Jump StartCK64050 Germination Station w/Heat Mat Tray, 72-Cell Pack, One size, 2" Dome

I would give 5 starts, but the plastic it made from, feel so cheap

After searching for seedling kits, I found this and decided to give it a shot. We ordered two and seeded on Saturday morning. As of Tuesday we have sprouts coming up fast. We did order lights separately to go over the tops and have kept the domes on and closed to keep the moisture and heat in. The mats are a nice warm mat, not to hot and keep the plants nice and cozy.We are so impressed that we just ordered another Hothouse yesterday to plant all of our herbs. Yes the plastic dome is thin, but handled gently it will last for several seasons. Also a great tip is to cut the trays into 6 cells so it will be easier to get your plants out when the time comes. Love the self watering from below as well. Overall very pleased!

I bought this item to start seeds and try my hand at cloning for the first time. In both regards it has performed to my satisfaction. A few points:- The dome is thin plastic. I mean like solo cup thin. It wouldn't take much to completely destroy it. My small accurite thermo sitting on top makes a nice dent in it.- It leaks. The condensate on the dome rolls down the sides and out of the edges. This could have been easily fixed by making the dome fit inside the base instead of the outside. Try not to put anything you don't want wet underneath this.- The heat mat, despite being several layers of plastic below the grow chamber, keeps a nice amount of warmth and humidity in the dome. On last measurement I was at 89% RH and 81 degrees with half the top vent open. The ambient temperature of my basement is around 65f.- It's big! From the picture it just doesn't look all that impressive, but when you get the box you realize this guy is pretty large. Make sure and check the dimensions!- The holes for the inserts fit rapid rooters perfectly! Following some simple direction was all that was needed to achieve successful results using this item. I filled the base of the item with Ph adjusted water just to where the bottoms of the cups were submerged. Soaked my rapid rooters in Ph adjusted water as well and dropped my seeds/clones in. Plugged in the heat mat and set it under my 2ft T-5 fixture. Within a week I spotted a few seeds germinating, and my clones looked just as good as the day I clipped them. A week after that my clones had put on a decent amount of roots. Mostly I have been screwing around with cloning just to see if I could do it, and I am 20 for 20 thus far. I think the real trick is to just leave the damn thing alone. The more people fiddle around with the top off the more time it takes building up the humid environment again. That's my trick anyways and it seems to be paying off. I will only take the top off when it is time to transplant. I read several negative reviews about this item before I purchased it, and for the most part they are correct. Despite being happy with this product I deducted a star because of the slight water leakage. I mean there is a electrical device sitting under this thing that leaks water. I'm no electrical engineer, but common sense tells me that one should take precautions when using this thing. Once again though it is the price that makes me recommend this. You aren't going to find anything even close to this price that has the utility of this item.

I'd like to offer a couple of thoughts/suggestions on this product:First, the reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is that it is pretty flimsy. As other posters have mentioned, the air vents don't stay in well. One of mine didn't even fit out of the box. That was ok in the grand scheme because I planned to leave one off anyways for proper airflow.I've also seen people complaining about tearing up the bottom part when pulling the seedlings out. What worked for me was a plastic spork (courtesy of my local popeyes) and I've had not issues with that. I would not suggest using metal on these trays.Secondly, the grow light is very important (and it's positioning.). I was getting some good sprouts, but I read some guides that were talking about the plants getting "leggy", so I moved the lights to about an inch from the clear cover. I cooked most of those seedlings. I've found that having the lights about 4 inches from the top of the cover is best for making sure all the plants get uv light, and not baking them. Some of my sprouts have gotten leggy, but I believe that's because I don't transplant them to my secondary indoor grow station soon enough.Finally, I have a fan that I try to run for 3-4 hours a day that blows through the open vent on the side. I've found that turning the container 180 degrees has helped my seedlings grow quicker. A) both sides get proper airflow. B)in case my heating pad doesn't evenly distribut heat, this balances it out. C) it's near a closed window/ac vent, so that makes sure temps/ambient sunlight gets balanced.Tldr: plastic spork to remove plants. Don't put the grow lights too close. Turn the container 180 deg ever few days. If anyone has any questions PM me.

