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Using lights or heating pads for seed germination?

I am starting some tomato seeds and the seed catalogs say to keep them at approx. 75 degrees to keep them warm enough to germinate. I have them under flourescent lights, but it wasn't keeping them warm enough so I put a heating pad under the seed tray as well. Is it okay to use both? Also, do I keep the lights on until the seeds germinate and then just 12-14 hours a day? I appreciate the help!

Public Comments

1. I'm not entirely sure on the subject but I work at a greenhouse and we have a small germinator which is heated with no extra lighting & using steam to keep the trays of plants moist.. I believe in the way we do it that the heat would be the more important part of the two. But I can't see using both light and heat hurting them. After our tomato plants "pop" we pull them out and they begin to grow with a normal days light cycle. So I would say do the 12-14hrs after you see them pop.
2. Tomato seeds don't need a lot of light to germinate, so don't worry about a lot of light until the true leaves appear. They can use plenty of light after that. A specific number of hours isn't really important. I just turn the light on when I get up in the morning and off at bedtime. Keep the light close enough so the plants don't get "leggy" from reaching toward it. If you are using a regular heating pad to speed germination, be careful that they aren't getting too hot.