I have two 72-cell hydrofarm mini greenhouses with heating mats, they're hooked up to a thermostat that keeps the temperature at 84-86 degrees. I've had very good results for the most part, but I've noticed a pattern with both of them...the seedlings in the middle don't seem to germinate very well, while the ones all around the perimeter are doing very well. I'm not sure why...the middle seems to dry out a little more quickly, but I've been spraying it frequently keeping it moist. I thought maybe the middle was getting too hot because it was drying out faster, so I moved the probe to the middle and it has stayed at 84-86 degrees, if anything the outside would be less than ideal temperature if it's a little lower, yet I'm getting the same results...the outside perimeter is thriving, the inside is struggling. Has anyone had similar results?
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greenhouse for those using domed mini-greenhouses with heating mats
- Thread starter Avon Barksdale
- Start date
Where are these located? Maybe you need a more insulated area for the heat to stabilize.
another question...in one of the domes I've recently noticed a green color mostly on the perlite in 7 or 8 of the cells...I'm worried that this might be a fungus and wondering what I should do about it. Not a lot of germination going on in these cells with the green color also which has me a little worried. I've been pretty careful to wash my hands thoroughly before tinkering with anything but it looks like I may have contaminated it. I'm using promix so it should be sterile.
They're on a rack about 4 feet high in my closet sitting on a strip of carpet.
The temperature is pretty stable, they stay at 84-86 degrees consistently, the only time they're really outside of that range is when I take the dome off to mess with them.
I've used those Jiffy-7 setups at lot in the past.
The middle of the heating mat gets a whole lot warmer than the outer perimeters of the mat.
Because of this fact, I wouldn't put my seedling pots in the center portion of the mat, just because I wasn't getting good germination rates there.
That green stuff is algae. It probably doesn't do much harm, but is a little unsightly.
dvg
The middle of the heating mat gets a whole lot warmer than the outer perimeters of the mat.
Because of this fact, I wouldn't put my seedling pots in the center portion of the mat, just because I wasn't getting good germination rates there.
That green stuff is algae. It probably doesn't do much harm, but is a little unsightly.
dvg
With the green stuff it doesn't do much harm. It just happens because of the water and light. It will happen wether you have perlite, rockwool or jiffy pellets (seems to take a bit longer with the last one). I have read somewhere that you can sprinkle cinnamon on your substrate and it will stop that as well as damping off. I tried it at the beginning of this season but it was already halfway through germinating and already had algae so can't say if it works, but hey might as well give it a try, at least it smells nice 
Thanks guys, good to know that the green stuff is benign, I was getting a little worried. 