Seed starting mats

cjp1953 · February 22, 2018

Does Lowes or Home Depot have dependable heat mats?They would be the cheapest than ordering and paying the S&H.Funds are short at the moment and I want to start my pepper seeds soon.Would like your thoughts.Thanks

rhines81 · February 22, 2018

Once your seeds sprout, where are you growing them out before transplant?

Just wondering because if you grow them in your heated house, you wouldn't need a heat mat, just find a warmer place to germinate the seed (top of refrigerator, cable box, TV, etc...)

greenthumbomaha · February 22, 2018

Agree with above, I started mine on the dvd top and had excellent germination. Put several layers of towels or tshirts on top of the tray cover to keep the heat in. I have another tray on the floor near a heat vent, well wrapped in a plastic bag so it doesn't dry out. There is a recent ongoing thread on heat mat alternatives in one of the lower forums.
It is worth a try.

- Lisa

JerryHaskins · February 22, 2018

I don't think Home Depot or Lowes has them.

I ended up buying this heating pad that (unlike most) has a "stay on" setting. And I stuck it in a plastic bag underneath the seedling tray.

At the highest setting it does not get especially hot.

And it is not very big so I rotated the tray every other day.

I got pretty good germination of hot pepper seeds.

greenthumbomaha · February 23, 2018

My Home Depot and Walmart sell the heat mats off the rack for about $25. Thay can cook your tomato babies without a thermostat.

As mentioned in another thread, it helps to put a foam slab, such as a drink cooler lid or a packing material sheet under the pad and cover the top of the tray with a few layers of towels or sweatshirts, etc. to insulate the seed tray. Its been a really cold winter and the heat is going non stop so I have lots of floor space near heat vents and I haven't used my heat mats. A first for me.

- Lisa

cjp1953 · February 23, 2018

I grew them last year in my basement after they germinated but because the air temp was only 65 they grew very slowly and some never big at all.Tomato seeds did well but are easier to grow for me with less heat to germinate.I could try under the bed as we have a vent in two bedrooms with the bed up against the wall and the warm air trapped under the bed.No light would be needed until they poked through then they will go under my shop lights in the basement for 16 hours of light a day.Thanks for the suggestions,it's worth a try.I'll keep them covered in a plastic bag.

clkeiper · February 23, 2018

Cjp. if you drop your seeds off to me I will start them, if I had an extra heat mat to let you borrow I would. let me know if that works for you. I would be happy to do it. Menards had them a few weeks ago at about 15.00. maybe they still have them.

"My Home Depot and Walmart sell the heat mats off the rack for about $25. Thay can cook your tomato babies without a thermostat.

As mentioned in another thread, it helps to put a foam slab, such as a drink cooler lid or a packing material sheet under the pad and cover the top of the tray with a few layers of towels or sweatshirts, etc. to insulate the seed tray. Its been a really cold winter and the heat is going non stop so I have lots of floor space near heat vents and I haven't used my heat mats. A first for me.

- Lisa "

I have never had those heat mats cook my seeds or plants. I have had sunshine cook them, but that is it. I have heat mats with thermostats which can get pretty hot and the plain old black "plug them in ones" and they don't get that hot. if you don't water the trays if they get dry you can kill off newly germinating seeds, though.

cjp1953 · February 23, 2018

Quote:

Originally Posted by clkeiper

Cjp. if you drop your seeds off to me I will start them, if I had an extra heat mat to let you borrow I would. let me know if that works for you. I would be happy to do it. Menards had them a few weeks ago at about 15.00. maybe they still have them.

"My Home Depot and Walmart sell the heat mats off the rack for about $25. Thay can cook your tomato babies without a thermostat.

As mentioned in another thread, it helps to put a foam slab, such as a drink cooler lid or a packing material sheet under the pad and cover the top of the tray with a few layers of towels or sweatshirts, etc. to insulate the seed tray. Its been a really cold winter and the heat is going non stop so I have lots of floor space near heat vents and I haven't used my heat mats. A first for me.

- Lisa "

I have never had those heat mats cook my seeds or plants. I have had sunshine cook them, but that is it. I have heat mats with thermostats which can get pretty hot and the plain old black "plug them in ones" and they don't get that hot. if you don't water the trays if they get dry you can kill off newly germinating seeds, though.

