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seeds Seedling heatmat

Quick question for those that aren't growing in caves in the hinterlands...

Am I in danger of OVERheating my setup by using the styrofoam? I know germination falls off a cliff over about 87/88F. Ambient household temps for us this time of year never fall below 69F and during the day range from 72-74F, depending on what it's like outdoors.

Someone mentioned 20F rise over ambient (or at least the surface) temps. That puts me at around 90F. Seems pretty darn warm.

I like the idea, mainly for even temperature control on those edges, but I don't want to roast my peppers till they're much older.

On a side note, is there a brand of mat y'all recommend, or just snag whatever the local hydro shop has laying 'round? It's too early to find them in most of the big box stores here (if they ever have them). Haven't tried Wal-Mart yet, though.
 
I used a Hydro Farm two tray seedling heat mat purchased from:

http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/product/seedling-propagation-mat/heat-mats-seeding

I am thinking about adding a thermostat this year.

I needed additional mats last year on the quick. I bought of a couple of heating pads (like for back aches) at a local super center for about $10 a piece. They had a simple 3 temp. heat controller and were plastic covered. Be aware that many have an automatic shutoff after 2 hours. I had to search around some to find one that did not have this feature.

My germination area is in a basement where room temperature rarely gets above 65° in the winter. I had a difficult time getting the temp. into the proper range especially with the Hydro Farm pad. The cheapo pads actually worked better for maintaining a higher temperature under the seed trays.

I had germination of everything that I grew last year; it just took longer than what others are indicating. Will see if the styrofoam box/tray setup makes a difference. If not, weÂ’ll move on to plan B.

P.S. - Wifey still thinks I am going to burn the house down.
 
Ordered up a 20" X 20" hydrofarm mat yesterday at 4pm from amazon. Is now sitting under two of three started trays.

My meat thermometer reads from 86-89F. But that's at the bottom, not where the seed rests. I'm assuming I'll be fine in that range.
 
Holy smokes! These heat mats are a deathwish!

Redundant temp probes measured 94.4F and 94.8F, respectively, in my soil this evening, after having had it on since my earlier post.

What the?

I can't believe you guys need extra insulation. This thing is nuts. Thermostat next season. Always something.
 
Ah,but Grasshopper,there is a Ying for every Yang...
Heat mats go both ways-20 degrees above average temp.,no matter if average temp. of the surface is 20 degrees or 100 degrees.

If your mat is set on a surface that heats up and retains heat easily you need the foam so you don't cook the sprouts.
If the surface is a poor conductor or retainer of heat it won't get hot enough.

Your mat doesn't know what your soil temp. is without a thermostat,just the average temp. in general of it's contact point where it's sensor is at.

To a certain extent the hotter things get,the hotter the mat gets.The mat has no brain without a thermostat.

It's set for 20 degrees above whatever it detects as the temp it's enviornment is.

So if the shelf you have it on is 80 degrees the mat goes to 100 and so on until it hits it's peak output and can't go higher and burns out or burns your house down.
The cooler things are the less heat your sprouts get.

I'm sure there is a limit to it's output and it has a limit to how hot it can get in general,no matter what the conditions are.

Grashopper,Grab this 7 pot seed from my hand.
When you can you will be ready to grow Chile Peppers on a heat mat. :)
 
smokemaster said:
Ah,but Grasshopper,there is a Ying for every Yang...
Heat mats go both ways-20 degrees above average temp.,no matter if average temp. of the surface is 20 degrees or 100 degrees.

If your mat is set on a surface that heats up and retains heat easily you need the foam so you don't cook the sprouts.
If the surface is a poor conductor or retainer of heat it won't get hot enough.

Your mat doesn't know what your soil temp. is without a thermostat,just the average temp. in general of it's contact point where it's sensor is at.

To a certain extent the hotter things get,the hotter the mat gets.The mat has no brain without a thermostat.

It's set for 20 degrees above whatever it detects as the temp it's enviornment is.

So if the shelf you have it on is 80 degrees the mat goes to 100 and so on until it hits it's peak output and can't go higher and burns out or burns your house down.
The cooler things are the less heat your sprouts get.

I'm sure there is a limit to it's output and it has a limit to how hot it can get in general,no matter what the conditions are.

Grashopper,Grab this 7 pot seed from my hand.
When you can you will be ready to grow Chile Peppers on a heat mat. :)
Click to expand...

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I guess my assumption was that heat mats were necessary. But just like 'full sun' in Texas, it's possible that catering to the most common denominator has excluded the marginal data points by necessity, and without footnote.

Either way, I'm still gonna use it on and off. Did get my first sprouts of the year, and not from the plants I expected...
 
Heat mats in general,under most common conditions speed up seed germination depending on what you are trying to grow from seeds.
I think in general they only make my pepper seeds sprout in a more uniform mannor.
Sooner in general with higher germination rates for a lot of varieties.

Though wilds seem not to like as much heat as some other stuff at times.
Heat mats are like Jewelry for my boat,not a neccesity but sure nice to have.
 
smokemaster said:
Heat mats in general,under most common conditions speed up seed germination depending on what you are trying to grow from seeds.
I think in general they only make my pepper seeds sprout in a more uniform mannor.
Sooner in general with higher germination rates for a lot of varieties.

Though wilds seem not to like as much heat as some other stuff at times.
Heat mats are like Jewelry for my boat,not a neccesity but sure nice to have.
Click to expand...

I hear ya, smoke!

I'm just surprised I'm having to babysit it so much.

Next year, I'll add another cog to the machine...
 
Last year I used a 48" heat mat with a digital controller, found it all on eBay. I used Reflectix Insulation from "The Home Depot"; it looks like a durable bubble wrap material, seems to work fine.

This year I'm going with 4 – 48" heat mats with a goal of 500 superhot plants. Things will be a little crowded around here until about mid June. I guess it’s the price of admission for a small piece of heaven.
 
orrevs said:
I serious need some help, ive been looking for a seedling heat mat for weeks now.

And the one i relly liked is http://www.nextag.co...mat/stores-html

But when trying to find a shop that got it, they are all in US and the shipping from amazon is over 36 dollars and also tested ebay and all i found wanted over 30 dollars as well just for the shipping.

So, anyone know if theres some store in EU that got similar products? Last year i used a heat-lamp 75w but it was a pain to get the right temp + it killed some seeds ;(.

And i dont know anyone in US that can ship it to me. But if any kind member here wanna help out i can paypal the money.



//Oscar
Click to expand...

Hope these links would help you out to locate mat in EU. Good luck. :):)

http://www.pflanzen-exoten.de/

http://www.jungleseeds.co.uk/HardwareOrders/enter.html
 
Problem with my boat is is that the waterline keeps getting higher the more jewelry I put on her.
With my Taclke shop and fat ass on the boat I can only go out on calm days. :)
Ya , boats a necessety,gotta take the spider mites and crickets out for a swim once in a while.
good thing it's unsinkable-foam filled fiberglass-won't sink but will fill with water...
 
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