Heat mat died mid-winter, my basil crop learned to swim
Last Tuesday I walked into my grow room and the whole place smelled like a wet dog that rolled in leftover soup. My $25 heat mat from Amazon finally gave up after 14 months of running nonstop under the pepper trays, and the ambient temp in my basement dropped to 58 degrees overnight. The basil I had going for 6 weeks turned yellow and mushy, like it was trying to become seaweed instead of pesto. I panicked and rigged up a spare GPU mining rig I keep for the winter herbs, pointing the exhaust fan right at the seedlings. Three days later the basil is standing back up, but now my electric bill is going to be a fun surprise next month. My question is, has anyone else had a heat source die in the middle of a grow cycle, and what did you rig up as a backup that wasn't a total fire hazard?