SEED STARTING BASICS: Heat Mats, Lights, and More!

Today we continue our discussion of seed starting basics for backyard gardeners who want to grow their own vegetable transplants. In this video we'll be discussing heat mats, also known as germination mats. Is this a necessity or more of a luxury? We'll help you determine if you need a heat mat or not for your setup.

We'll also be discussing lighting for indoor seed starting and fertilizing your seedlings once they germinate. Click the links below to see more seed starting info on our website.

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[kennethwilliams]

Very knowledgeable person, I really enjoy listening to him at Lazy Dog Farms

[jamesconley]

I have always said that lazy Dog Farm is the best and I still say it

[wendyc.]

Thanks for making this so simple. There’s a young man (18) that works for the same restaurant where I work and I’ve known him for a number of years and he’s into gardening now. Last week he got a10x10 plot ready for spring and I have a feeling he’s going to make another. It’s been so much fun watching him grow up into a gardener

[sislertx]

My favorite thing...seed starting...wish i had more room for it..

[jtharp]

Great GREAT GREAT GREAT INFORMATIVE CONTENT 👍
WE are 56 & 58 an this is our 1st year we finally due to PRICES are making our own plants, plus we can GROW ALOT MORE .
BIG thanks
Mrs. Josette Tharp
Montgomery County , Texas 🙏🏻
God bless you & Brooklyn & the kiddos 🙏🏻

[beckyfarmer]

If you have a old vinyl mini blind works good for tagging your seeds.

[prmayner]

I like the perlite idea, I have plenty of that.

[leahness]

I'm zone 4 and chomping at the bit to get started.😁👍👍

[olsonlr]

I really like the idea of topping off the seeds with perlite.

[PatriotAcresinTexas]

I appreciate you explaining to us the temps required for starting certain seeds. I just took a seed starting Class and that wasn't made clear from what I remember. That would explain a lot of the mistakes or mishaps that occured. Your videos are very informative and are appreciated. Thank you!

[Waltzonthemoon]

I’m using Christmas lights, kind that uses bulbs that you change out, under a wire mesh table with trays on top. Cover with frost cloth, that does not touch lights or plants. doing good last two years. Christmas lights are left over from wedding decorations.

[DsHomeyGarden]

Great one. Thanks from Suwanee Ga. where it's always a great day to do something pertaining to growing ourselves and our food....

[jeffgibbs]

Great show.... I start my seeds under T5 florescent lights indoors, it does great for me but you do have to harden them off for sunlight.... But for people that are planting small gardens I would suggest that instead of up potting from small to larger indoors to go ahead and use the larger because you have to have enough lights for the larger anyway, their no point in having more plants than you can light up in the larger indoors... The less you repot the better so take 16oz cups and put one little pocket of seed starting mix where the seed is planted and let it root in potting soil on down in the cup... It cuts the work way down and the plants are healthier because their never transplanted until you plant outside.... This is for indoor use, I hope maybe it may help some people... But great show, keep up the good work...

[parkerray]

I have seen a comparison between cool weather crops started both on seed mats and without! All the crops like cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage germinated at a far higher rate and in half the time using a seed mat. I have always used seed mats for cool season crops with great success! I currently have four flats on mats set to 55 degrees and the plants love it!

[davidward]

Travis, I start seeds indoors and I also like to put a 1" thick foam insulating board under the heat mat. That way I'm keeping as much heat in the bottom of the seedling tray and not loosing heat out the bottom side of the mat (I use one of those kitchen chrome wire shelf units to hold my trays under LED grow lights). You can get the pink ridged foam boards in 2'x2' cut offs if you don't need a whole 4x8' sheet. Also I just mount my LED lights on the shelf above and use cut lengths of 2x4's to raise and lower my trays as needed (like the book method). It's a pretty simple way to do it.

[amilynnstapay]

Most excellent info, sir! Most excellent!
Peace on your doorstep!

[Saltwatercowboy]

Man Travis we've learned so much from you man so glad you went on your own with a new channel I LOVE your style and the way YOU do things on L.D.F. !!! Blessings brother... 🤙🇺🇸🇷🇺🙏

[joewilson]

I started 12 different kinds of peppers on the 24th I will finish today and start a few tomatoes to another good show

[vedaandchristyruiz]

I put some plastic over my pvc set up that held my shoplights and ran a heater it. I was so happy when my peppers germinated in 6 days. One day I will have a greenhouse and free up room I take over each Feb-April.

[markware]

It certainly did my heart good to watch you start a flat of seeds. I keep a piece of 1" rigid insulation under each mat to make sure the heat goes upward. I like to stick the heat mat probe into the middle of the seed tray. Just my version. Also, I use Saran wrap instead of the humidity domes. You can get some very serviceable full spectrum LED lights on Amazon. Somewhat complex topic with loads of contrary opinions but read the reviews and look for a Goldilocks unit, not too big, not too small, not too cheap, not too spendy. C'mon Spring.
Didn't you experiment years ago with building a germinating chamber using an old chest freezer? I might have dreamed it.