Heat mats needed?

[TacticalSpeed]

Are heat mats really necessary when growing seedlings indoors? If so, is also having a thermostat for each mat overkill?

 

[Chuck]

For tomatoes and peppers heat mats are VERY important when growing seedlings. If you can KEEP your soil temperature between 70F-85F you will be successful. But if your soil temps vary much out of this range you won't. Below 65F it slows germination a lot and 95F+ will basically stop germination. Once the seeds have sprouted and before the first true leaves appear a steady temperature is also important. I grow approximately 1500 tomato and pepper plants every year and a thermostat is not necessary where I have my seed tables. If you keep your ambient temperature around a low of 65F you will not need a thermostat. The soil temps in my seed cells never get above 85F. This year the outside temps dropped to 17F and my soil temps dropped to 71F. You must have a good soil thermometer. Keep a couple of seed cells filled with soil and watered the same as your seeded cells and take temps from these. Sticking a thermometer probe into a seeded cell can destroy a plant embryo and a seedlings roots. My seed tables are on an enclosed patio and the only heat is from a little tower heater.

 

[Meadowlark]

Are heat mats really necessary when growing seedlings indoors? If so, is also having a thermostat for each mat overkill?

The heat maps I use are set at 80 deg F. Thermometer never needed.

Are they necessary? No, but...

If you are willing to accept lower germination rate (sometimes significantly lower and even zero) and willing to accept slower germination times sometimes extending the time by several days and willing to lose seedlings at a rate far higher than otherwise, then they are not necessary.

 

[pepper2.0]

Personally I've never used a heat mat, they didn't even exist back when my dad was gardening and he never had a problem sprouting his seeds. I just keep the room at a comfortable temp and don't let it sway much, never had a batch of seeds not germinate and grow to a decent size to plant in the garden.. maybe one or two seeds out of 40 sort of thing don't pop. Just my opinion but I think a lot of the over priced garden stuff they sell these days is not needed unless growing tropic stuff that shouldn't be growing in a particular climate.

 

[oneeye]

In a commercial greenhouse, we used heating mats for Tomato, peppers, and many others. We used a "1020 tray" that contains 100 cells per tray. Used a vacuum seeder and put them on heating mates under T5 fluorescent lights on tables inside a big greenhouse. The greenhouses stayed full of plant trays. We had a 98% successful germination rate.

On the other hand, I plant a lot of seeds and never use a mat today. I put my cups under a 4ft four bulb T8 shop light on a shelf and use a timer. I have 100% success if the seed is good. I need to keep the germination area warm for at least 12 hrs a day and the light does that. It's okay for the temps to drop during the night as long as you regain your daytime heat. These peppers love the heat from the lights. These will be going to an indoor garden for a month and grow into plants and then outdoors in a few months.