I have been searching around the web for some inexpensive DIY bottom heating ideas and came across a few that used clear rope style Christmas lights.  Any thoughts on whether bottom heating improves rooting success rate.  I won't be trying it until probably February but the lights will be available in stores soon and I was thinking about picking up a few strings.

Bass may chime in as he may still use bottom heat.

I used a heating pad for rooting last winter, it was underneath a clear box with cups with cuttings.
It worked quite well and the figs grew faster. You also want to have a thermometer to measure the temp inside, otherwise you can cook your babies..
Something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WTH3NQ/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MT10006--19-1-2-Inch-Seedling/dp/B0001WV010/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1382137732&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=heating+pad+seedlings

I use bottom heat for rooting cuttings, the heating mats I have don't have control but adding heat will help improve speed of rooting, if you have a place you root where the temperature is warm enough then they isn't much need for it.

I have cuttings all over the place and the ones I have in the basement I am using a heating pad like the one greenfig linked to on amazon. I think it helps, I need to move some that I just started from a different place to see if it really does speed things along.

What temperature do y'all try for when rooting?

Bill,
Bottom heat doesn't work as well as getting the ambient temperature up to 72 - 80 deg F.
For rooting experiments, I devised a simple rooting cabinet, place a small personal heater ($15.00) in the bottom of a utility cabinet, set to maintain 75 deg F and get root formation within 4 weeks without Rooting hormone, less when a liquid Rooting Hormone is used.
Here are two linked posts with results with maintaining ambient heat, from a topic on rooting with hormone, post #57 and post #61.
BTW I read a Web post on the Christmas lights, tried it, it works. I also added a thermostat which I had on hand to control the temperature.

Meghan,
The best temperature for rooting fig cuttings is between 72 - 80 deg F.

Thank you Pete!  The temps are dropping a bit and I was wondering if I should warm them. 

Make sure the Christmas lights are not the new LED type. They don't get the warm.

Like all other best way to do things, it depends   :)

In my house the thermostat is set to 72 and the temp is 65.  Bread dough doesn't rise well and fig rooting is improved with heat.  I use bottom heat and cover the cuttings with towels and blankets.  I water with warm water.  I have a remote thermometer on top of the cuttings and the bottom heat is controlled with a thermostat.  If some leaf out I let their tops stick out and shine 100W equivalent CFLs on them.  The lights are on a timer and another timer turns the room heater on when the lights go off.

For bottom heat I use the floor vent. I have all my cuttings in cups inside a large clear plastic tote sitting 1" above the vent. I put a towel along the bottom of the tote to trap the warm air. The temps stay in the mid to high 20's Celsius and the tote keeps the humidity high. Works very well for me.

Thanks for all the great info.  I definitely am going to give bottom heating a try this winter.  I will include some way of monitoring the soil temperature to make sure I don't cook them. Thanks again. 

RC, several things one can do for bread dough is put it covered with towels in oven with oven light on and door closed of course .
Also after dishwasher has been run some put inside as well.

Making bread with own culture will take much longer than regular yeast added bread - oh and so good !

As a note Bass once mentioned good results using bottom heat for scionwood in his greenhouse probably in cooler season its
somewhere in the deep depths of the forum.

Thanks, Martin.  Once I figured out why I was able to fix it.  When I'm letting the bread rise the oven is preheating the stone.  I use this unbelievably great method.  Texture and taste are great but it's very quick.

Watch this from 3:04 to 6:15

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=_L8zsDurc_I#t=183

I always start mine on a heat mat because I root them up in a cool basement.  It helps a lot in that scenario.  Keeping the soil warm seems pretty important to me, but I haven't done controlled experiments.

DallasFigs, if you're still looking for an Adriatic JH drop me an e-mail and I'll send one over to you.

Very nice information, thanks for sharing.

Best,
Tam

I never use bottom heat. I suppose it would help in cool places such as GregMartin describes. I just wrap my cuttings in damp (not soaking wet) newspaper, bag them, and stick the bag in a cabinet. My success rate is nearly 100%. When I see roots, I pot them up.

Bottom heat does work very well. I have a heat mat and a digital temp control. When the temp reach 73 degrees, the thermostat keeps the mat at that temps, The mat plugs into the thermostat and the thermostat plugs into the AC outlet. I would not use a heat mat without a temp control. And my mat has a metal wire mesh that keep the pots from directly touching the mat. Sorry but it does work quite well.

I bought these two about 3 weeks ago, and so far they seem to be working.

Nice set up Luke! What part of England are you located?

Dennis, no need to apologize. I agree with you and you are absolutely correct, it does work quite well. :)

I used to root in cups using an aquarium, a heat mat, and a grow light years back but my set up could only accommodate a limited number of cups. Not only that, I was experiencing problems with moisture control, fungal growth, and gnats. My cups were falling over and I got tired of reaching in and fiddling with them. My wife did not support the set up due to a number of issues as well. LOL!

I find that I can root more cuttings using the bag method and they're neatly tucked away in a small tub, out of the way, doing their own thing. I have more control over them and they're isolated so that if one or more get sick, the others are quarantined. 
(just the doctor in me).

[QUOTE=leon_edmond]Nice set up Luke! What part of England are you located?

Dennis, no need to apologize. I agree with you and you are absolutely correct, it does work quite well. :)

I used to root in cups using an aquarium, a heat mat, and a grow light years back but my set up could only accommodate a limited number of cups. Not only that, I was experiencing problems with moisture control, fungal growth, and gnats. My cups were falling over and I got tired of reaching in and fiddling with them. My wife did not support the set up due to a number of issues as well. LOL!

I find that I can root more cuttings using the bag method and they're neatly tucked away in a small tub, out of the way, doing their own thing. I have more control over them and they're isolated so that if one or more get sick, the others are quarantined. 
(just the doctor in me).[/QUOTE]

I live in Leicester, in the midlands.
One of the reason I bought the heat mat is so I could tuck it away in the spare room. And the heatings is not on all day so it gives it a bit of extra heat.

Luke.  It looks like a very nice set up.  Thanks for the photos.  There is a coffee (or tea) cup in the corner of your last photo.  Do you keep a cup of water in the plastic container to increase the humidity?

[QUOTE=lifigs]Luke.  It looks like a very nice set up.  Thanks for the photos.  There is a coffee (or tea) cup in the corner of your last photo.  Do you keep a cup of water in the plastic container to increase the humidity?
[/QUOTE]

That was the idea, not sure if it's making any difference.

Put them in your Beemer and turn on the electric seats? Just feeling the need to be a bit sassy this afternoon.

RC lol thats the yeast bread to easy peasy.   ; )

It is easy and very cheap to use lightbulbs and a $8 hot water tank heater thermostat to make a rooting cabinet.  The accuracy is +/- 1 degree and fully adjustable to what temperature you want to hold.    

I use bottom heat using heat mats. They stay about 10 degrees warmer than the ambient  temperatures. I get about 90% take.

After years of dreaming and planning, I finally built a greenhouse last winter.  I also created a mist table.  It mists for about 5 seconds every 5 minutes.  Cuttings are in a bed of perlite with a heat cable keeping the perlite warm.  My cutting success is over 90% like this and the cuttings grow FAST!  Bottom heat is just one of the factors here but I believe it to be a significant one.

Kyle