Does anyone here use these to warm your citrus containers in the wintertime?

I've been using mine for the last week with good results. I've noticed it warms my plastic containers way better than it does the clay. For obvious reasons.

I think we just got our first freeze last night. My basement where everything is gets pretty chilly at night. Should I leave the mats on all night? Will it make them too toasty?

I can't control how warm the mat gets. My plants haven't gone over 85f.

-Linda

What does it look like? I am not familiar with that. Can you post a picture?
Is it expensive?
Can you install a thermostat to control the tempt?

This is what it looks like. It cost 80$. I wish I would have researched this better and gotten one that I can control the temp.



No i can't install thermostat to it, but do check the temps every few hours.

Benney's correct, just purchase a thermostat and run the heat mat thrurgh a thermostat instead of the mat being plug directly into the outlet.

Ohh, I didn't know until now that i could do that.

Thanks guys!

-Linda

Well,
I also do not own a thermostat, I use a simple clock-switch. I measured the temperature in the pot, and switched the mat on... I controlled how long it took till the temperature inside the pot was 77° F. I switched off and measured the time till the temperature was down to 68° F.
Now I programmed the clock-switch in the times, for heating up as setting on, and of for the time to let it cool down.
So my mats switch on and off in regular time sheduls, bringing the temps up and letting it sink down in the desired temperature range.

That's cheap and easy....

I've take a different approach that seems to be working-- I block the sunlight with a shade cloth, but leave the plants out in the cold. They has been out in the 40's several nights over the past few weeks and they don't even wilt in the mornings when the sun first hits the shade cloth. I don't know what the shade factor is, but I would guess it is in the range of 50 to 60%.

I do plan to put the plants inside my shop if the predicted temps fall to freezing-- I will probably even put most of my key limes inside at temps in the upper 30s, but I may leave 1or2 out to test the limits.

Shading the foliage does work, however by growing cold and shaded, the trees lose 4-6 months of possible growth.

They are still getting at least 30% light which is near the photosynthetic maximum-- the difference is with the shade cloth they get the light in very small spots--that move fairly quickly-- so the sun never heats the leaf to the point of damage. The mid day temps are still reaching the 70s, 60s even on the cool days, so for at least part of the day, even the roots are warm enough to support growth. Bottom line is most of these seedling are still actively growing.

The trick is simple:
Temperature, especially in the root ball has to be in balance with the light reaching the leaf surface.
If one thing gets out of balance, there will be effects, usually leaf drop, severe symptomes are fruit drop and sometimes root and twig damage.

So, if it's cold, the sun can be even powerfull. So cold winter times will prevent heat up of the rootball, so like a cold battery the potting ground keeps the roots cold, so sunlight can't be handled by the plant.
So what can we do?

Sure, heating the roots to ensure plant activity and proper growth.. or:
Simple: Shading the plants, to ensure less sunlight reaching the leaf surface and keeping the plants at rest. Simple, but a trick known by many orangerie gardners in the past. And many orangeries were in winter not bright and sun flooded rooms, no they were dark, sometimes so dark, that gardners had so take a lamp with 'em, to see were they have to place the next step!