Although I am living in Spain, right now IT DOES get chilly very early in the morning, at times down to 7C (45F) for a few hours or so. Noon again goes up to 18/19/20C (68F) again.
I am growing in a greenhouse on the balcony and now I am considering some way to heat the green house, at least in those hours where it's coldest. (I am sure that those low temps are not exactly 'benefitting' my grows).
An electric space heater etc. is out of the question since it uses too much electricity besides it would be very ineffective since the GH is vented well and basically it's just a plastic cover, I'd literally blow money out the window.
So I am looking into heat mats and I found some types which look rather good to me.
Those are 120cmx60cm which would be just enough for my current growing area. They say the mat comes with a thermostat and the mat can get as warm to 40C (104 F) and they're advertised "for seedlings".
My question is whether someone has experience with such heating mats?
My greenhouse sits directly on the balcony's stone floor. Here also my thoughts that SHOULD I get such a mat, should I place the mat directly on the floor so the mat would then also heat-up the stone floor....or insulate the floor with some foam first and then place the mat over it, so that the warmth of the mat directly goes to the plants? (The pots are sitting on the floor, I dont use any shelves or anything) Any idea what solution would be better should I get such a heating mat?
I am growing in a greenhouse on the balcony and now I am considering some way to heat the green house, at least in those hours where it's coldest. (I am sure that those low temps are not exactly 'benefitting' my grows).
An electric space heater etc. is out of the question since it uses too much electricity besides it would be very ineffective since the GH is vented well and basically it's just a plastic cover, I'd literally blow money out the window.
So I am looking into heat mats and I found some types which look rather good to me.
Those are 120cmx60cm which would be just enough for my current growing area. They say the mat comes with a thermostat and the mat can get as warm to 40C (104 F) and they're advertised "for seedlings".
My question is whether someone has experience with such heating mats?
My greenhouse sits directly on the balcony's stone floor. Here also my thoughts that SHOULD I get such a mat, should I place the mat directly on the floor so the mat would then also heat-up the stone floor....or insulate the floor with some foam first and then place the mat over it, so that the warmth of the mat directly goes to the plants? (The pots are sitting on the floor, I dont use any shelves or anything) Any idea what solution would be better should I get such a heating mat?
