Reptile heat mat a winner for growing plants early

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Dave Brown
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Reptile heat mat a winner for growing plants early

Post by Dave Brown »

I bought a Reptile heat mat to start plants off early in my conservatory. These seem to be a lot cheaper than Plant marketed heat mats. Ebay Item: 250495285994
2011-02-02 15-55-40 Heat mat.jpg
I bought the longest one they did as it is almost as long as my conservatory shelf.
2011-02-08 19-16-38 conservatory shelf.jpg
This was covered with spare polystyrene ceiling tiles
2011-02-08 19-26-46 Conshelf with poly tiles.jpg
Then covered with a space survival blanket
2011-02-08 19-28-36 conshelf space blanket.jpg
Then the heat mat was laid across the top.
2011-02-08 19-30-46 conshelf heat mat.jpg
Finally on top I placed aluminium plant trays with the plants.
2011-02-08 20-03-34 Conshelf planted up.jpg
I also ordered 2 x Aquarium Max/Min Thermometers. Ebay Item: 280486816259 These have a waterproof probe on a wire. The probe of one has been inserted into a pot about 5 cm below the surface to monitor temps. The other will be used to monitor 30cm soil temps outside.
2011-02-08 22-52-08.Aquarium thermometer.jpg
I really did not know what to expect but temps of the compost are about 6C warmer than minimum air temp at night, and so far the temps have ranged from 17.6C to 22.6C. The Colocasia and Musa zebrina are responding well so far. :wink:
Best regards
Dave
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musa_monkey

Re: Reptile heat mat a winner for growing plants early

Post by musa_monkey »

These are great, i have a couple i use in trays to kick pups and cuttings into life and keep the few very tender plants i have ticking over. The good thing is the wattage is very low (i think mine are circa 30w) so they are cheap to run.
derrick

Re: Reptile heat mat a winner for growing plants early

Post by derrick »

I have some old heat mats in the loft and some Reptile thermostats .Heat mats are ok placed underneath as long they dont get wet . I had a large Python that had shocks from piffing on a mat .Thats a great idea for plants .
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Dave Brown
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Re: Reptile heat mat a winner for growing plants early

Post by Dave Brown »

derrick wrote:I have some old heat mats in the loft and some Reptile thermostats .Heat mats are ok placed underneath as long they dont get wet . I had a large Python that had shocks from piffing on a mat .Thats a great idea for plants .
They are laminated so can take some wet, but not immersed. :wink:
Best regards
Dave
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Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
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