Feb. 9, 2021
A Germination Box
In the previous journal, I had asked to correct a question, which I later posted to the Stack Exchange forum. Basically, I was trying to work out some details on a germination box that I was planning to build. A little later, I actually built the box, and the past month I used it for the germination of peppers and lemon trees. Firstly, I describe the box's specifications, and then I follow with a commentary on its performance.
The box is a cube with an inner side of 40 cm. The frame is made of wooden sticks connected with screws and nails. The sides of the box are made of polystyrene plates to make effective insulation. Each plate is 3 cm wide, so I stacked them in two layers to make the wall 6 cm in width. I use a 50-watt power resistor with 4.7 ohms of resistance as a heating element. The heat is dissipated with a heat sink and a computer fan with the resistor attached to it. The heating is controlled using a simple thermostat. It is all powered by an ATX power source of an old computer. All components are supplied with 12 volts. I also use a fuse on the supply wire of the heating element to make sure nothing bad happens. The thermostat has a built-in thermal sensor that is led inside the box. Both the ATX power source and thermostat lie on the top of the box.
For the germination, I set the minimum temperature to 28 °C and the maximum to 30 °C. It takes about 2.3 minutes for the box to heat up from 28 to 30 degrees and about 6.5 minutes to cool back down to 28 degrees at an ambient temperature of 20 °C. I germinated multiple varieties of peppers—some of them more demanding than others. The germination process is now much more stable at these temperatures. Most of them germinated after a week as opposed to two weeks at an ambient temperature. I had great success at germinating lemon trees from seeds extracted from a bought lemon. I sowed 16 seeds, and now 14 of them grow! One of the seeds was too small indicating that it was not ripe and the other one was cut by mistake when opening the lemon. Germination of citruses is usually more demanding as far as temperature is concerned—the rate of successfully germinated lemon seeds and the time it takes for them to sprout depends on the temperature. I am already surprised with the achieved success rate even at this ideal temperature inside the box!
Correction Settings
Basically, I was trying to work out some details on a germination box that I was planning to build.
A little later, I actually built the box, and for the past month, I've used it for the germination of peppers and lemon trees. A little later, I actually built the box, and for the past month, I've used it for the germination of peppers and lemon trees.
The box is a cube with an inner sidedimension of 40 cm.
The box is a cube with an inner dimension of 40 cm.
"Side" is ok. "Dimension" is better.
The frame is made of wooden sticks connected with screws and nails.
The sides of the box are made of polystyrene plates to make effectivesheets for insulation.
The sides of the box are made of polystyrene sheets for insulation.
This is two corrections.
1. "Plates" is ok. "Sheets" is better. (The word "plates" /is/ ok. Plates /are/ ok.)
2. "... for insulation." Simple works best here.
Each platesheet is 3 cm widethick, so I stacked them in two layers to make the wall 6 cm in widththickness.
Each sheet is 3 cm thick, so I stacked them in two layers to make the wall 6 cm in thickness.
The inside of the box is 30 cm wide. The polystyrene walls are 6 cm thick. (So the outside of the box is 42 cm wide?)
I use a 50-watt power resistor with 4.7 ohms of resistance as a heating element.
The heat is dissipated with a heat sink and a computer fan with the resistor attached to it.
The heating is controlled using a simple thermostat.
It is all powered by an ATX power source ofrom an old computer.
It is all powered by an ATX power source from an old computer.
"of" -> "from"
All components are supplied with 12 volts.
I also use a fuse on the supply wire of the heating element to make sure nothing bad happens.
The thermostat has a built-in thermal sensor that is led inside the box.
The meaning of this sentence is not clear. (Is the sensor a wire that goes to the inside of the box?)
Maybe "...that measures the temperature inside the box."
Both the ATX power source and thermostat lie on the top of the box.
For the germination, I set the minimum temperature to 28 °C and the maximum to 30 °C.
It takes about 2.3 minutes for the box to heat up from 28 to 30 degrees and about 6.5 minutes to cool back down to 28 degrees at an ambient temperature of 20 °C.
I germinated multiple varieties of peppers—some of them more demanding than others.
The germination process is now much more stable at these temperatures.
Most of them germinated after a week as opposed to two weeks at an ambient temperature.
I had great success at germinating lemon trees from seeds extracted from a bought lemon.
I sowed 16 seeds, and now 14 of them groew!
I sowed 16 seeds, and 14 of them grew!
Both parts of this sentence happened in the past.
One of the seeds was too small indicating that it was not ripe and the other one was cut by mistake when opening the lemon.
Germination of citruses is usually more demanding as far as temperature is concerned—the rate of successfully germinated lemon seeds and the time it takes for them to sprout depends on the temperature.
I am already surprised with the achieved success rate even at this ideal temperature inside the box!
The meaning of this sentence is not clear.
"I didn't expect it to work so well, but it did!" = "I am surprised by the achieved success rate even though I knew the temperature inside the box was ideal!"
Feedback
(This is my first correction on this site. I hope it's helpful.)
You change tense a lot, and it doesn't sound perfectly natural, but individual sentences are correct. This is a level of technical writing (writing about math, science, or building something) that even I have to think about to write well. I could definitely build a germination box using your instructions. Nice job! :)
(Look up the word "finicky." I think your "demanding" peppers are finicky.)
Feb. 10, 2021
A little later, I actually built the box, and for the past month, I've used it for the germination of peppers and lemon trees.
But what if I stopped using it a few days ago? It's in the past then, isn't it?
Feb. 10, 2021
Each platesheet is 3 cm widethick, so I stacked them in two layers to make the wall 6 cm in widththickness.
