Charles, the amount of new gardeners you have inspired cannot be overstated. We owe you a debt for proliferating the idea of individual, simple, organic, scientific gardening.
Always love your videos. Your calm demeanor helps remind me that gardening should be enjoyed and relaxing. (I am sometimes guilty of feeling frustrated). Thanks Charles!
I watch all your videos even if they don't apply to me. I don't need a hotbed in my situation, but your voice is so calm and soothing in a world that often isnt. Also you never know when you're going to pop in some random advice that DOES apply to me. So, must watch!
Far too many ifs and buts there for the average grower but it's clearly working for you at this scale and this is a great video showing the hard work/potential benefits :)
I made a few once. Certainly warmed the tunnel up a bit and was making compost at the same time. Put seed trays on top as well. Could be useful in cold weather.
Living in Texas I don't need a hotbed, but I do use a compost bin. My compost bin is uncovered because we get very little rain for most of the year. But when it does rain it helps stimulate the compost pile. Sometimes I throw garden soil on top of it and grow things.
Charles, I think it's safe to say, for all those people that think having a market garden, would be an easy way to make a dollar, needs to binge watch yrs of your videos. I think having a big garden to help supply my daughters family and I, is enough work for this girl. Hoping you all have a nice week ahead.
Charles and Adam. That was a great heap of work but you guys had fun. Having nature provide what we need to survive is awesome. I did not know that fresh sticks decompose faster than old dry one. Good to know. Thank you. Looking forward to follow ups with those seedlings on top of the heat, amazing, and tomatoes planted to test that compost. If that's what you meant.
Watching this video, I begin to realize how much I do not understand. It is a great challenge. I took a job to save for a small property. I will have to build a tiny home in the center of the garden where I will sit all day and night studying your videos. 😊🍁
Great Video Charles!!! I'm doing an experiment of creating a small hoop tunnel on top of my compost pile. Poking holes for water and air to infiltrate(modification of Johnson-Su) the pile.
I can’t get any straw here zone 9 😔🤦🏻♀️ so I just used wood chip fine shave at the hardware here, then I add paper shredded and dry leaves and cut grass with kitchen scraps 😊👍👩🌾 and manure 😊 thanks sir Charles very much appreciated your tips and teaching, you have help so many people 👍👍😊👩🌾❤️
I love to see it in action. Working with smaller hotbeds based on chicken manure and hay. And it is just as you say, smaller works too but not for long. Mine are about 1 kubicmeter but are cooling off after about three weeks. I am just afraid of the middle going anaerobic if i build it larger 🤔
Its not long ago 1890’s to 1950’s hotbeds were commonly used,both indoor and outdoor beds as Charles showed. The cost of labour dynamic was very different then. Who knows we may return to that in the future
If you look up Jack First, you will find that it is a technique used thousands of years ago by the Romans when the Caesars demanded year-round salads. They built vast hotbeds from the abundant stable manure They even used large sheets of talc as transparent covers to keep the heat in! Then the French used hotbeds like this on a market garden field scale, long ago. Jack First has written a book and made a couple of videos, and now is collaborating with Huw's Garden to make more videos and a how-to online course.
@@kathrynmettelka7216 Thanks! It's a fascinating topic! Also watch DirtPatcHeaven, where she has many videos showing how she grows great productive gardens on top of huge hotbeds inside greenhouses, or outside with plastic covers, during heavy snow. And "The Curious Garďener" who has a program showing how an Alaskan gardener heats her greenhouse with a large central hotbed.
Wonderful. Straw is very curious to me in the compost. I know it is considered a brown but when I use it often acts like a green. This is withough horse manure. Have others seen this or comments? Also my grandfather that grew champion roses (had the ribbons to prove it) in the south west of the US. He said alfalfa/lucerne fed horse manure once aged a bit was the best mulch for his roses. Glad you are promoting manures for garden use. My horses also contrubute to my compost. Sad that grazon has ruined so much of this great form of reuse. I test my compost piles by growing squash, bean, and corn (usually the horse and deer eat the corn) on the compost piles before use in fall on my garden. Thanks so much for all your info I always learn so much. Your no dig techniques have really improved my garden
Thanks Barb, lovely to hear. That's a good point about the straw, it does have goodness and I think the cellulose is the brown part. Corn is resistant to grazon, and yes it is such a pity!
@@CharlesDowding1nodig But corn (maize) would be resistant: it's a grass, and the aminopyralid is meant to kill off broad leaf "weeds." No matter how wide the blades of a cornstalk look to us, the plant is nonetheless a grass; that must be the difference? All this reminds me I have to do some testing (with tomatoes, I reckon) that ought to have been done a bit before now, but the weather's likely to continue too cold for transplanting tomatoes out-of-doors for about a month, yet.
