Recommendation for Heat Mat Brand

14 years ago

I have done some surfing for Heat Mats but was wondering if anyone could help me determine which is better for my money.

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Comments (7)

oilpainter
14 years ago
I've had mine for quite a few years and it has worked great. My son bought it for me one Christmas at Lee Valley and it has no brand name on it, so I don't know where it was made.

I have heard others say theirs cut out after a year or 2. I think how you store it makes a difference. Mine lays flat on top of a bin in my closet. Other than that I think it's a crap shoot. Either you get a good one where the heating coils are good or you don't.
Julia WV (6b)
14 years ago
I just got one this year. It is called Hydrofarm Seedling Heat Mat 20x20 Hydroponic. I can't give you much feedback as I just got this a couple of weeks ago but so far it works great. I also bought the grow lights as well and everything was shipped directly from the manufacturer.
When I got the heat mat it was rolled up and I thought this thing is really stiff and wouldn't lie flat, but it did.
I did buy this from a seller on Ebay (if you go there, read the feedback on sellers) and I did check many sites as well to read reviews but nothing really stood out as exceptional on the market. Took a chance and I gather from other folks they did as well.

Julia
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Joyce I have a couple Hydrofarm mats and all heat unevenly. The only mat I have that has even heating is my 5' x 3' and that's made from a different material. Instead of the thin black plastic it's a thick heavy duty rubber. I bought it from a farm supply store years ago. I even out the heat on the smaller mats by placing a 1" thick piece of wood over the hot spot and setting the pot on that. That doesn't help when using the heat mats for a flat but it works well with pots. I've never tried a thermostat to see if that makes a difference but don't think that it would.
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I use Hydrofram Brand and mine doesn't need a thermostat . It is set at one temp at all times. Works great.. I buy three and set them into dish pails. ( huge black commercial dish pails under lights) I have three separate areas.. Some larger mats may have thermostats when you buy the larger mats ( commercial ) type.. Call your local hydroponics store and they can help you with questions.. I have always had no issues with Hyrofarm brand!! eBay has them as well as amazon . Hope this helps!! Laura
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John, like I said earlier, I have two heat pads I bought maybe 4 years ago. They each fit two trays of those 72 or 36 (depending on the individual cell size) cell units. I guess I would still use them to start tomato seeds, but nowadays I start so many tomato seeds that I just use the heat pads to start pepper seeds which seem to need more heat to germinate than tomato seeds do. In the meanwhile, I found I can start tomato seeds at room temps ranging from 68 - 75*F with no problem. So, I guess I'm just too cheap to pay 20 bucks a pop for all the heating pads I would need for my current hobby. Just a tip ... I have double-stacked seed starting trays atop a single heat pad before. What I did was cover the trays with plastic wrap and rotate them top to bottom every 12 hours or so, and as soon as I saw germination, I put the clear domed lids on and moved the trays to the large plate glass, east facing windows in my office. I'm lucky in that my office windows have as a ledge the HVAC circulating conduits with vents. This provides steady temps and air circulation to help prevent damping off. I use 4-foot, dual tube florescent fixtures for auxiliary lighting and them pot up the sprouts like I said, and move them to the garage for a cold treatment.
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"...Is this true?" My guess is that is an attempt by the maker to avoid liability. Seriously, if a horticultural heating mat can't be left unattended - it's useless! I doubt you'd have problems, but you gotta wonder about how much trust you an put into a product which you can't leave unattended. Keep in mind though, that you should be extra careful, whether attended or unattended, using any electrical device around water. In the past I've used heating pads made for sore muscles. I would recommend that before you sow, you put a thermometer in the soil to make sure the soil temp isn't too hot. If it's above what you want (depending on factors such as what seeds you are sowing) place something to provide a layer of insulation. You can usually even use a couple of pencils to lift it up off of direct contact with the pad or metal pan you described. If try a few things, you'll find something that works well. Again, make sure it's safe.
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oldbusy1
14 years ago
I've been useing hydrofarm brand for several years. They are good quality products. They are the ones that are usually supplied in the heated germination kits you see.

I will say , stay away from the harbor freight ones.They are more of a water resistant fabric instead of rubber.
calistoga_al ca 15 usda 9
14 years ago
I have always made my own, not because those available were faulty, but they were not the right size. Of all my gardening friends, I have yet to hear a complaint about their heat mat. Al
keriann_lakegeneva
14 years ago
I use a Sun-Beam electric blanket and it works GREAT. It is large enough to cover 3 shelves (15 flats) and I can move it around to heat certain flats and keep it off others. I believe it was $30 from Wal-Mart.

Keriann~
oilpainter
14 years ago
ok calistoga--

If you are going to toss out a comment like you make your own then I have one thing to say------Details please!!
Tell us how, don't leave us hanging
californian
14 years ago
I used a foot warmer mat that I had bought many years ago to keep my feet warm when I had to work in an unheated building, it was made by Tripp Lite. My tomato seeds sprouted in four days using it. It is rated 75 watts so gets quite warm, but if you have a thick layer of dirt and don't have a dome over your seeds it didn't overheat the top of the soil where the seeds were.

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Recommendation for Heat Mat Brand

Comments (7)

oilpainter

Julia WV (6b)

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oldbusy1

calistoga_al ca 15 usda 9

keriann_lakegeneva

oilpainter

californian

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