Root Radiance Seedling Heat Mat Pad 48” x 20.75” for Plant Seed Starting, Indoor Germination Supplies Black, Large

I was tired of having germination problems, particularly with my peppers. Because of this I decided to purchase a heating mat this year to aid in the process. This looked like a great option which would allow me to heat 4 seed flats.The room I am using this year is a bit cold, running around 60 degrees. Previously I have used other areas in the home providing 73 degrees. I was not concerned about the temp difference, because I bought a heat mat and thermostat this year. Turns out the thermostat was overkill because this heat map is quite unlikely to over heat my plants. In fact it is struggling to bring them up by 10 degrees.I also purchased new T5 High Output lighting this year and those lights are doing more to heat my seed beds than the mat is. In fact I had to turn off half of the bulbs to keep the temperature down. Didn't realize I needed a thermostat for my lights. I am probably going to add some circulation to keep temps down once the seedlings emerge but for now temp is stabilized. In the mornings, the seed bed is just under 80 degrees which means the heat mat is unable to reach the 80 degree mark that the thermostat is set to. Perhaps I was expecting to much lift from this mat, but I am getting about 10 degrees.--------- Update 3/27/2014It has now been over a month, and all my seeds have sprouted. My tomato plants look better than they ever have. They easily look better than the commercial plants at Home Depot, that has never been the case before. They have thick trunks that are easily 1/4" in diameter and are at least as wide as they are tall, not leggy at all. My Basil is still small but is also doing very well. If you look through the pics you will see a couple of mine.I have been unable to create healthy pepper seedlings in the past, but now have 20 plants growing in 3 varieties. My bell peppers still did not sprout but those seeds were old, and likely not viable.I made a mistake and accidentally left the thermostat out of the growbox in the cold air of the room. I may have underestimated the heating mat, as the temperature inside the growbox became very warm, still over 90 deg after it had cooled for a bit. It very near cooked all my plants, but thankfully nearly all survived, it was only one night. I definitely recommend using a thremostat with the mat if you are also using HO grow lights. I raised my review to 4 stars.

I've been using a pair of these heat mats to start seedlings for seven years - for the price, I never expected them to last this long, but here we are going into year eight. I start around 80 vegetable plants from seed every year in 3" peat pots in open trays, and use these mats in combination with a grow light. Using these two mats is sufficient to keep all of the seedlings at the appropriate temperature IF you arrange them carefully. Put your seeds like eggplant, which like higher temps to germinate, in the center of the mats, and your cooler temp seeds at the edges of your trays, where the heat will radiate to give them a boost but not be as intense, and you're good to go. I have around 99% germination rates, and I have seeds that are a decade old (stored in the freezer) so they need ideal conditions to germinate. These mats do the trick.

UPDATE Autumn 2014: I was emailed a question by someone who wanted to buy this product and saw that I had given the favorable review below. Well...I've had to change my review significantly. The questions was: is this item UL rated/listed? After much research I found out much to my surprise that this little heat mat is NOT UL rated/listed. Not that I'm saying this is a total guarantee against a fire or something else, but it certainly is a great help. I've returned the heat mat and will be very careful from here on in to pay attention to UL ratings. I just assumed that all electrical products sold in the US were UL rated...not I know this is not so. I replaced it with the Hydrofarm MT10006 9" x 19-1/2" mat. All of my large mats are by Hydrofarm and I've used them for I guess about 4 years and have never had a problem. UL rating is right on the mat. I haven't had to use the 9 x 19-1/2 yet, but in a few weeks or so I will be doing so. I will rate it down the road, but I don't anticipate problems. I give all my other Hydrofarm products 5 stars.5/28/14 This little mat worked out great. We grow about 500 plants from seeds under grow lights. I have a number of the largest heat mats which are what I mainly use. Often, when everything has sprouted I decide I want to grow a few more things and hate to heat up the large mats just for a couple of small trays. I ordered this and it could not have worked out better. You may be someone who does not grow a tremendous amount and/or do not have the room or the need for a large mat so this will fit the bill. You really do need bottom heat to warm up the soil to get the majority of seed to sprout and at the least to speed up the germination time and this little mat will provide the consistent heat you need. I had a couple of seed that were tough to get to germinate and I have germinated thousands of seed. Those seed that were difficult I placed in a line on a paper towel which I wet down...not to the dripping stage...but wet...folded the paper towel up keeping the seed in place and placed in a sandwich bag and set the sandwich bag directly on this heat mat and finally....success/germination...and I didn't have to heat up one of my huge mats. This mat is made very well and I'm sure if you care for it properly that it will last for years. I don't see any reason that it wouldn't. If I had a reason I would buy it again or certainly give it as a gift. I highly recommend this heat mat.

Works fine.