My propagator heat mat died mid-winter and killed 40 cuttings

I had a whole tray of succulent cuttings rooting on a heat mat in my basement, and last week the mat just stopped working... no lights, no heat, nothing. By the time I noticed, maybe 3 days later, the soil had dropped to 58 degrees and most of the echeveria leaves had rotted. I'm going to replace it with a different brand this time, maybe the Vivosun one with a thermostat probe. Anyone else had a heat mat fail on them like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

morgan.logan10d ago

Oh man that sucks, sorry about your cuttings lol. I actually think the heat mat dying might not be the whole issue though - 58 degrees isnt that cold for succulents, they can handle way lower than that if theyre dry. My guess is the lack of airflow and too-wet soil did the real damage, not the temp drop itself.

john_cooper9d ago

Not so sure I agree with you there. 58 degrees with wet soil and no air movement is a recipe for rot on a lot of succulents, especially if they're young cuttings that haven't rooted yet. I've had echeveria pups rot out on me at 65 degrees in stagnant air with damp dirt, so I think the temp drop just made things worse faster. The rot was already starting before the heat mat died, the cold just finished them off.