Charles, since you are only using it for heat and not growing directly in it, is aminopyralid in the manure a concern? Obviously we would prefer to have non nuked manure for everything, but in some locales that might be more difficult. EDIT: ah I'm too quick to comment, i just get so excited by your videos .. I see you partially addressed this later in the video. p.s. people should be inspired to grow veg the way you do just by noticing your fitness level, you're inspiring in many ways 💪😀
Thanks Ted, I feel blessed to be in good health. And yes I do value the compost itself for using one year later. It's now full of worms and really great stuff.
Perhaps you could stick some small pipe like objects in the heap that stick out higher than the trays? Something open on each end to encourage the gas to move up quickly and over the plants?
Nicely done. I wonder about putting it all in a hole, easier to dump that trailer and still water bit by bit - save climbing the manure pile? Would the greenhouse benefit the same from the heat generated?
Great video, good advice on the ammonia gases, never really thought how they would affect the leaves of seedlings. I am trying a small hotbed in an 8ft x 6ft greenhouse (about 4ft by 2ft hotbed) and it has helped keep the temperature above freezing, but I now need to add more horse manure and I am a little concerned that I may damage the seedlings I have in the greenhouse. Does the ammonia only affect seedlings on the hotbed?
A good question Paul, and if you don't keep the windows open, those gases can singe leaves of plants elsewhere. The plastic cover I used in week one did reduce emissions, see the photo at 11:59.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Thank you for your reply, Charles, I will be adding more muck today and keeping everything open for a while. This is all new to me as it is the first year I have used a greenhouse, lots to learn going forward.
Have you tried using a natural Saponin to help water the pile, something like yucca extract? Well said about amino p. In horse manure. Perhaps using a humic acid across fields where animals are regularly urinating might help address the conditions that preference thistle
Hi Charles, I am about to start my first no dig bed. I have managed to buy from my local garden centre, 8x80lit bags of old stock (£10) "composted farmyard manure". It's basically a soil conditioner, but will it be too strong to plant onion, carrot, beetroot seedlings and potatoes into it?
That will be fine Stewart, nothing to worry about, and the only time that plant roots might have problems is if that compost was fresh, and you would feel warmth from those sacks
Does this warm the greenhouse itself to any great extent? I'm wondering whether a hotbed of this size would keep a 20'x10' polytunnel frost free, or at least in the hotbed's immediate surroundings (perhaps curtain off half the tunnel with bubble wrap).
It does raise the greenhouse temperature by 1 to 3°C. A poly tunnel would lose more warmth than the glasshouse so you probably would need bubble wrap, but be careful of the gases when the manure is fresh.
Brilliant.. I was wondering if you put the hot bed in the middle of the green house... (say 2m x .60cm/1m down the middle) would this provide more heat to the overall greenhouse and retain it better. Also heating the ground more rather than being at the door? Then, covering it over in winter with staging /benches for pots and fill up next winter on top of or would it all need replacing and in which case be matured manure to then go on the garden? Thanks!
It's a thought, but there are pros and cons. It's a lot easier in that corner from having the brick wall as support to 2 of the sides at the bottom. And a heap in the middle would get in the way when we are transplanting tomatoes in May, when there is still another three weeks of heat needed for other transplants
Thank you so much Charles. I had a little off topic question : Whats your opinion about using elemental sulfur? I have planted quite a few blueberries and apparently my soil is not acidic enough. I wanted to avoid using elemental sulfur but literally everybody I watch says to use this. Whats your opinion on this product? Are you using it ? Is it ethical ? Is it acceptable in an organic garden? Thank you so much.
Stay Primal. My 2cents? Green and brown compost mixed as top dress for the soil. Look up if blueberries like ash, magnesium aka Epsom salts, etc. I was looking at blueberries from Mexico in the store and it got me craving. I'm in USA
This is just so interesting! Have you done any comparisons with different types of manure at Homeacres? Because I'd have easier access to chicken vs. horse dung. Just curious if that might be worth a try. Thanks so much for another great video and more valuable information!
Wonderful video as always, Charles. I only wish I had the space to try out some of these things for myself. I wonder, would a sack or so of cat litter help to absorb the ammonia and rid you of that problem? Just a thought..