The mat is not wide enough to give heat to both sides of the plant compartment.A mat that is wide enough for this plant compartment is needed. Your feedback will be greatly appreciated. Your sending a wide enough mat for this plant compartment will be appreciated.Thank you from Martha.

I purchased the Jump Start CK64060 Hot House with Heat Mat in Black (11 X 22 Inch) to give my seedlings a head start. While there are several beneficial features, a few aspects could use improvement.Pros:The heat mat provides consistent warmth, promoting faster and healthier seedling growth.The size (11 X 22 Inch) is quite adequate for starting multiple seedlings at once.The humidity control feature via adjustable vents is a definite plus.The kit is simple to assemble, even for someone without much gardening experience.Cons:The plastic cover seems a bit flimsy and could be more durable.There's no built-in thermometer, making it difficult to monitor the temperature.The tray tends to warp under continuous heat over time.Light penetration through the cover could be better to optimize plant growth.My conclusion:The Jump Start CK64060 Hot House with Heat Mat offers a good starting point for seedlings, providing consistent warmth and humidity control. However, the lack of a built-in thermometer and the durability of some components are areas where it falls short. For hobbyists and beginners in gardening, this kit is a decent option, but for more serious or professional gardeners, a more robust setup might be required.

Price wise this wasn't too bad, a little on the high side considering how thin the plastic is but still acceptable.Like many people, we start our plants early so that when they go into the green house or garden they have a nice head start considering we're in central Alberta where if there are 4 months of decent growing weather it’s like winning the lottery. The idea here is a good one but as I mentioned, the plastic is very thing which means it needs to be handled delicately especially if it’s going to see action for a few seasons. The clear top is made high enough that plants can get some real growth on them while still under the dome but it also means that since heat rises a lot of the heat generated by the mat is lost to heating up the air located at the top. If there was a lower cover, at least half the height, included it would work better, start with the low profile and then as the plants get tall enough swap it out for the taller one.The heat mat is ok but we discovered that about an inch around the outer edge there is very little heat generated. It’s as if the elements inside the mat don’t go that far to the outside. This means that when setting things up keep in mind any plants that need more heat need to go towards the inner area. The heat also seems to not have a built-in temperature control. I don’t know if it will eventually shut itself off but we found that without the controller ( ) the tray was getting too warm and it would have cooked the seeds.Over all its an ok combination but it could be made better and sold for less since there really isn’t much to the kit but if your starting from scratch it an alright investment but keep your eyes open for a sale.

I bought this kit to get an early start on my garden. It arrived very quickly. I also purchased the jump start thermostat controller recommended for the product, at the same time.My first impression was disappointment at the flimsy plastic. I was expecting a higher quality plastic that would give me a couple years of use rather than this delicate, flimsy plastic. The vents are kind of a friction fit. They have to be pushed into the slots and care has to be taken because of the weak plastic used.The dome over laps the tray on the outside, and condensation drips over the edge. I left it on the table over night and had water clean up in the the morning. The condensation drip is constant and annoying. Even my cheap $7 dome has an inner lip so condensation drips inside the tray.The heat mat is 7 watts. It is good they tried to keep the wattage low because of sky rocketing electric bills, but 7 watts is inadequate. I set the thermostat for 80, it has never reached that temperature. When my wood burning stove is really hot, I have seen it up to 78 degrees. I even used 2 inch rigid insulation as they recommend. It is not capable of keeping plants warm if your sun room is cool. However, it did keep the plants warm when it is inside at room temperature.It does the job but it will likely not last long.

The product is made of flimsy plastic so you have to be careful with it. But it works as advertised. keeps plants warm and growing fast. However, the one thing that bothers me is the fact that the fools who designed this setup the top lid so that when condensation forms on the inside it drips down and out onto whatever surface you have your Hot House sitting on. You'll probably find a wet table under your hot house at some point. It would have been so easy to set it up so that the condensation drips back into the main tray. Hopefully they can make a version two with that corrention. But overall the product works. Never had any problems other than a wet table.

I’m using this for hot pepper plants.Ghost peppers, scorpion peppers, and lemon habaneros. Also, a little lemon balm to fill the gaps at the end.I’m pretty excited about this, the heating pad is doing what it’s supposed to, as well as the done, and there’s vents for when they begins to become seedlings.I’ll update with news later, if any.