Hot bed

**nick the grief** · 12-11-2006, 04:59 PM

Hi DDL,

It's not just horse muck but any sort. What you need is a good fresh supply with a mix of straw & muck & you stack it up & the heap will heat up as it starts to compost down. The bigger the stack the better as it will stay a more even temperature and if you can stack it in a wooden sided bin (that will help retain the heat.

Cap it off with about 9 inches of soil & then put a cold frame on the top & you can grow whatever you like in there. Good for an aerly crop of Radishes, short carrots ( idealy less than 9" long so they don't hit the muck & start to fang) Lettuce - the world is your oyster.

If you have the luxury of some strawbs in pots (7" clay pots would be good) you can lift some into your cold fram & sink the pots in the soil & the heat will bring them on about 2 weeks earlier than if they were in an unheated greenhouse (probably about a month or so before normal cropping)

Looks a bit like this

**Snadger** · 12-11-2006, 05:30 PM

Originally posted by dexterdoglancashire View Post

I've heard this term mentioned a couple of times in other threads but I'm not really sure what one is, how do you build one, and when, and what can you grow in one? I know it has something to do with pony poo, and as I have a free source I wondered whether I could build a hot bed......

DDL
PS No dirty comments Snadger!

Why would I have any dirty comments about pony poo?

Must be hard to keep the right temp in the hotbed and some of the gasses given off would be injurious to plant life methinks?

I know the Victorians also heated there greenhouses with Manure.!

Takes up a lot of space , but the Vic's always had huge ornate greenhouses so that didn't matter. They would build a frame, (usually a permanrnt frame made from brick) approximately 5'0" wide & 3'0" high running the length of the grreenhouse and fill it with fresh manure.The bricks would warm up similar to a radiator.

The heat given off would be enough to heat there greenhouse. I am guessing but they would have probably added sulphate of ammonia to speed up decomposition. After a while the temperature would begin to drop when the manure was composted and they would then simply take it out and put fresh manure in.!!

Hence when the gardener came home for his evening meal reeking of poo, his wife would say " You've been working in that b****y greenhouse again , haven't you?" LOL

I'm hoping the victorian gardening book I got in my MOM pack will go into more details!
Must have worked cos they grew pineapples and all manner of exotic fruit!

**Earthbabe** · 12-11-2006, 05:33 PM

Like the new quote Snadger - explains a lot about the current president too really. Congrats on becoming a cropper. All this in one month. Just as well it's Christmas next month.

**Snadger** · 12-11-2006, 05:38 PM

Originally posted by Earthbabe View Post

Like the new quote Snadger - explains a lot about the current president too really. Congrats on becoming a cropper. All this in one month. Just as well it's Christmas next month.

Cheers earthbabe, you and DDL were both hard acts to follow though.

**Lesley Jay** · 12-11-2006, 07:15 PM

Snadger they also lit fires on the otherside of the walls. This then heated the bricks and the Pineary (which I can't spell - sorry)

**Snadger** · 12-11-2006, 07:34 PM

Originally posted by Lesley Jay View Post

Snadger they also lit fires on the otherside of the walls. This then heated the bricks and the Pineary (which I can't spell - sorry)

Hope it's got all this in the book...sounds facinating!

I mean, if the Romans could have underfloor heating 2000 years ago the Victorians and the industrial revolution must have spawned some real fancy technology

!

**dexterdoglancashire** · 12-11-2006, 07:59 PM

Thanks for that guys and gals! would like to give it a go - just have to decide where I'm going to put it. Running out of space in my little back garden, although a small hot bed sounds an interesting idea! Thanks once again.

DDL

**Alison** · 12-11-2006, 09:03 PM

Seem to remember something similar to this when we were down at Heligan last summer - think they used to it get pineapples but memory fails me on the detail.

**dexterdoglancashire** · 12-11-2006, 09:05 PM

Actually Snadger, I do have a copy of the victorian garden book, the one that went with the victorian kitchen garden, must give it a look. DDL PS MOM is well deserved, and you as much as the other MOMs deserve it mate!

**Earthbabe** · 12-11-2006, 10:56 PM

Originally posted by dexterdoglancashire View Post

Thanks for that guys and gals! would like to give it a go - just have to decide where I'm going to put it. Running out of space in my little back garden, although a small hot bed sounds an interesting idea! Thanks once again.

DDL

Sounds like you need a lottie DDL! Then Mr DDL can have the garden back

**rustylady** · 12-11-2006, 11:40 PM

You can make a hot bed on top of a fresh(ish) compost heap, you don't have to use poo! When any organic material starts to rot down it produces heat. Bit like a propogator without the electricity bills! That's probably why marrows, squashes etc grow really well on compost heaps. Not just the nutrition, you've also got a bit of bottom heat. Had to re-type the last sentence several times, the vino's working and I'm off to bed soon

**CarolineSonning** · 13-11-2006, 10:32 AM

Originally posted by Snadger View Post

Takes up a lot of space , but the Vic's always had huge ornate greenhouses so that didn't matter. They would build a frame, (usually a permanrnt frame made from brick) approximately 5'0" wide & 3'0" high running the length of the grreenhouse and fill it with fresh manure.The bricks would warm up similar to a radiator.

Silly question if I may Snadger can this be along the outside wall of the greenhouse or does all the heat get lost like that? And should it have a lid on?

**dexterdoglancashire** · 13-11-2006, 05:06 PM

Originally posted by rustylady View Post

You can make a hot bed on top of a fresh(ish) compost heap, you don't have to use poo! When any organic material starts to rot down it produces heat. Bit like a propogator without the electricity bills! That's probably why marrows, squashes etc grow really well on compost heaps. Not just the nutrition, you've also got a bit of bottom heat. Had to re-type the last sentence several times, the vino's working and I'm off to bed soon

LOL rustylady! know what you mean though! DDL

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