Good morning Charles, a very interesting video but too much work for me as a woman. Every spring I put a cold frame in my greenhouse, which I heat electrically from the beginning of March (about 10°C at night) and get along well with it (for peppers and peppers). Before that, all cultures in the house are under LED. Now for the first time this year I have a big problem with fungus gnats. They were probably in the purchased seed soil. I have already used nematodes, but outside the cold frame it gets colder than 8°C at night and then the nematodes die. Can I get rid of these mosquitoes or do they also multiply in the compost? What has been your experience and do you have any advice? Thanks in advance and all the best! Ursula
Ursula I use something called Mosquito Bits here in the US which is a BT. When we get our heavy monsoons in the southwest US sometimes these knats come out. A few sprinkled around take care of the Mosquitos and the Knats. Any one else have a better control?
A trick I learned from another organic gardener is when purchasing soil I mix it with boiling water before using to kill anything that might be in it. Big difference!
@@noraanderson6763 Thanks for the advice! I regularly steam my seed soil in an old outdoor steamer. I wanted to save myself this work because I sow a lot and didn't expect this infestation with the soil I bought. Now Charles is left with no choice but to ignore it. Hopefully the plants won't suffer. I put up yellow boards and there are already a lot of mosquitoes stuck to them. All the best from Bavaria! Ursula
I've been on an allotment waiting list since 2020 and finally going to view an allotment today that has a greenhouse! I work at a sanctuary with lots of animals (sheep, horses, goats, cows, hens), just wondering if you can use other manure with this from other grazing animals? And can I use manure that's already rotted down on a muck heap at work to try and avoid the ammonia? I know you said fresh as possible. Thanks
Horse manure gives most heat, but others give some heat and I would try that. But it must be fresh, not old, and the ammonia problem is not too terrible, I just want people to know about it. After the first week, it stops. Good luck with your new plot!
I've never been able to get REALLY fresh manure, so I take the freshest that gets delivered to our allotments, I mix it with lots of straw, soaked with urine. Done it like this for 4 years now. This year something has gone wrong. The manure was steaming as I loaded it into the hotbed. 2 weeks later and the whole heap is a cold 10c. 😢
That is a pity! All I can think is that the manure was perhaps older than usual, and has reached the end of its heat-life. You can add more fresh on top, or grass, to revive the heat.
Can this be done with chicken manure and hay/straw/wood shavings? I clean out my deep bedding in our chicken coop in late winter....this may be a good use of it. Or would chicken manure have too much ammonia?
Yes, there would be extra ammonia at first. I never heard of this, but it could work with new undecomposed straw and making sure it's fully wet, good luck
Charles, does pyralid persist in the manure of ruminants? Why would you even allow horse manure into your garden if there was the least bit of doubt about the presence of weed-killer in it? I’d feel sorely gutted if I spread supposedly pyralid-free manure onto my beds only to find
I agree. I know it all too well and have made videos about it. Sorry it affected you and it's a product which should not be allowed! I check with the supplier about how the hay was grown, and for a few years now I have not had the problem
I don't have access to horse manure basically in my whole county, but managed to get hold of loads of sheep, cow and rabbit manure, and on top of that have compost heap from my garden past year and 2 composter full of leaves. Haven't shred them so they are composting slowly. Just one question regarding horse manure, pyralid and testing. You said that you wait for spring and plant tomatoes as test. I was just curious is it possible to plant test potato in straw when heap cool down a bit instead of waiting basically whole growing season?
I fell and knocked myself out this week. Watching you wobbling on the crates and going where no man should was giving me the heejeebeejees. Would the heap work if you "filled a pit" instead? I don't know whats attractive to bees in my compost dalek but a bumble bee was trying to get in there between rain showers. (Warmth? Shelter? Food?)
Can I suggest using a ratchet strap to go around the boards, especially the trailer, being an hgv truck driver it did make me cringe seeing that thin wire 😬😁🌱☀️ I volunteer at a disability adult activities centre as gardener and would love to build a hotbed in their polytunnel but unfortunately the local foxes have torn great holes in the polythene and the recent stormy weather has buckled the frame, it's over 30years old, so we wouldn't be able to keep the foxes off an young plants on the hotbed 😢🌱☀️
I find a propagator in a mini greenhouse in a polytunnel works just fine and zero faff or work tbh 👍 and was there any manure in that ? As it looked all straw ?
I thought I saw someone using a very thin layer of charcoal on top of a hotbed which was to help with the ammonia. I cannot remember where I saw the video but it was on RUclips somewhere when I was researching heating a greenhouse with a hotbed.
Watched a Japanese version which used leaves gathered from roadside trees with rice bran powder added to each layer, surrounded with rice straw all built in a bamboo frame.