I just came home after buying one at Walmart.Ferry Morse brand.Let me think about this I would really like to try it here.Thank you so much your very kind and I do want to stop by one of these days.

cjp1953 · February 24, 2018

Quote:

Originally Posted by clkeiper

Cjp. if you drop your seeds off to me I will start them, if I had an extra heat mat to let you borrow I would. let me know if that works for you. I would be happy to do it. Menards had them a few weeks ago at about 15.00. maybe they still have them.

"My Home Depot and Walmart sell the heat mats off the rack for about $25. Thay can cook your tomato babies without a thermostat.

As mentioned in another thread, it helps to put a foam slab, such as a drink cooler lid or a packing material sheet under the pad and cover the top of the tray with a few layers of towels or sweatshirts, etc. to insulate the seed tray. Its been a really cold winter and the heat is going non stop so I have lots of floor space near heat vents and I haven't used my heat mats. A first for me.

- Lisa "

I have never had those heat mats cook my seeds or plants. I have had sunshine cook them, but that is it. I have heat mats with thermostats which can get pretty hot and the plain old black "plug them in ones" and they don't get that hot. if you don't water the trays if they get dry you can kill off newly germinating seeds, though.

I'm growing Long Hot Cayenne,Jalapeno,Nardello and cubinella. With this mat when would it be a good time to start them as we are only 15 miles apart.I will start my tomatoes around April.

clkeiper · February 24, 2018

Quote:

Originally Posted by cjp1953

I'm growing Long Hot Cayenne,Jalapeno,Nardello and cubinella. With this mat when would it be a good time to start them as we are only 15 miles apart.I will start my tomatoes around April.

Get them started any day now. from now until the 15th is a good time. after that they are small when you get them in the garden. if they start to get too big-grow them where it is cooler but bright.

cjp1953 · February 24, 2018

Thank you,going tomorrow morning and getting some seed cell trays.I'll keep you up on things.

Thank you and everyone else for your helpful advice

cjp1953 · February 25, 2018

Quote:

Originally Posted by clkeiper

Get them started any day now. from now until the 15th is a good time. after that they are small when you get them in the garden. if they start to get too big-grow them where it is cooler but bright.

Started them this afternoon.I put some poster board under the mat and this sits on a hardwood floor upstairs in a spare bedroom.I put a outdoor thermometer inside the tray and it's showing around 90 degrees.I used only a 9 cell tray and have the starting soil nice and wet.I did not add any water to the bottom of the tray but have the whole tray covered with the clear lid that came with it.It's already showing moisture inside the tray.Just going to watch it and make sure they don't dry out.I might just put the tray inside a clear plastic bag if it show signs of drying out to fast.

greenthumbomaha · March 2, 2018

Quote:

Originally Posted by clkeiper

Cjp. if you drop your seeds off to me I will start them, if I had an extra heat mat to let you borrow I would. let me know if that works for you. I would be happy to do it. Menards had them a few weeks ago at about 15.00. maybe they still have them.

"My Home Depot and Walmart sell the heat mats off the rack for about $25. Thay can cook your tomato babies without a thermostat.

As mentioned in another thread, it helps to put a foam slab, such as a drink cooler lid or a packing material sheet under the pad and cover the top of the tray with a few layers of towels or sweatshirts, etc. to insulate the seed tray. Its been a really cold winter and the heat is going non stop so I have lots of floor space near heat vents and I haven't used my heat mats. A first for me.

- Lisa "

I have never had those heat mats cook my seeds or plants. I have had sunshine cook them, but that is it. I have heat mats with thermostats which can get pretty hot and the plain old black "plug them in ones" and they don't get that hot. if you don't water the trays if they get dry you can kill off newly germinating seeds, though.

Carolyn,
I have my cheap Hydrofarm/Jffy heat mats on a foam slab. I use the thinnest 10X20 that I own (too flimsy for carry) with a plastic top. I cover the plastic top with several layers of towels and stadium blankets.

I plugged in the heat mat for a few hours without the thermostat. The Jiffy mix was fully moistened. Yipes it was hot when I went to install the thermostat. An soil thermometer showed the temp as 100, probably more but I got busy pulling everything off to let it cool. The thermostat showed 90 when I plugged it, about 5 minutes off the mat.

My word to the wise is if you are placing the mat on the floor or table without insulation underneath you are heating the surface below and not optimizing the heat. Also using the plastic lid without covering wastes heat (and electricity and the life of the mat.) This works great for hot pepper germination. Without a thermostat it works too well for my sweet peppers and tomatoes.

Goodloe · February 23, 2018

Bought mine at Lowe's...just ran across them one day. Ferry-Morse brand. $25

TC_Manhattan · February 23, 2018

Here is a link to the one I bought last year.
It's $12.98 on Amazon, free two day shipping if you have PRIME.

