How to Create a New Vegetable Garden by Dowding Charles

Author:Dowding, Charles [Charles Dowding]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780857842459
Publisher: UIT Cambridge Ltd.
Published: 2015-05-21T16:00:00+00:00

The best time to apply warmth

Extra heat is expensive in time and money terms, and is most efficiently used in the first stages of growth. In particular, germination is like a hump in the way of eventual growth: once helped through it, plants can grow exponentially, because each new root and leaf is able to fuel more growth, in a virtuous circle.

Hot beds

Any 24-hour heat source ensures steady germination, which is otherwise slowed by cold nights in particular. One way of supplying heat, without any cost in electricity, is to make a hot bed, which is essentially a container filled with fresh manure (see Chapter 14 for more details). This gives off heat as it decomposes, benefiting seeds and plants placed on top of it. Horse manure gives off the most heat, but all manures can be used, and also any green wastes. The main thing is having enough to assemble an entire heap of fresh ingredients, to ensure the longest supply of heat. At Homeacres I am off-grid in the greenhouse, so made a hot bed inside it, using a neighbour’s fresh horse manure (see overleaf).

You can make hot beds of different sizes and depths: when smaller and/or shallower, the temperatures will be lower. For example, you could put one underneath a cold frame, 30-45cm (12-18") deep, with seed and module trays on a wooden trellis sitting on the manure.

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