The inside of the box is 30 cm wide. The polystyrene walls are 6 cm thick. (So the outside of the box is 42 cm wide?)
The inner dimension is 40 cm, so the outside of the box is 52 cm.
Feb. 10, 2021
I sowed 16 seeds, and now 14 of them groew!
Both parts of this sentence happened in the past.
I'm not sure here. They still grow in the present. Did you mean that they sprouted in the past?
Feb. 10, 2021
I am already surprised with the achieved success rate even at this ideal temperature inside the box!
The meaning of this sentence is not clear.
"I didn't expect it to work so well, but it did!" = "I am surprised by the achieved success rate even though I knew the temperature inside the box was ideal!"
Perfect! That's exactly what I wanted to say!
Feb. 10, 2021
The thermostat has a built-in thermal sensor that is led inside the box.
The meaning of this sentence is not clear. (Is the sensor a wire that goes to the inside of the box?)
Maybe "...that measures the temperature inside the box."
Exactly! The sensor is a wire that goes inside of the box.
Feb. 10, 2021
Thank you very much for the corrections! I appreciate it a lot. It's definitely helpful.
The word 'finicky' would probably work better here. Until now, I thought it is suitable only when talking about people, so thanks for the suggestion!
Welcome to the site! I hope you find here many native speakers to correct your journals as well!
Feb. 11, 2021
But what if I stopped using it a few days ago? It's in the past then, isn't it?
Oh, sorry, I see what you mean.
Used it and then stopped: "... in the past month, I've used it..." or "...in the past month, I used it..."
(Used it and are still using it: "...for the past month, I've used it..." or "...for the past month, I've been using it...")
Written, I would include "in/for/during". Spoken, I wouldn't notice if someone skipped it.
Feb. 11, 2021
The inner dimension is 40 cm, so the outside of the box is 52 cm.
Right. My mistake!
Feb. 11, 2021
I'm not sure here. They still grow in the present. Did you mean that they sprouted in the past?
I did. I misinterpreted. You want to say "I sowed 16 seeds, and 14 of them are growing."
It is also fine to include "now," but "are growing" implies "now."
Feb. 11, 2021
Thank you very much for the corrections! I appreciate it a lot. It's definitely helpful. The word 'finicky' would probably work better here. Until now, I thought it is suitable only when talking about people, so thanks for the suggestion! Welcome to the site! I hope you find here many native speakers to correct your journals as well!
Thank you and you're welcome :)
Feb. 12, 2021
Thank you and you're welcome :)
Thank you for the further clarifications! :)
|
A Germination Box |
|
In the previous journal, I had asked to correct a question, which I later posted to the Stack Exchange forum. |
|
Basically, I was trying to work out some details on a germination box that I was planning to build. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
A little later, I actually built the box, and the past month I used it for the germination of peppers and lemon trees. A little later, I actually built the box, and for the past month, I've used it for the germination of peppers and lemon trees. A little later, I actually built the box, and for the past month, I've used it for the germination of peppers and lemon trees. |
|
Firstly, I describe the box's specifications, and then I follow with a commentary on its performance. |
|
The box is a cube with an inner side of 40 cm.
The box is a cube with an inner "Side" is ok. "Dimension" is better. |
|
The frame is made of wooden sticks connected with screws and nails. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
The sides of the box are made of polystyrene plates to make effective insulation.
The sides of the box are made of polystyrene This is two corrections. 1. "Plates" is ok. "Sheets" is better. (The word "plates" /is/ ok. Plates /are/ ok.) 2. "... for insulation." Simple works best here. |
|
Each plate is 3 cm wide, so I stacked them in two layers to make the wall 6 cm in width.
Each The inside of the box is 30 cm wide. The polystyrene walls are 6 cm thick. (So the outside of the box is 42 cm wide?) |
|
I use a 50-watt power resistor with 4.7 ohms of resistance as a heating element. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
The heat is dissipated with a heat sink and a computer fan with the resistor attached to it. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
The heating is controlled using a simple thermostat. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
It is all powered by an ATX power source of an old computer.
It is all powered by an ATX power source "of" -> "from" |
|
All components are supplied with 12 volts. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
I also use a fuse on the supply wire of the heating element to make sure nothing bad happens. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
The thermostat has a built-in thermal sensor that is led inside the box.
The meaning of this sentence is not clear. (Is the sensor a wire that goes to the inside of the box?) Maybe "...that measures the temperature inside the box." |
|
Both the ATX power source and thermostat lie on the top of the box. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
For the germination, I set the minimum temperature to 28 °C and the maximum to 30 °C. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
It takes about 2.3 minutes for the box to heat up from 28 to 30 degrees and about 6.5 minutes to cool back down to 28 degrees at an ambient temperature of 20 °C. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
I germinated multiple varieties of peppers—some of them more demanding than others. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
The germination process is now much more stable at these temperatures. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
Most of them germinated after a week as opposed to two weeks at an ambient temperature. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
I had great success at germinating lemon trees from seeds extracted from a bought lemon. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
I sowed 16 seeds, and now 14 of them grow!
I sowed 16 seeds, and Both parts of this sentence happened in the past. |
|
One of the seeds was too small indicating that it was not ripe and the other one was cut by mistake when opening the lemon. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
Germination of citruses is usually more demanding as far as temperature is concerned—the rate of successfully germinated lemon seeds and the time it takes for them to sprout depends on the temperature. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
|
I am already surprised with the achieved success rate even at this ideal temperature inside the box!
The meaning of this sentence is not clear. "I didn't expect it to work so well, but it did!" = "I am surprised by the achieved success rate even though I knew the temperature inside the box was ideal!" |
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