Sorry I don’t know how else to ask you a question. I have an allotment where we have club root, but from what I’ve read you don’t use lime. Will my brassicas be ok if I’m doing no dig? Or do I need to add lime? Thanks x
I would not use it Lucy. I've heard from two separate allotments of people growing great brassicas without liming, but they added around 3 inches/7.5 cm decent compost, which can be old animal manure. And not digging! This allows soil life to heal, the soil improves in drainage and quality, and plants are stronger with less damage from the club root. It seems to take a few years to become non-affective to plants. I reckon a lot of traditional gardeners do not understand or agree with this because they keep digging and using lime et cetera. And never get rid of club root. But I'm sure you can within a few years, maybe not year one
@@CharlesDowding1nodig thank you, it was confusing to get told different things but you explain it so well, I will apply plenty of compost and not lime 😊 x
Hello Charles I'm putting up hoop house in west Virginia . Zone 6. I will not have heat. But I will put compost heap like you are doing. Horse manure I'm getting has a lot of saw dust. I might have to put layer of straws and wet it pretty good . What do you think? Can you give me some advice. Thanks!
That's exciting. However a hotbed like this will not increase heat much in your hoop house. Polythene simply does not hold much heat and the temperature rise happens mainly when the sun is shining. And is there only as long as the sun stays present. Also sunlight can warm the soil and that's what makes more difference, while the hotbed does not do that, and I think you have to accept that it won't make a huge difference to ambient temperature.
Don’t like using plastic in my garden but, would a plastic sheet over the hot bed, under the seed trays, stop the gas going so directly on to the seed trays?
I agree but you can see the plastic cover are used at 11:59 and that did work, but I didn't want to leave it on after that because I felt it might be keeping the manure anaerobic below. The damage level this year is quite acceptable to me.
Recently, I have a lot of flies, sounds the same as you. I'm not worried by them because they do not damage any plants: they are part of the decomposition process
I have a large horse farm around the corner where I can get all the bedding I need but don't have a greenhouse at the moment. How bad is the smell in your greenhouse after building that hot heap?
The smell can be quite strong in the first 10 days and especially I found that after covering with the plastic for the first week. I can put up with it because I know how beneficial it is to my plants. And after two weeks, the smell is quite pleasant.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig So a 2°C lift. What size is the greenhouse? (thinking of the possibilities of keeping a 20'x10' polytunnel (or part of one) frost free here (3 miles inland from the Cumbrian coast), where anything lower than -2°C is pretty unusual.
Ha! @ 8:47 ...you had me @ 'Pfffffff' Yeah, lots of work. In our mid-70's, even though we have ample horse manure & bedding, we compost that material insitu. I wonder if you'd consider an electric feed line to your greenhouse for the short period of needed heat for early spring germination. I would think your neighbor with the copious amounts of raw compost material could provide product for lots your composting needs. As a compromise to eliminate chemical ag, using electrical power [imo] is an acceptable source to the process of food production.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig I don't understand why farmers would use such poisons to grow pure forage and even worse, using as a staple for equine feeding. We've been growing hay for decades and would never apply a herbicide for any reason.
Charles, you have answered everyone of my posts that required an answer. I am going to join the group. To receive such great response and humble approach to answer and be open to suggestions deserves a seat @ the table. Are the seats padded?
at £30 an hour you are making a net loss of £20 an hour and thats if you dont pay for anything....you must have another income sourse....I still like your vids but dont have your money........
Suggestion Charles. If you sank a post in each corner of that heap you could easily support the sides and brace with a wooden stave or even a steel angle iron or two if available.
Charles, the amount of new gardeners you have inspired cannot be overstated. We owe you a debt for proliferating the idea of individual, simple, organic, scientific gardening.
Thanks, I'm v happy to help
I think you meant "Overstated!"
Always love your videos. Your calm demeanor helps remind me that gardening should be enjoyed and relaxing. (I am sometimes guilty of feeling frustrated). Thanks Charles!
So nice of you thanks
I watch all your videos even if they don't apply to me. I don't need a hotbed in my situation, but your voice is so calm and soothing in a world that often isnt. Also you never know when you're going to pop in some random advice that DOES apply to me. So, must watch!
So nice, thankyou and happy to help!
Charles by this time tomorrow I'll have finished making my 8 yard X 1.7 yard no dig bed,I could hear you telling me what to do all along the way !
How lovely, sounds great
❤
And this is why Charles Dowding doesn't need to join a gym and is still totally buffed 💪💪
❤Peggy❤
😎 !!
