Unheated propagators

[ChingfordHarry]

I've been thinking about getting an unheated propagator to put in my porch (or perhaps in the communal 10m x 5m polytunnel) - my windowsills are about 75mm deep (9" solid brick walls) so no room for one there. There's no power in the porch, so I can't use a plugin one there (electric and thermostatic would be nice, but not practical in this situation). Mostly it would be to start off aubergines, peppers and tomatoes a bit earlier in the year (probably 6 or 8 varieties and about half a dozen of each variety) then squashes/melons a bit later ( 3 or 4 of 6 or 7 varieties), and then sweetcorn before the soil warms up outside - so nothing unusual, and wouldn't want something tiny or something huge.

suggestions/thoughts/recommendations? Should I just get an electric one with growlights?

[Jungle Jane]

I didn’t use my growlights this year,I don’t use heated propagation. I don’t need electricity 😏 March light levels are good for peppers & tomatoes using cell trays with lids to keep it from drying out. Can you fit a table or temporary thing next to your windowsills,seed trays aren’t that big but when each plant is potted on they take a lot of space. I used my blowaway shelving next to the patio door a few times,could that fit in the porch what are the windows like or is there a table for the seed trays 🧐

[ChingfordHarry]

Thanks for this. Unfortunately no room next to windowsills, so I think I would be looking at the porch - south and west-facing, single-glazed ground to ~2.5 m height (about ~0.5m deep x ~2.5m wide) on a sunny day in January it will get to well over 20°C, but can easily drop to ~freezing if we get a good frost. Could put a small table in it.

i'm more concerned with getting the seeds to germinate - I've read that heated propagators are really good at this (and I suppose that the seedlings might not need to be pricked out/transplanted so early if I sow into modules or root-trainers), so wondered if there might be any mileage in using an unheated propagato (how much later would I need to sow?). What I often do at the moment is sow 7 seeds into a small (say 40-50mm) pot, seal it into a plastic bag and stick it in the airing cupboard until I see shoots. This works, except it didn't seem to this year for some reason...