heat mats

[stonefly327]

looking for economical but realiable heat mats or alternatives. what comes up when I do internet search is way too expensive for the number of seeds I start

[rainbowgardener]

I just use regular heating pads they sell in the drugstore for people to use. Just be sure it doesn't have automatic timed cut off. I have two of them that I run 24/7 three months a year. They are over a decade old now and still going strong.

[stonefly327]

rainbowgardner - interesting. low setting? and set right under trays or is there something in between?

[rainbowgardener]

The heating pad comes with a cover. I put the trays that my pots are in directly on that, and put it on medium. It does mean you have to water them every day; they dry out a lot faster than the ones that aren't on the heat.

[gixxerific]

Rainbowgardeners heatting pads are older it you may have trouble finding ones without a timer on them.

How many seeds do you start. If it is a ton of seed maybe making a starting bench would be a good idea. You could use a heat cable.

https://www.groworganic.com/gro-quick-el ... 48-ft.html

I use a hydroform heating mat I found these locally for around $20.

https://www.best-deal.com/search/landing ... MgodvDMAsA

[ElizabethB]

Ditto both Rainbow and Eric. Heating pads work great but auto shut off is a pain.

[rainbowgardener]

Yeah, actually these days you can get heat mats for seedlings just about as cheap as you could buy the heating pads.

Greenhouse megastore (where I get most of my seed starting supplies) has a 20 x 20 mat, which is the size of two trays (two of my heating pads) for $38. Or if you don't need the double size, you can get a single one for $17.

https://www.greenhousemegastore.com/prod ... s-chambers

If my heating pads finally die some day, that's what I will get. I'm always amazed-- in our throw away society, someone over engineered those heat pads to the nth degree. They can't have been designed to run 24/7 for three months at a time!

[gixxerific]

That is a great price RBG.

I feel ya on the heating pad still going. I am amzed too, tell I would be a little worried but that is me. But than again they sure don't make things like they used to that is for sure.

[stonefly327]

thanks I think I would have to do the 9x19.5 because I have a setup where I have the flats end to end under my lights.

[hendi_alex]

I use a Kane heating mat that we already had for an outside dog who refuses to use the thing.

If going for totally cheap, I would just take one of those small reflector shield lamps and clip it under my planting tray, which would be spaced up enough to clear the light and clamp. Put a small enough bulb to give a low level of heat, but make sure that the bulb is far enough away from any combustible material. Don't go overboard with wattage either, as a 40-60 watt bulb a few inches from the bottom of the tray should provide enough gentle bottom heat. You would have to experiment with this arrangement a bit, but IMO should work and would only cost about $6. Probably using a metal bottom tray would be wise. The metal would dissipate the heat and would be non combustible as well.

[Gardener123]

Go to thrift stores.... They have old ones without timers, plus I have seen them for $5.

[treehopper]

Sunbeam 732-500 available from amazon under $20. No auto shutoff, king size fits perfectly.

[Gardener123]

A question about those seed / heat mats..... is the heat always on, or does it cycle? I am guessing always on, but I have 2 of them, and they are just barely warm whenever I put my hand on them, and they are both new as of last season.

[treehopper]

Depending in your surface, you can run them constant or with a 24 hour timer cycling them on and off to maintain the desired temp.

[rainbowgardener]

I don't know about "barely warm," but they won't feel real hot. They just are a steady mild source of heat to keep the soil warmed up a few degrees above ambient. Some people do the same thing with just an incandescent light bulb under the tray, so you can see it doesn't have to be a lot of heat.