This really works. I am blessed to have fresh horse manure delivered to my allotment, so no shortage
Far too many ifs and buts there for the average grower but it's clearly working for you at this scale and this is a great video showing the hard work/potential benefits :)
Thanks, and that is a large reason for this video, it's not clear cut in terms of advantages
I made a few once. Certainly warmed the tunnel up a bit and was making compost at the same time. Put seed trays on top as well. Could be useful in cold weather.
Living in Texas I don't need a hotbed, but I do use a compost bin. My compost bin is uncovered because we get very little rain for most of the year. But when it does rain it helps stimulate the compost pile. Sometimes I throw garden soil on top of it and grow things.
Last fall an avocado plant grew in our compost. If we had a grow light we would have planted it in a pot in the house for the winter. Zone 6b USA.
Charles, I think it's safe to say, for all those people that think having a market garden, would be an easy way to make a dollar, needs to binge watch yrs of your videos. I think having a big garden to help supply my daughters family and I, is enough work for this girl. Hoping you all have a nice week ahead.
Absolutely Wende! thanks
Charles and Adam. That was a great heap of work but you guys had fun.
Having nature provide what we need to survive is awesome.
I did not know that fresh sticks decompose faster than old dry one. Good to know.
Thank you.
Looking forward to follow ups with those seedlings on top of the heat, amazing, and tomatoes planted to test that compost. If that's what you meant.
Our pleasure, and see this video for tomato follow-up in 2018 ruclips.net/video/tyhs7_HjAcM/видео.html
Beautiful hotbed video. Thanks Charles for showing your NoDig adventure.
Cheers Robert
Thank´s Charles for mentioning the pyralids; causing a lot of worry...
This is a great presentation style, loved every bit of it!
Glad you enjoyed it and thanks to Edward filmmaker
One wire holding you from tumbling down in a pile of manure. Charles Dowding: The "extreme" compost maker!
Thank you!
😂
Muchas gracias por todo ese saber que nos brinda... saludos desde Uruguay 🇺🇾
Encantadora de escuchar y primer comentario!
Watching this video, I begin to realize how much I do not understand. It is a great challenge. I took a job to save for a small property. I will have to build a tiny home in the center of the garden where I will sit all day and night studying your videos. 😊🍁
V good to know Karina, how much you don't know!! Good luck
Looks great Charles, homemade heat mat and heat for the greenhouse 😊
🕺🏼🌱
Have a look at Jack First’s book on the background to hot beds.
Thanks to Charles for a very educational video as always.
Great info as always Charles.
Glad you enjoyed it
Very realistic and practical. Thanks Charles. It’s a joy learning from you. I want to try this so much now!! Thanks ♥️
Wonderful! 💚
what a useful video! Thank you so very much!
Glad it was helpful!
Art work in the garden. Beautiful sprouts
I love how hands on you are!! Thank you for showing me how to create a hotbed!
Thank you Charles, i always enjoy the visit and the information
Great Video Charles!!! I'm doing an experiment of creating a small hoop tunnel on top of my compost pile. Poking holes for water and air to infiltrate(modification of Johnson-Su) the pile.
Great idea
I can’t get any straw here zone 9 😔🤦🏻♀️ so I just used wood chip fine shave at the hardware here, then I add paper shredded and dry leaves and cut grass with kitchen scraps 😊👍👩🌾 and manure 😊 thanks sir Charles very much appreciated your tips and teaching, you have help so many people 👍👍😊👩🌾❤️
Nice to hear and that sounds good!
I love to see it in action. Working with smaller hotbeds based on chicken manure and hay. And it is just as you say, smaller works too but not for long. Mine are about 1 kubicmeter but are cooling off after about three weeks. I am just afraid of the middle going anaerobic if i build it larger 🤔
Right on and yes a little anaerobic but we mend that when removing the contents in late May
It definitely looks like something you’d do for your survival or as a dedicated hobby . I must be good being able to provide heat off grid .
Yes a good feeling!
Thanks Charles you're a legend no toes out, with the Jesus sandals ...... thanks❤
😂
The most rewarding - work in their native land.🌿
I wonder how many generations of our ancestors used a method like this. They didn’t have heat mats and they needed food.
Its not long ago 1890’s to 1950’s hotbeds were commonly used,both indoor and outdoor beds as Charles showed. The cost of labour dynamic was very different then. Who knows we may return to that in the future
@@lilpipskweek6448 Mmmm !... likely somebody with radiation Burns or TRIFFID attack damage... that kind of scenario maybe? Happy Saturday everyone!😂
If you look up Jack First, you will find that it is a technique used thousands of years ago by the Romans when the Caesars demanded year-round salads. They built vast hotbeds from the abundant stable manure They even used large sheets of talc as transparent covers to keep the heat in!
