Topic: Hotbeds

[jammyd]

Hi all, I've been looking in my various lottie gardening books, trying to find information on making a hotbed using horse manure for my plot, but it doesn't seem to be a popular practice, and is not covered in my books  ???

Can anyone tell me about hotbeds - the pro's and con's; how long the heat lasts; how big it needs to be; what grows best on them, etc... or alternatively, post a link to a website that might help?

Would be most grateful  ;D  ;D

ta,
jams

[Mrs Ava]

oooo oooooooo seen this in one of my books - will look and post again shorly, gotta get the sprogs out of the bath  :-\

[gavin]

Somewhere recently I read an article about them, but I can't lay my hands on it ----- I'll dig around for it though.

From memory, it was just like building a compost bin, similar (minimum) size, built with manure with a few inches of soil on top, for anything that emjoys warmth (especially pumpkins/squashes.  And the manure rots down - great compost for the next season.

I'll dig around though - All best, Gavin

[Mrs Ava]

Okay, my book says as follows:

1. Drive 4 stakes into the soil, one in each corner
2. Dig out the top soil and pile up along the side
3. Spread 2 barrow loads of fresh, strawy stable manure over the bottom
4. Place 3 old house bricks in a pile in the centre, the middle brick at right angles to the other 2, this helps to keep some air in the centre of the hot bed
5.  Add 2 or 3 more barrow loads of manure on top to bring the height to over 4 foot
6. leave the bed for 5 days to warm up and sink
7. nail 4 boards (plywood offucts) each 1 foot wide to the posts with the tops of the boards level with the top of the bed
8. Pile some of the top soil on to the top of the manure
9. Three days later when the bed has sunk, shovel the rest of the soil on and level off.
10.  Plant up 2 days later.

Hope this helps.

[kenkew]

I made one last January. A sqmetre box a metre high with a glass/plastic lid. Mine is a lid from a throw out double glazed window. (Ideal Compost bin size) 3/4 full of manure topped off with soil. 3 weeks later I added soil to the top. This all settled down to leav a space about 18" from the top. What you do with it then is up to you, but it gives you a very early crop of lettuce, radish, carrots etc. Can also be used later for melons etc and even a good crop of mushrooms. Can be used all year round really. At seasons end chuck it all on the garden and start again.

[jammyd]

many thanks all - You lot are a hotbed of information  ;)

sorry, couldn't resist the pun!
Will let you know how it goes if I get round to it!

j

[jethro]

And here's me looking at this title and thinking this should be in the watershed thread  ;D , ah well back to dreaming and wishing  ::)

[Hugh_Jones]

Jethro, when you see a title such as `hotbeds`, and then EJ is the first to reply, from under her duvet, you do begin to wonder

[jethro]

Hi Hugh, at my age I can only think about them but do nothing about it, ah well the joys of getting old, and being married of course  ;D ;)

[kenkew]

I'm trying to focus in on what EJ's message is. Is she doing a John Lennon protest lie-in?

[Hugh_Jones]

Who cares what EJ`s message is? At least it`s easier on the eye (and the cerebral functions) than an everlasting black and white Catherine Wheel!

[kenkew]

Eh! That's my new wormery you're picking on! :P

[Hugh_Jones]

Well, tell it to stand still then, it`s making me dizzy

[kenkew]

To mere mortals it's static. It only appears to move through the eye of the 'Gods.'