How to Use a Heat Mat to Start Seeds
Heat mats placed under seeding flats promote quicker germination of seeds, and healthier, stockier seedlings. They also help prevent damping off, which can kill an entire flat of seedlings seemingly overnight. Because potting mix in flats can be 5 degrees cooler than the air around it, and many seeds germinate most readily at higher-than- room temperatures, the heat mat provides a needed heat boost to the soil mix in the flats. You can buy heat mats with a thermostat built in, or you can purchase one separately, to monitor and control the heat generated by the mat. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Determine the optimal soil temperature range and light exposure for germination of the seeds in your seeding flat. This information will be listed on the seed packet.
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Place the heat mat on a level, flat, dry surface in an area that matches the seeds' germination light source requirements. (Some seeds need light to germinate; others only germinate in darkness.)
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Plug in the heat mat and set the thermostat temperature to a setting within the range required by the seeds.
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Place the seeding flat squarely on the mat. The mat should be large enough to accommodate a standard-size seeding flat, but if it isn't, situate the flat to allow as much contact as possible between the bottom of the seeding flat and the mat.
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Check the flat every day. When the seeds have sprouted and the seedlings have produced their first true seeds, the flats can be moved to another area to continue growing, and you can use the heat mat to germinate another flat planted with seeds.
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Tips & Warnings
A piece of foil insulation, foil side up, placed under the heating mat, will redirect even more of the heat generated by the mat into the soil in the flat.
Follow the heat mat manufacturer's instructions pertaining to watering the flat while it's on the mat.