Then the French used hotbeds like this on a market garden field scale, long ago. Jack First has written a book and made a couple of videos, and now is collaborating with Huw's Garden to make more videos and a how-to online course.
@@rubygray7749 You are a resource! Thanks.
@@kathrynmettelka7216
Thanks! It's a fascinating topic!
Also watch DirtPatcHeaven, where she has many videos showing how she grows great productive gardens on top of huge hotbeds inside greenhouses, or outside with plastic covers, during heavy snow.
And "The Curious Garďener" who has a program showing how an Alaskan gardener heats her greenhouse with a large central hotbed.
Charles, as much as I would love to come see the gardens etc, please be careful.😊
Horse manure hot beds are great!
Wonderful. Straw is very curious to me in the compost. I know it is considered a brown but when I use it often acts like a green. This is withough horse manure. Have others seen this or comments? Also my grandfather that grew champion roses (had the ribbons to prove it) in the south west of the US. He said alfalfa/lucerne fed horse manure once aged a bit was the best mulch for his roses. Glad you are promoting manures for garden use. My horses also contrubute to my compost. Sad that grazon has ruined so much of this great form of reuse. I test my compost piles by growing squash, bean, and corn (usually the horse and deer eat the corn) on the compost piles before use in fall on my garden. Thanks so much for all your info I always learn so much. Your no dig techniques have really improved my garden
Thanks Barb, lovely to hear. That's a good point about the straw, it does have goodness and I think the cellulose is the brown part.
Corn is resistant to grazon, and yes it is such a pity!
@@CharlesDowding1nodig But corn (maize) would be resistant: it's a grass, and the aminopyralid is meant to kill off broad leaf "weeds." No matter how wide the blades of a cornstalk look to us, the plant is nonetheless a grass; that must be the difference?
All this reminds me I have to do some testing (with tomatoes, I reckon) that ought to have been done a bit before now, but the weather's likely to continue too cold for transplanting tomatoes out-of-doors for about a month, yet.
Charles, since you are only using it for heat and not growing directly in it, is aminopyralid in the manure a concern? Obviously we would prefer to have non nuked manure for everything, but in some locales that might be more difficult.
EDIT: ah I'm too quick to comment, i just get so excited by your videos .. I see you partially addressed this later in the video.
p.s. people should be inspired to grow veg the way you do just by noticing your fitness level, you're inspiring in many ways 💪😀
Thanks Ted, I feel blessed to be in good health. And yes I do value the compost itself for using one year later. It's now full of worms and really great stuff.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig That makes sense, using it as a growing medium after using as a hotbed. Thanks for yet another wonderful video!!
Perhaps you could stick some small pipe like objects in the heap that stick out higher than the trays? Something open on each end to encourage the gas to move up quickly and over the plants?
Interesting thought! But the gas comes up from all the surface
I like your flat cap 👍
Nicely done. I wonder about putting it all in a hole, easier to dump that trailer and still water bit by bit - save climbing the manure pile? Would the greenhouse benefit the same from the heat generated?
Is a thought, apart from digging the hole :) and heat would be same because it's for the plant trays, not space heating
Great video, good advice on the ammonia gases, never really thought how they would affect the leaves of seedlings. I am trying a small hotbed in an 8ft x 6ft greenhouse (about 4ft by 2ft hotbed) and it has helped keep the temperature above freezing, but I now need to add more horse manure and I am a little concerned that I may damage the seedlings I have in the greenhouse. Does the ammonia only affect seedlings on the hotbed?
A good question Paul, and if you don't keep the windows open, those gases can singe leaves of plants elsewhere. The plastic cover I used in week one did reduce emissions, see the photo at 11:59.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Thank you for your reply, Charles, I will be adding more muck today and keeping everything open for a while. This is all new to me as it is the first year I have used a greenhouse, lots to learn going forward.
Have you tried using a natural Saponin to help water the pile, something like yucca extract?
Well said about amino p. In horse manure. Perhaps using a humic acid across fields where animals are regularly urinating might help address the conditions that preference thistle
Full watch from me Charles. Always a pleasure.
💚
Thank you for all the wonderful videos! A quick question...is there any concern about spontaneous combustion with hotbeds?
No, way too much moisture
❤
Definitely a great idea
Charles just climbing up there! Lol get it Charles.
