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Post by daylilydude on Jan 29, 2018 5:11:34 GMT -5
Does anyone have an alternative to a heat mat?
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Post by pepperhead212 on Jan 29, 2018 6:33:21 GMT -5
A 20x24 inch griddle on the left side of my range - a 3/4" slab of steel, with 4 pilot lights under it. Warmer in the front, for the peppers. A few days before planting I put the flat that the pepper seeds will be going into on it, take the temp the next morning, and tweak the level of the pilot lights to get the temp to just under 90°.
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Post by spike on Jan 29, 2018 8:24:06 GMT -5
I read the fancy stuff you all do and feel like such a hick. Which I am but that is beside the point GOSH. I have one grow light that goes on top of the fridge. Nice and toasty up there and the other grow light is on a coffee table above the baseboard heater. Once they are growing good they get swapped out to the laundry room where I stretch the dryer vent hose past them (can move it front to back).
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Post by brownrexx on Jan 29, 2018 9:23:37 GMT -5
Are newer refrigerators that warm on top? I don't know. Mine has a cabinet right above it so I never checked but it doesn't seem that warm to me.
I bought myself a heat mat on e-bay a couple of years ago and I love it. I don't start big amounts of seeds so one mat is all that I need and it was fairly cheap on e-bay. I mainly bought it for starting peppers. My tomatoes seem to germinate fine without added heat but I start them in a heated room, not a basement or other cool area.
I do have a heated ceramic tile floor in my sunroom. It is set for 74 degrees so I do usually set the seed starting trays right on the floor until the seeds germinate.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Jan 29, 2018 9:34:40 GMT -5
daylilydude , brownrexx , spike , pepperhead212 , I've always used our fridge. I'm using Mom's fridge now and they keep the house like a sauna now days since they are always cold! The new fridges probably aren't warm, but heat rises so it should work just fine. I've never had a heat mat.
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Post by brownrexx on Jan 29, 2018 9:49:25 GMT -5
I'm using Mom's fridge now and they keep the house like a sauna now days since they are always cold! If you lived in PA and kept the house at 67 -68° it probably wouldn't be that warm on top of the fridge!
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Post by paulf on Jan 29, 2018 9:54:31 GMT -5
When my sons were living at home they had a water bed with a heater and thermostat. When they moved out...fifteen years ago...we sold the waterbed but I kept the heater. It is like a heat mat but has an accurate thermostat and the heat gets higher than a heat mat that only gets 15-20 degrees more than ambient temperature. I use it for peppers that like it warmer than the heat mat will go. Be careful on setting the temp, it will go to 125F pretty easily and burn up the plants...been there, did that.
Also I have used a heating pad intended for sore muscles, etc. Also because it has a thermostat. Problems there are they will shut off automatically if it gets too warm and not restart and they are not rated for getting wet and there may be problems there. Heating pads are a lot cheaper than mats, but I have discontinued the pads since I am a little sloppy with the watering process.
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Post by hairymooseknuckles on Jan 29, 2018 10:03:08 GMT -5
I'm using Mom's fridge now and they keep the house like a sauna now days since they are always cold! If you lived in PA and kept the house at 67 -68° it probably wouldn't be that warm on top of the fridge! My wife has to be cool too. She can't hardly stand to go into my Mom's house.
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Post by ladymarmalade on Jan 29, 2018 12:51:26 GMT -5
Before I had a heat mat, I used our DVR for germinating pepper seeds. In the past I've also used under-counter lighting. I would put my seedling tray under a dome, and then set the dome to where it was almost touching the light. It didn't take long for the seeds to warm up and start popping.
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Post by paquebot on Jan 29, 2018 13:14:28 GMT -5
Lights! Lights give off heat. A string of Christmas lights coiled under a pane of glass or Plexiglas works good. Old lamp fixture in a cardboard box with same panes on top is what I used for years.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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Post by tomike on Jan 29, 2018 13:53:05 GMT -5
This is what I have used for more than 10 years and it works just fine. Built-in thermostat......
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Post by coppice on Jan 29, 2018 14:43:08 GMT -5
I watched somebody else make up a heat tray. A string of LED christmas bulbs under a tray propped up by some bricks. I however have Kats. I don't think they would let this alone.
My pots of tender trees that are growing indoors have pickets of shish-kebab squers bristling out of them to keep the girls kinda off the tree babies.
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Post by paulf on Jan 29, 2018 15:11:15 GMT -5
Those pet mat look like a good idea. The u-tube video ones are pretty expensive. On amazon there are pet mats, with thermostat, waterproof for just over $20.
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Post by octave1 on Jan 29, 2018 15:30:13 GMT -5
Grow lights make for excellent heat mats. I have a whole set up for growing seedlings (it was a gift), it's a shelf with multiple hooks for lights and trays for flats. Instead of putting my flats on the trays, I position them on the grow lights. That amount of heat is plenty. As soon as the the seeds sprout they go where they were intended.
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Post by brownrexx on Jan 29, 2018 15:45:25 GMT -5
On amazon there are pet mats, with thermostat, waterproof for just over $20. I have a couple of them for the cats but at that price it is about the same as heat mats and they are thin and waterproof so I think that the mats would be a better choice for the same money.
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Post by bluelacedredhead on Jan 29, 2018 16:09:05 GMT -5
When they moved out...fifteen years ago...we sold the waterbed but I kept the heater. You have a waterbed heater that outlived the mattress? Wow, I'm impressed!!
