Silly heating pad mistake

Over the last two years, I have been starting all of my seeds on my heating pad. This is the type that does not have a thermometer, but probably raises the soil temperature ten degrees or less. I have attributed the fast germination of many of my seeds to this heating pad. My pad is a large one that will hold four flats.

As I get towards the end of my seed starting time, I have fewer plants that need to be put on the pad. Like last year, I end up folding up the pad in order to make the other spaces available. Unlike last year though, this year, I have decided to start some seed later. The late starts are still on the heating pad.

What I didn't realize until today, when I was trying to figure out why the plants were drying out so quickly, was that they were on four folded layers of the heating pad. While I don't know what the temperature increase was, I am fairly sure that it was hotter than it should have been. Nothing germinated - including some zinnias.

Now that I realize and corrected my error, I am expecting much better germination.

aww, sorry to hear that penne,. I dont personally own a heat mat, I just keep a black trash bag in a sunny location and set the seed tray on it. I move the seed tray out of the sunlight daily, so I dont 'burn' them, but the bag gets warm enough that it keeps the soil temp slightly elevated when the seed tray is on it. It probably has absolutely nothing to do with my seed germination, lol, but it just makes me feel better to do it.

I like the idea of a black bag. I sometimes use a piece of slate. That warms up nicely. Penne, I am sorry nothing germinated. You would really expect that.