New to growing your own tomatoes? This is the forum to learn the successful techniques used by seasoned tomato growers. Questions are welcome, too.
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#16 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Brownville, Ne
Posts: 3,291
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After several of the cheapest I could find and after the human heating pads had to be made with regulations requiring they shut off after an hour or two, went with a heat mat that had a thermostat. More expensive but it has lasted four years so far where the cheap-os lasted a max of two before just quitting.
The very best solution was a heating pad made for the waterbed my boys had in the 90s. It has a thermostat but can get so hot it melts the plastic seed trays so care must be taken. It is the heater for my peppers. So long as there is a wooden spacer a couple inches thick it is perfect and is fifteen years in use as a plant mat and counting.
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there's two things money can't buy; true love and home grown tomatoes. |
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#17 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
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I suppose a person could chop out the safety shut off rheostat and put in a regular rheostat. But without calculations you would end up burning the house down. Calculations by meaning get one that wont go up to full power like a light dimmer. A rheostat is a variable resistor use to control higher currant/power than a potentiometer. |
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#18 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Detroit
Posts: 688
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I use an old heating pad from the '60s... it doesn't shut off automatically and it was already sitting unused in the closet.
The only issue is the lowest temperature is too hot to be used without some sort of a barrier between the pad and the seeds. I just put a few towels on top of it, monitor the temperature with my Thermopen (instant read cooking thermometer), and adjust the amount of towels as necessary. ![]() |
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#19 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Illinois, zone 6
Posts: 8,407
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I use lights for heat. Even CFLs put off a decent amount of heat if you have enough of them in a small space.
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#20 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: washington
Posts: 498
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Just go to the greenhouse megastar and look up PR-HMC commercial propagation mat,they are the best,they last for many years,and give even all across the mat. They come in 3 different sizes.please don't waste your time dinking around with unsafe alternatives, it's not worth it!
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#21 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: washington
Posts: 498
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Megastore,arg!
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#22 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Vancouver Island Canada BC
Posts: 1,253
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I knew someone who buried a waterbed heater in a few inches of sand on top of a greenhouse bench. It worked well.
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#23 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Raleigh, NC
Posts: 97
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I've been using a couple of Root Radiance heat mats (10''x20.75''), that I bought from Amazon, and they have worked well for several years. They're just the right size for a single flat, and are moderately priced.
Initially I didn't use a thermostat, but the starter mix was getting up over 90F. Once I put a thermostat on them, and set to 80F, the germination rates of my finicky pepper seeds improved greatly. The down side is the cost of the thermostats (about $35). |
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#24 | |
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#26 |
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#27 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Calgary, Alberta Canada
Posts: 94
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I just use the common/inexpensive 10 x 20 inch ones, but I put a 1 x 2 foot floor tile between it and the seed tray to diffuse the heat, and then plug it in to the light timer, so it goes off at night in synch with the lights. This seems to ameliorate the overheating issue and I typically get north of 90% germination.
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#28 | |
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#29 |
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#30 | |
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And the tile diffuser ... I’m sure we have tile kicking around the garage. Thanks! |
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