Elaborate a little more on "sprouting and growing". How many leaves are on the seedlings? Are they true leaves? I have 12 heat mats, and I use them for both germinating and for keeping those seedlings warm after they have been removed from the dome and are under lights. I keep my seedlings on the heat until I feel that they are "safe" from damp off and are quite sturdy. I will gradually move from heat by "jimmying" the containers from the heat with scrap pieces of plug trays, keeping them closer to the light, but farther away from the heat, until they are no longer getting bottom heat. With Impatiens, I wait just a bit longer than others, because I have found they are quick to damp off if heat is taken away too soo,and I also have a room that is about 62 degrees. Once your seedlings are "growing on", this room will be ideal for you to grow your plants.

I have found geraniums to be quite tough and dont damp off for me. Is it possible for you to jimmy yours up a bit? I have even used pie pans upside down on the flat that is on the heat mat for jimmying up, anything will work. Do you keep your seedlings almost touching the lights? I dont know if the lights keep the seedlings warm, but I feel that they help keep them dry.

My heat mats wont get turned off until, oh, May!

Well, the stuff on my heat mat will get removed just as soon as I see germination, because I only have one mat, only have room for one mat, and have waaay more things that want the heat mat to germinate than will fit on one mat. That's probably the wrong thing to do, but it's what I'm *going* to do.

Do most people use the heat mat thermostat? Do you think I need one? I think I cooked my lettuce during germination as not too many came up.

Thanks!

My heat mats dont have a thermostat. I have found that putting the flat right on top of the heat mat, with the dome on, will give a temperature of right around 80 degrees. I dont like my seeds at that high of a temp, so I will set my flat kinda catty corner, resting on the sides of the plastic container that the flat sits in. This brings the temp down to about 72 degrees. When my seed trays are out of the dome, I dont put them directly on the flat that sits on the mat, I will raise them up a bit like I mentioned before. Also, if you are using those flats that come with the heat mat, they are a bit too deep for putting newly germinated seedlings under lights. I have found that they can be as much as 4 inches too far from the light. So, I cut some flats down so that my seed trays sit in them perfectly distanced from the lights. The greenhouse that I worked at, we had flats for germination trays, that are made this size.

The procedure I've used successfully for many years is to use my heat mat for about 3-4 days, then remove (for the next flat!) even if seeds aren't sprouting. I remove the grow dome when they've started to sprout . If you have them close to lights I think it helps keep them dry enough to avoid damping off. I think low 60's is fine for seedlings; in fact coolish temperatures are supposed to be best.

BTW, a waterproof heating pad makes a great heat mat, and you can adjust the temp...

Thanks for the help. I have other seeds I want to start, so I'll go ahead and move the heat mat. They don't have their true leaves yet, but they do look sturdy. I'll try jimmying them up awy from the heat and closer to the light. If I encounter problems, I'll post again :) Thanks