Steve:

I bought a mini hot house from Harbor Freight, and the mat is working fine. It is probably similar to what you saw at Lowe's. I don't remember what the shipping cost, but the item itself is $20.

http://www.harborfreight.com/

Somewhere else on gardenweb, someone mentioned buying a heating mat for a waterbed on ebay, which sounded like an interesting idea, too.

Unfortunately most of these specialty items cost a lot more than they are worth. :-(

Becky

Try a Google search using "propagation mat". There seem to be quite a few to choose from. You get what you pay for. Most are a laminate of thermal wire between rubber or some thermoresistant plastic. Delamination and water creeping inside and shorting the mat are issues you should consider.

I have a greenhouse, so I go for the large GE red rubber mat, which is good for 5 - 7 years of strong use. See Griffin Greenhouse Supplies for info. Not cheap.

Thanks guys, yeah Ive been googling for a while looking at these things online they all seem to be about the same. There are some that say they are extra thick for more even heating . I dont you know how you know if thats just a comeon to sell it. I wouldnt mind paying a little more if it was actually thicker and better

I don't know, I've always used heat cables.

I havent given up yet , tonight I checked around some more and menards here say they dont carry it. But the Meijer store say they carry it , it just hasnt come in yet. Untill then and I know Im going to get flack on this one. I have a heating pad around here that I have had around here since cvs was hooks, but its barely been used , its like new. I have already tested it out on low with a dial thermometer. Its the wetproof kind , but I still placed some thick plastic over it. Its not that big the pad measures about 12x15 but I have a taco salad container which fits on it just fine and I have started the rest of my b&b seeds which total 9. So we will see what happens.

Steve
I will be interested to hear how your heating pad works out LOL! So far I haven't used any type of bottom heat...only the sunlight from Ma Nature. I can't complain as I have had better than average results from my seeds.

Penny

Penny, the reason I went to this is I did a trial of one of the b&b seeds and its been over two wks and It hasnt popped yet. So I became a little desparate since I ony have the few seeds, but I will be advising on here if and when anything happens. Yes Im using surface sow and light technique.

Besides the GE mat from Griffin Greenhouse Supply, I've had good luck with the 110LW Propagation Mat (22in x 44in) from A. M. Leonard. These are around $98 right now. Anyone using a mat needs a soil thermostat. I've used a soil thermometer and a dimmer switch (be careful you choose the right one for your kind of load)

Here is a link that might be useful: 110LW Propagation Mat (22in x 44in)

Thanks Rich for the help and the links , I couldnt get in the system was down for maint. So should the soil then be kept at a certain temp when using heat. I put a thermometer on this heat pad before I used it and it went to around 100° dont know if thats good or bad but I have 3 of 9 to germ.

If I need bottom heat, I just put the plants on top of my fridge. I have 3 of them, one in the house and 2 in the garage. It works for me, but then it doesn't get as cold here as Indiana.

Good luck!

If there was heat on top of my fridge I would use it but there is none.

Sorry, I certainly didn't mean to offend anyone. It was just a suggestion that people often overlook!

lt,
I don't think you offended anyone.

I think that most people don't realize that there is some heat on top of the refrigerator. It may not be enough to notice to the touch but it may be enough to transfer just a bit to the pots. A lot of people use the top of their refrigerator and the top of the hot water tank to start seeds.

Penny

No offense, there just is no heat from the top of my fridge , there is a minute amount on top of my water heater, in the winter time , I think people consider that heat goes up so it would warmer in the room closer to the ceiling. When my computer is on though there is a great deal of heat coming from the cabinet of it through the shelf above so much so that I can put my had on top of the shelf and feel the heat, surprised me.

I've used a waterproof heating pad before - works fine. I left it on low.
Almost every 9" x 20" heat mat you see on line will be the Hydrofarm Seedling heat mat, so just compare prices. But honestly, the heating pad works fine.

hummersteve: Home Depot, Lowe's, etc., don't have the kinds of stuff we want. In my area (Temecula, CA) I've found things like heating mats at stores that specialize in hydroponics gardening.

I once rooted a rubber tree on top of the tv! my first propagation of my life. It worked great!