Hydrofarm Jump Start Waterproof Seedling Heat Mat – 20 Inch X 48 Inch

If you like to begin your garden indoors in late winter, low temperatures can sometimes make germinating seeds difficult. You could keep the heat cranked up, of course, but why not just raise the soil temperature in your seed flats and begin the garden of your dreams right in the basement or on the kitchen counter? Let the seedling mat do the work for you.

This waterproof mat fits neatly beneath 4 standard-size seed flats, raising the temperature of the soil anywhere from 10 to 20 degrees above that of the surrounding air. You can’t get much use from it in a zero-degree room, but if you’ve got a chilly basement or mudroom just perfect for starting seeds, plug in this mat and off you go.

There is no need to use a thermostat with this mat, though if you want to measure the exact soil temperature (for those hard-to-start seeds), we’ve got a nifty little thermostat to do the trick. And the mat includes helpful hints printed right on it, so you never need to root around for gardening books when facing a new seed-starting challenge.

This is the largest size of seedling heat mats, measuring 20 x 48 inches and holding 4 standard-size seed flats. If you want a smaller size, consider the 2-flat (20 x 20 inch) or single-flat (9 x 19.5 inch) models.