Doesn't have a thermostat, but I used it without any problems overheating, just watched as the soil or growing medium dries out quicker.

I placed my seed tray with the starter cups directly on it, and an overhead T-5 light above. It really worked a trick to get them to sprout quickly.

https://www.amazon.com/certified-See...=seed+heat+mat

February 22, 2018	#1
cjp1953 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Cuyahoga Falls,Ohio Posts: 818	Seed starting mats Does Lowes or Home Depot have dependable heat mats?They would be the cheapest than ordering and paying the S&H.Funds are short at the moment and I want to start my pepper seeds soon.Would like your thoughts.Thanks

February 23, 2018	#6
cjp1953 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Cuyahoga Falls,Ohio Posts: 818	I grew them last year in my basement after they germinated but because the air temp was only 65 they grew very slowly and some never big at all.Tomato seeds did well but are easier to grow for me with less heat to germinate.I could try under the bed as we have a vent in two bedrooms with the bed up against the wall and the warm air trapped under the bed.No light would be needed until they poked through then they will go under my shop lights in the basement for 16 hours of light a day.Thanks for the suggestions,it's worth a try.I'll keep them covered in a plastic bag. Last edited by cjp1953; February 23, 2018 at 04:59 AM.

February 23, 2018	#7
clkeiper Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: ohio Posts: 4,350	Cjp. if you drop your seeds off to me I will start them, if I had an extra heat mat to let you borrow I would. let me know if that works for you. I would be happy to do it. Menards had them a few weeks ago at about 15.00. maybe they still have them. "My Home Depot and Walmart sell the heat mats off the rack for about $25. Thay can cook your tomato babies without a thermostat. As mentioned in another thread, it helps to put a foam slab, such as a drink cooler lid or a packing material sheet under the pad and cover the top of the tray with a few layers of towels or sweatshirts, etc. to insulate the seed tray. Its been a really cold winter and the heat is going non stop so I have lots of floor space near heat vents and I haven't used my heat mats. A first for me. - Lisa " I have never had those heat mats cook my seeds or plants. I have had sunshine cook them, but that is it. I have heat mats with thermostats which can get pretty hot and the plain old black "plug them in ones" and they don't get that hot. if you don't water the trays if they get dry you can kill off newly germinating seeds, though. __________________ carolyn k Last edited by clkeiper; February 23, 2018 at 09:04 AM.

February 24, 2018	#11
cjp1953 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Cuyahoga Falls,Ohio Posts: 818	Thank you,going tomorrow morning and getting some seed cell trays.I'll keep you up on things.Thank you and everyone else for your helpful advice

February 22, 2018	#2
rhines81 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Zone 5A, Poconos Posts: 959	Once your seeds sprout, where are you growing them out before transplant? Just wondering because if you grow them in your heated house, you wouldn't need a heat mat, just find a warmer place to germinate the seed (top of refrigerator, cable box, TV, etc...)

February 22, 2018	#3
greenthumbomaha Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Omaha Zone 5 Posts: 2,514	Agree with above, I started mine on the dvd top and had excellent germination. Put several layers of towels or tshirts on top of the tray cover to keep the heat in. I have another tray on the floor near a heat vent, well wrapped in a plastic bag so it doesn't dry out. There is a recent ongoing thread on heat mat alternatives in one of the lower forums. It is worth a try. - Lisa

February 22, 2018	#4
JerryHaskins Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Mississippi Posts: 166	I don't think Home Depot or Lowes has them. I ended up buying this heating pad that (unlike most) has a "stay on" setting. And I stuck it in a plastic bag underneath the seedling tray. At the highest setting it does not get especially hot. And it is not very big so I rotated the tray every other day. I got pretty good germination of hot pepper seeds.

February 23, 2018	#14
Goodloe Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2018 Location: Steens, MS 8a Posts: 410	Bought mine at Lowe's...just ran across them one day. Ferry-Morse brand. $25

February 23, 2018	#15
TC_Manhattan Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Ohio Posts: 457	Here is a link to the one I bought last year. It's $12.98 on Amazon, free two day shipping if you have PRIME. Doesn't have a thermostat, but I used it without any problems overheating, just watched as the soil or growing medium dries out quicker. I placed my seed tray with the starter cups directly on it, and an overhead T-5 light above. It really worked a trick to get them to sprout quickly. https://www.amazon.com/certified-See...=seed+heat+mat