Hi Charles, I am about to start my first no dig bed. I have managed to buy from my local garden centre, 8x80lit bags of old stock (£10) "composted farmyard manure". It's basically a soil conditioner, but will it be too strong to plant onion, carrot, beetroot seedlings and potatoes into it?
That will be fine Stewart, nothing to worry about, and the only time that plant roots might have problems is if that compost was fresh, and you would feel warmth from those sacks
Does this warm the greenhouse itself to any great extent?
I'm wondering whether a hotbed of this size would keep a 20'x10' polytunnel frost free, or at least in the hotbed's immediate surroundings (perhaps curtain off half the tunnel with bubble wrap).
It does raise the greenhouse temperature by 1 to 3°C.
A poly tunnel would lose more warmth than the glasshouse so you probably would need bubble wrap, but be careful of the gases when the manure is fresh.
Brilliant.. I was wondering if you put the hot bed in the middle of the green house... (say 2m x .60cm/1m down the middle) would this provide more heat to the overall greenhouse and retain it better. Also heating the ground more rather than being at the door?
Then, covering it over in winter with staging /benches for pots and fill up next winter on top of or would it all need replacing and in which case be matured manure to then go on the garden?
Thanks!
I'm thinking of trying it next year (too late for this year) in a 20'x10' polytunnel, even if only to keep part of it frost free.
Dirtpatcheaven channel has many videos showing how she grows mountains of food doing this, in a very snowy climate I think in Montana.
It's a thought, but there are pros and cons. It's a lot easier in that corner from having the brick wall as support to 2 of the sides at the bottom. And a heap in the middle would get in the way when we are transplanting tomatoes in May, when there is still another three weeks of heat needed for other transplants
Short answer.......................... Yes.
I built mine this year using pallet collars, extremely stable and very easy to build up the layers.
Great!
Thank you so much Charles.
I had a little off topic question : Whats your opinion about using elemental sulfur? I have planted quite a few blueberries and apparently my soil is not acidic enough. I wanted to avoid using elemental sulfur but literally everybody I watch says to use this.
Whats your opinion on this product? Are you using it ? Is it ethical ? Is it acceptable in an organic garden?
Thank you so much.
I don't know!
V difficult to change pH :) best of luck
i see
Why would there be any ethical issue if you just use an organic product? There are many orhamic ones available.
Stay Primal. My 2cents? Green and brown compost mixed as top dress for the soil. Look up if blueberries like ash, magnesium aka Epsom salts, etc. I was looking at blueberries from Mexico in the store and it got me craving. I'm in USA
@@smas3256 Thank you ! Appreciate it a lot.
This is just so interesting! Have you done any comparisons with different types of manure at Homeacres? Because I'd have easier access to chicken vs. horse dung. Just curious if that might be worth a try. Thanks so much for another great video and more valuable information!
Nice to hear and I have not done this with chicken menu, but think it should work, with plenty of straw, even woodchips small and not old
Wonderful video as always, Charles. I only wish I had the space to try out some of these things for myself. I wonder, would a sack or so of cat litter help to absorb the ammonia and rid you of that problem? Just a thought..
Thanks Jack, maybe, it's ok mainly :)
Would adding coffee grounds boost the nitrogen levels up a bit to help things along?
Yes, go for it if you have them
Hi Charles,
I’m new to your channel and I’m really liking the no toll strategy. ...
Do you ever use fertilizer?
I don't Jenna, ever. Thanks and welcome
Great boots Charles. Brand or maker? I have someone in mind that would love them.
They are good, from here muckbootcompany.co.uk/products/mens-muckster-ii-ankle-all-purpose-lightweight-shoe-bark
Good morning Charles, a very interesting video but too much work for me as a woman. Every spring I put a cold frame in my greenhouse, which I heat electrically from the beginning of March (about 10°C at night) and get along well with it (for peppers and peppers). Before that, all cultures in the house are under LED. Now for the first time this year I have a big problem with fungus gnats. They were probably in the purchased seed soil. I have already used nematodes, but outside the cold frame it gets colder than 8°C at night and then the nematodes die. Can I get rid of these mosquitoes or do they also multiply in the compost? What has been your experience and do you have any advice? Thanks in advance and all the best! Ursula
Ursula I use something called Mosquito Bits here in the US which is a BT. When we get our heavy monsoons in the southwest US sometimes these knats come out. A few sprinkled around take care of the Mosquitos and the Knats. Any one else have a better control?
I have many and ignore them 😀 because they leave the plants alone
A trick I learned from another organic gardener is when purchasing soil I mix it with boiling water before using to kill anything that might be in it. Big difference!