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Post by Gianna on Jan 29, 2018 17:38:23 GMT -5
I use what I call a germination chamber. it's a large discarded Styrofoam box that is about 3 feet long, a foot deep, and 15-16 inches wide. I inverted 4 1 gallon nursery pots on the bottom corners. On the floor I put a lamp fixture with a 40 watt incandescent bulb. Then a grate over the gallon pots and lamp - where seed starting containers will be put on trays. The foam box will be covered with glass and wood, because that's what I have. I'll keep the temp at 80 to 90 degrees. The whole thing is in a sunny window, so the bulb will only be on at night. Lid is off on sunny days.
It sounds complex, but it's not really. I only need it for peppers, but while it's up, I also have in it tomatoes. If I germinate early seeds of cukes and squash, I'll use it too.
I use this box for cuttings as well, since I can put a florescent shop light directly on the top when various babies need more light.
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Post by tomike on Jan 29, 2018 18:20:22 GMT -5
On amazon there are pet mats, with thermostat, waterproof for just over $20. I have a couple of them for the cats but at that price it is about the same as heat mats and they are thin and waterproof so I think that the mats would be a better choice for the same money.
Please explain.... same money but better.... WHY ?
What mat are you making reference to ?
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Post by brownrexx on Jan 29, 2018 19:12:03 GMT -5
tomike , my thinking is that if you already have an unused pet mat, it is probably a really good thing to use but if you are going to buy something new and it is the same price, why not buy the item that is made specifically for heating seed trays? If the pet mat was significantly cheaper then I would buy that in a minute but it seems to be about the same price. My pet mat came with a cushioned cover that would not be used if I bought it for using under a seed tray. A heat mat is made for under seed trays and is very thin and flat and is exactly the right size for under a seed tray. I am not sure that the pet mat would be the exact right size. Not a problem if you already have one but if you are going to buy a new one, why not get the right size? I am not sure how the temperatures compare but again since the prices are about the same why not purchase the item made for your application?.
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Post by tomike on Jan 30, 2018 14:42:22 GMT -5
Near perfect fit for me....... LOOK......
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Post by brownrexx on Jan 31, 2018 9:55:14 GMT -5
That's a nice set-up tomike , but due to daylilydude , heat mat give away I just Googled mats on Amazon and I saw that they are 18w and they raise the temperature of the seed medium about 10 degrees above room temperature. My pet bed is only 4w so it may not be quite as warm. Maybe your pet bed is warmer than mine. I think that it's a great use for an unused pet bed but if I were buying a new one I would go with the plant mat. The price seems to have come down too since I bought mine and they are now cheaper than the pet beds.
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Post by tomike on Jan 31, 2018 11:03:26 GMT -5
brownrexx
The 13x19 inch mat that I use (I have four of them) is rated at 60 watts. The thermostat cuts-off the heat at 105°F.
And, here is the self-watering system that fits on the heat mat.
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Post by brownrexx on Jan 31, 2018 11:16:58 GMT -5
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Post by carolyn on Feb 3, 2018 13:25:37 GMT -5
I have heat mats. I start too much to not have them. almost all of my flowers require heat. peppers and eggplant require heat. I was looking for a greenhouse alarm/temperature remote... I found that on a site called ACF greenhouses... I found they had a 20x48 mat for $20.00 each. no better price I have found anywhere.
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Post by daylilydude on Mar 24, 2018 4:39:16 GMT -5
I have wire shelves in my greenhouse and was wondering what to put under my heat mats to help with trapping the heat from being wasted?
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Post by pepperhead212 on Mar 24, 2018 10:22:47 GMT -5
Styrofoam sheets, maybe?
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Post by brownrexx on Mar 24, 2018 10:25:05 GMT -5
I have wire shelves too and I don't put anything under the mat. I never really thought about it. I only have one mat and the seeds germinate in less than a week so it's not much of an issue for me.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Mar 24, 2018 10:53:52 GMT -5
My house is about 69-70 in the winter, unless we get a warm spell, in which case it can actually get warmer. I just put my seedlings under the T5 grow lights and lower the lights to about 2" above the soil (maybe more like 1" for peppers), and I have my grow shelf near my only South-facing window. On sunny days I open the blinds on that window. The lights are on 12-16 hours a day - no timer, just when I think to turn them on and off.
I've used a thermometer to check soil temps with my setup, and of course first thing in the morning (when the lights have been off all night and of course no sun is coming in through the window) the temperature is the same as room temperature. After the grow lights have been on a while, the temp is well into the 80s. Even on cold, cloudy days the soil is at least 80 under the lights. With the lights closer for peppers or on warm sunny days the soil gets around 90. (I try not to let it get warmer than that.)
All the warm season veggies sprout fine. The diurnal temperature swings don't seem to bother them at all. But it's too warm under there for cool season veggies like lettuce and spinach, as I learned the hard way this spring!
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Post by ahntjudy on Apr 5, 2018 7:05:30 GMT -5
I have 5 heat mats now in use but need another heat source...
I keep my house on the cool side...thermostat usually on 60...but it's chilly here and the heat came on so I took advantage of that and put another flat on a piece of plywood on top of one the radiators...There's room for 2 on that one and in another room I can put another...
Headed to the store right now for seed starting mix to get more stuff potted up and take advantage of that radiator heat while it's still happening...Weather's going to be on the chilly side this week...
~~~ Edited to say I changed up the plywood to an insulated cookie sheet I never really used... The metal sheet transferred the heat to the seedling tray nicely...
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