Hey there, thanks for subscribing to the Beginners Garden podcast. I know I don't normally show up

in your podcast feed on Fridays. Every Tuesday, I have a full-length podcast episode, but over the last

three-plus years of doing this podcast and blogging on gardening, I start getting more and more

questions that could be answered pretty quickly

and don't necessarily need a full length podcast episode. So I've decided to start publishing Friday

quick Q&As. That way I can pick a question that someone's asked that I feel like other people

probably were wondering the same

thing, and answer them to the best of my ability and then help you get on with your day.

These questions may come from emails that people have sent me or questions posted in the

Beginners Garden Shortcut Facebook group or any other ways. And for today's question, I thought it would be a really good time of year to answer this question

that Jomey sent me a few weeks ago.

And she asked, do you use grow mats and a grow light?

What she means by grow mats is the seedling heat mat and that's what I'm going to talk about more today.

Because if you've listened to my podcast episodes, you know that I highly recommend growlites.

I've used two different kinds, the LED growlites I used for years, and then last year was my first year using T5 fluorescent bulbs.

Both work well for me.

I do prefer the fluorescents just because they have

given me better growth, but the LEDs were a little bit less expensive. The point is, if you're

going to start seeds indoors, you need a grow light of some sort. So definitely, yes, I use grow lights.

But let's go back to the grow mat question, And that is a seedling heat mat. This is an

electric mat that you put underneath where you are growing your seeds. So underneath your seed

starting trays or your cups or whatever you use. And the point is that that heat through that mat,

...