purchase again.