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Heating pad hunting

Posted on April 14th, 2006 – 11:51 AM
By Jaime Chismar

This past weekend I searched online and offline for the best deals in heating pads.

To my disappointment, there were no deals to be found.

Gone are the good old days of one-temperature-heats-all charred plastic heating pads. No, today the big box stores carry super foam, moist and dry heat pads with six different temperature settings and safety-first auto shut-off switches.

Great for a bad back, but not so great for starting seeds.

Time for a little Math 101:
The average heating pad is 12″ x 15″ and cost around twenty to twenty-five bucks. The CPPC (Cat-Proof Protection Chamber) is approximately 24″ x 48.” Each flat of seeds would need one heating pad, possibly one and a half.
Estimated heating pad cost: $40 - $60.

Then the boyfriend and I popped into Midwest Hydroponic and Homebrew. The space and the staff were anything but welcoming. However, there are advantages to being ignored.

After I located the hydroponics section, I was able to unpackage, and thus, fully inspect my mat options. Some were flat and thin as mylar. Others were thick and foamy. Depending on the brand, an 11″ x 24″ propagation cost around $30. The largest mat, the 22″ x 44″ Fast-Gro behemoth was $67.95.

I could pay less and struggle to outsmart the auto shut-off. Or I could pay a little more and line the entire floor of the CPPC with toasty goodness.

I walked to the counter with my new Fast-Gro bottom heating propagation mat in hand.

The cashier looked me up and down. “You know this is $67.95, right?”

I handed him my credit card. “Yeah, don’t remind me.”

Total heating pad cost: $72.37.

When I got home, I discovered that my new purchase was actually bigger than the CPPC. The actual product dimentions are more like 26″ x 48″ with a heating surface of 22″ x 44.” It took two people to lift up the CPPC and slide the mat underneath.

So much fuss for such little seeds!

This entry was posted on Friday, April 14th, 2006 at 11:51 am and is filed under Seed starting, Tools, gloves, rain barrels + more. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

9 Responses to "Heating pad hunting"

GardenGoddess says:

April 14th, 2006 at 3:03 pm

Hey, Garden Girl,
Next time you go hunting for growing goodies, hightale it to Google’s “Froogle” option and type in the name of the equipment you need. I found a mondo propogation mat there last year that was…heh heh…dirt cheap. It was on clearance at a pet store site. Froogle is a garden shopper’s good friend.

Greengirl says: Dirt cheap - I love it! Google maps, google images, I always forget about Froogle. Right after I read your entry, a coworker (and dog lover) stopped by my desk to recommend a pet heating pad, too. Now, I am kicking myself for not being more Froogle.

Preston says:

April 17th, 2006 at 8:54 am

I wish I would have given you advice before your purchase. One great trick is to put your seeds on top of the fridge where they will get bottom heat.

Maybe you can try this next year when you run out of room (we all become more ambitious year after year and run out of space.)

Greengirl says: That would be the perfect place — warm moist, and in a heavily trafficed area.

Unfortunately, our black cat, Mr. Puff, uses the top of the fridge as his personal kitchen observation deck. With a swift swipe of his paw, this mischief maker can send unwanted bags of potato chips and junkmail crashing to the floor.

I’d hate for my seedlings to suffer a simular fate.

Looks like a little feline dicipline could save me a lot of money!

Lorika says:

April 17th, 2006 at 9:06 am

I’m glad you found a heating mat, one thing I’m worried about though, is that for most plants, once they are up you should remove them from the heat. (Right?) It looks like though you are stuck with all your light space inside the CPPC, with a heating pad underneath. Perhaps you can move it over once some of the seeds germinate and you can have a light only side and a heat side?

I hope it all works out ok, starting the seeds is the most nerve wracking (and also fun) part to me. You never know what you’ll have sprouting, or if you’ll have anything - for days!

Greengirl says: Ah… So the heating pad is just for germination not for the whole duration… Drat! I just spent $72.37 for a week of heat. Thank you, Lorika : )

Lorika says:

April 17th, 2006 at 8:59 pm

Well, ya might want to double check my info, that’s what I do, and I’m PRETTY sure that’s what I’ve read is best to do, but I’m no expert.

GardenGoddess says:

April 19th, 2006 at 1:28 pm

In answer to the comments with Lorika, it’s true that some plants want to get off the heat once they pop out of the soil (cole crops come to mind…broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, etc). But some like to have their feet warm, and peppers & tomatoes fall into that group. As long as everything’s steril (so no worries with damping off), your babies will be happy in their warm nursery–and safe from the evil Mr. Puff!

LARRY says:

June 8th, 2006 at 4:41 am

I REALLY HATE TO BE A WET BLANKET [SORRY BOUT THAT PUN], BUT ARE YOU PEOPLE A LITTLE NUTTY, OR WHAT? JEEZE!! $67.95 OR WHATEVER THAT RIDICULOUS AMOUNT WAS,WOULD BUY EVERYTHING I NEED TO GROW MY GARDEN FOR 2 YEARS, PROVIDING MORE FOOD THAN I CAN POSSIBLY EAT. AND I BUY GREENHOUSE PLANTS! I STILL HAVE TOMATOES, HERBS AND PEPPERS FROM LAST YEAR. MAYBE YOU’RE GROWING COMMERCIALLY? THAT’S DIFFERENT. THEN YOU HAVE TO GET THOSE WIMPY THINGS TO GROW IN THE REAL WORLD, WHICH IS EVEN MORE TIME-CONSUMING. I MUST BE MISSING SOMETHING ??

Ames Tiedeman says:

July 16th, 2006 at 7:06 pm

I use a Cold Frame for my seedlings..I then move then to a Rion Greenhouse.

Ames Tiedeman says:

July 17th, 2006 at 9:01 pm

You should use a greenhouse. Check out Rion.

Ames Tiedeman says:

November 5th, 2006 at 7:06 am

The Friendly Robotics Robomower is the best lawn mower in the world. The RL 1000 and RL 850 are the two models of robotic lawn mowers that they manufacture. Check them out. They will change your life. You will no longer have to mow your own lawn or pay someone to do so for you. You can actually program the RL 1000 to mow your lawn at a specific time on a specific day. This product is revolutionary!

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