First Time Using the Heat Mat

[Wild Orchid]

Hello Everyone,
So I got my first heat mat and placed some vulnerable Phals in recovery on it.

I have a few questions and would appreciate any tips for improvement.

-The T around the mat is 26C. (The first day it went up to 29C, so I'm not sure why it's not as high now. Is it affected by the apartment T, which is around 23-25 for most of the days?)

-I don't have any thermometers to check the T inside. Is that a problem? Laugh at me if you wish, I even tried a meat thermometer - didn't work. Oh, well. The recommended on Amazon gismo (thermostat) for $40 has a number of bad reviews, so I decided against it.)

-How long do you think I should leave the plants on?
I tried to introduce them gradually, say, 4 hrs per day, now increased to about 6 hrs.

-What about freshly watered vs. not as wet plants? Would being wet dramaticly change the T?

-And of course, I noticed the humidity drop - from 50% to 30% even though they sit immediately next to the tray with water. Is this a problem?

Like I've said, this is my first time. I saw other threads on heat mats but their set up is different. I don't have the terrarium or reflecting shelves, etc, etc. I work with with what I have.

Thanks for any tips, everyone.

Happy Friday!
Lilia

[Pilot]

Not sure in an answer all of your questions but here we go:

Looks like you're next to a window. If that's correct, temp and humidity will never be very constant. The heat going into the pot from the bottom is little effected by the temp around it. It you lift the plant up and feel the bottom is it warm or warm trending to hot? If its the latter then it's putting a bit too much heat out. I have fond that most mats will raise the temp 10 to 20 degrees higher but usually closer to 10. I have some phals that live on heat mats all the time and with no plans of removal. If you do not want to do this, keep the plants on there until you see the roots growing deep into the pot. I have found that roots that are located on the other side of the pot from a heating mat die probably to excessive heat but that also only happened because I let it get to hot AND dry.

Hope this helps. Oh and if you find you need more heat, put a towel under the mat as an insulation.

[Ray]

30 degrees C is no problem for a phalaenopsis.

If you're trying to get them established to to recover, I would leave the heat on 24/7.

[cbuchman]

I'm using seedling heat mats 24/7. I have a combination of arrangements. Some larger Phals are directly on the heat amt, but have to be watched closely as they fry out much faster; these are doing better than ever, 2 of the 3 are blooming/in spike. Some are on "egg crate" to raise them slightly above the heat mat which I am finding is not so effective in keeping the pots warm. A third set up is a small table top "greenhouse" that sits on the the mat. The GH set up works great for small pots and keeps the humidity high too. I also found it really helped to put the heat mat on some aluminum foil (or other similar material) to help reflect heat up - this was a suggestion I got from the OB!