Heating Pads for Flasks

[Afid]

I have a bunch of flasks of Phal. manii, but it is proving to be expensive to keep the room they are in heated all the time, so I have been thinking about getting a heating pad (like those used for reptiles and stuff) to keep them warm. However, I am concerned that the pad might either not provide enough heat or "cook" the seedlings in the flasks. Has anyone tried this before? I'd love to hear any input or advice you have! Thanks in advance.

[Orchidtinkerer]

use a reptile thermostat that monitors and regulates the right temperature. They cost as much as a mat but worth not cooking the plants.

keep something between the seedlings and the plants, don't place seedlings directly over the mat, I have mine sitting in a plastic tub with the mat underneath it, slightly raised to stop heat building up too much. Heat rises but also dries so the tub keeps humidity a bit higher around them. Works fine but do get a thermometer and humidity reader, you will struggle without.

although I would not keep any seedlings too cool, mannii can tolerate temps down to 55F so not particularly cold sensitive. One of the reasons I have it at mine so how cold does it get at yours?

[Fairorchids]

Basic seedling pads raise the temperature 10-15 degrees over ambient. I use several (the cheapest I could find) in the greenhouse. Over the years, I have used them for Cattleya, Paphiopedilum, Vandas and most recently, Cymbidium.

If you are concerned about 'cooking' the seedlings, place them in bins with a couple of inches of water in the bottom. You can find my instructions on how to do this setup here:

Fair Orchids

Download the file named 'FO, growing orchid seedlings from flask'

You can use the same bins prior to deflasking.

[SouthPark]

Also if needed - think of ways to cover for system failure. So if the heating system stops working due to power outage or component failure, then have safeguards - that might start up a backup system, or sends out a text message warning to a mobile phone etc.