I have the same shelf as zenman, but I don't use a heat mat. I buy the mylar blankets from the sports dept at Walmart. They are in a small box hanging on a rack and the cost is about $3. I drape this small blanket over the top shelf and attach it with clothes pins to cover down to the next shelf. I don't use any lights on the top shelf, and because heat rises, the heat from the lights on the second shelf heat the area above that shelf. The blanket holds the heat in and the tray with the dome cover holds the moisture in the tray. At the first sign of germination, I remove the dome and move the tray down under the lights and drop the lights down until they almost touch the plants. I grow in a building that is well insulated and will only add heat if the outside temp is below freezing. The lights create some heat, but I intentional grow tomatoes on a cooler shelf. Peppers, on the other hand, need to be on one of the open shelves that has a light under it as they will benefit from the extra heat that rises from that light. I also have my light fixtures plugged into surge protectors so that I can control all of the lights by just flipping a switch rather than plugging and unplugging cords. The sports blankets that I use look a little like aluminum foil, but are soft and almost transparent. When I first start the plants I use another blanket to wrap around the shelves because the silver color tends to reflect more light onto the plants (I think). Sometimes I remove it from the lower shelves and some years I just add a small fan to make sure there is some air movement on the plants. Later in the season, I remove it because I don't want the plants to be too hot, but I leave the top part covered and continue to use it as a germination chamber. I am attaching a picture, but the light wasn't on in the room when I took the picture so you have to look closely to see the top shelf which has no lights. I have watered from the bottom, from the top, and misted and I never have had damping off, so I can't say which is best. I would never mist if I wasn't running a fan though. Here is a link that might be useful: My shelf

Congratulations! 33 of partnership is something to celebrate! SecSteve...you've surprised the socks off of me. I read postings and I get an "idea" of how I think people look. Well, dear heart, from your posts that I've read I had you envisioned as an early 30s, geeky-type, and very cosmopolitan, just past the skateboarding phase. LOL! At least I did get the "very handsome and dapper" part correct; I'll just have to adjust the age to "late 30s!" Do post more photos, and again, congratulations!

Sorry didn't seem the last post had any pictures not sure what happened. So far just ortho weed b gone CCO and Bayer weed killer. Again KBG near Detroit, full sun. Not much water as yet just rain. No fertilizer yet since I was waiting for which steps to take. Was going to topdressed and overseed but realized was too late already and topdressing seems not be necessary according to some of you. Hope pics come through. The first three or four are the front yard. The rest are the back(worse). The darker green patches you see from the distance shots are clover(or CC not sure the difference but they are spread out).

This particular store has certain areas that get really bad and then they straighten it out but another one will suffer. And yes they also have the problem of running out of inventory A couple of years ago the Women's clothes department was such a shambles that I sent corporate an email and they straightened it out but now it's the garden center. I'm just wondering if the people that used to work that area either were let go or hours cut or they just quit. You would think that they would make every effort to make the store nice and to please customers because of the stiff competition with Amazon but they just aren't making that effort, it's like now they are putting all their focus on online ordering and ordering for pickup, etc. - the old-fashioned customer that walks in and shops is now not being served. I also don't understand why Target's stores are always well stocked, clean and orderly, nothing out of place or miss-labeled or miss-priced. And when you even begin to look like you need help there is someone who flies out of the architecture to ask you if you need help. Why are they able to do that and Walmart can't?