My manure powered Hotbed experiment.

[Masbustelo]

Here are some pictures. really it worked quite well. I had reallly good germination with my peppers and tomatoes. I am going to change the bed to three feet wide next year. It is four feet wide and I cant reach the backside very well.

[Masbustelo]

Here are a couple more pictures.

[Masbustelo]

This was way more successful for me compared to plants all over the house and lights and timers. Also no problems with damping off, and the plants are hardened to the sun as well.

[Masbustelo]

The plants are all very healthy.

[Mudman]

Nice work. Looks good. I just finished mine, a bit late. But I do like that the plants are use to the sun when it is time to transplant. It seems to cause quite a bit of shock when going from lighting to sun.

[Masbustelo]

Mike If you like to do succession plantings the bed will come in handy all summer long. This week I planted more Evergreen onions, beets and Thunbergia. Tomorrow Im planning on starting my melons and cukes in there as well.

[Crandrew]

LOVE THAT! glad it worked out.

[Sherry_AK]

Originally Posted by Masbustelo

I bought a little electric space heater and stuck it in the bed, and I bought an insulated 6x25 foot blanket that concrete workers use. I cover it at night with the blanket and foam pieces.

I think I need to know about this blanket. Seems like it could be quite useful to have one. I partition off part of the greenhouse in the spring and heat it a little bit, and I think a blanket like this might be just perfect for that purpose. Where do I find such a thing?

Your hotbed looks great and I'm glad it was successful for you.

Sherry

[Masbustelo]

Hi Sherry I bought mine at a place that sells tools and equipment for people that work with concrete. I'm still using it. At night it covers everything up in about 30 seconds, and in the morning it comes off. I've thought a couple of times, that it was money well spent.

[Sherry_AK]

Masbustelo -- Thanks for the quick response. I might have to look around for one of those. It just looks like a darned handy thing to own!

Sherry

[Mudman]

I just dropped a 6ft. rope of LED landscape rope lights into my newly constructed cold frame last night. Got down to 30 last night and the cold frame was 45. I added 7-10 degrees overnight just from those rope lights. They also double as my heat mat for starting seeds. At about 10 dollars, I would say I've got my money's worth out of them.

[Masbustelo]

Tha'ts a good idea for a heat mat. I'm hoping tonight and tomorrow are the last hurrah for winter. I planted my tomatoes out yesterday.

[Masbustelo]

I don't like starting seeds indoors, it takes up to much space, all the lighting etc., problems with damping off, and memory's of children filling cribs with plants and dirt during nap time. So I am working on this years hotbed, in a different location and dimensions that last. I made mine 4 feet deep last year which is too deep to reach in safely. So this year it will be 36 inches deep. Also I bought some old screens for $15 that I will cover with two layers of plastic. Last year I used glass windows. Some broke, and I thought they were dangerous. I only dug 2 feet deep last year, and I have gone 30 inches this year. The length is 12 feet. I plan on using a squirrel cage fan for ventilation, and perhaps a small auxiliary heater connected to a thermostat. I found on the "net" a rather simple design for the frame.