@@noraanderson6763 Thanks for the advice! I regularly steam my seed soil in an old outdoor steamer. I wanted to save myself this work because I sow a lot and didn't expect this infestation with the soil I bought. Now Charles is left with no choice but to ignore it. Hopefully the plants won't suffer. I put up yellow boards and there are already a lot of mosquitoes stuck to them. All the best from Bavaria! Ursula
Charles where can i buy the wire you use for hoops crop protection. thanks . i bought your seed modules very sturdy should last for life.
Here, 2.5m length is best, and thanks sharanya.co.uk
Fascinating. So, the hotbed purpose is to create compost? Or to warm the greenhouse?
Main purpose is warmth for the seedlings on top of it! Other two are bonuses
I really NEED to try this, WOULD something like this in an animal house help keep the animals warm as well ?
Yes it would :)
@@CharlesDowding1nodig
Oh Okay, cool. This giving me an idea for when I build my barn.
Dear Mr Dowding, should soil from a seed tray be re used after pricking out? Thanks
You can. Sometimes a few seeds from the first sow will come up in the second sowing! Not a problem though
@@CharlesDowding1nodig many thanks!, watching and learning from you all the way from Sydney, Australia
I've been on an allotment waiting list since 2020 and finally going to view an allotment today that has a greenhouse! I work at a sanctuary with lots of animals (sheep, horses, goats, cows, hens), just wondering if you can use other manure with this from other grazing animals? And can I use manure that's already rotted down on a muck heap at work to try and avoid the ammonia? I know you said fresh as possible. Thanks
Horse manure gives most heat, but others give some heat and I would try that. But it must be fresh, not old, and the ammonia problem is not too terrible, I just want people to know about it. After the first week, it stops.
Good luck with your new plot!
I've never been able to get REALLY fresh manure, so I take the freshest that gets delivered to our allotments, I mix it with lots of straw, soaked with urine. Done it like this for 4 years now. This year something has gone wrong. The manure was steaming as I loaded it into the hotbed. 2 weeks later and the whole heap is a cold 10c. 😢
That is a pity! All I can think is that the manure was perhaps older than usual, and has reached the end of its heat-life. You can add more fresh on top, or grass, to revive the heat.
Can this be done with chicken manure and hay/straw/wood shavings? I clean out my deep bedding in our chicken coop in late winter....this may be a good use of it. Or would chicken manure have too much ammonia?
Yes, there would be extra ammonia at first. I never heard of this, but it could work with new undecomposed straw and making sure it's fully wet, good luck
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Thanks! I'm not sure if I have enough material, so may add more undecomposted hay/straw to the mix.
Charles, does pyralid persist in the manure of ruminants? Why would you even allow horse manure into your garden if there was the least bit of doubt about the presence of weed-killer in it? I’d feel sorely gutted if I spread supposedly pyralid-free manure onto my beds only to find
. . . the manure killed-off my crops!
I agree. I know it all too well and have made videos about it. Sorry it affected you and it's a product which should not be allowed! I check with the supplier about how the hay was grown, and for a few years now I have not had the problem
I don't have access to horse manure basically in my whole county, but managed to get hold of loads of sheep, cow and rabbit manure, and on top of that have compost heap from my garden past year and 2 composter full of leaves. Haven't shred them so they are composting slowly.
Just one question regarding horse manure, pyralid and testing. You said that you wait for spring and plant tomatoes as test. I was just curious is it possible to plant test potato in straw when heap cool down a bit instead of waiting basically whole growing season?
Yes sure, a misunderstanding :) and you can sow broad/fava beans in it or plant potato to discover hopefully poison free, within a month or so
Wondering if I can make a hotbed out of pig droppings/straw bedding? As it heats does the smell increase?
I'm not sure, but it sounds worth a try if you're noticing heat!
Do you think that it would work with the stored in bags manure that were preserved since last year autumn? 🤔
I think unlikely as they will have been decomposing unless v dry
I fell and knocked myself out this week. Watching you wobbling on the crates and going where no man should was giving me the heejeebeejees. Would the heap work if you "filled a pit" instead? I don't know whats attractive to bees in my compost dalek but a bumble bee was trying to get in there between rain showers. (Warmth? Shelter? Food?)
Thanks I appreciate that.
A post could work, an interesting idea :) apart from digging!
Brilliant!
Can I suggest using a ratchet strap to go around the boards, especially the trailer, being an hgv truck driver it did make me cringe seeing that thin wire 😬😁🌱☀️
I volunteer at a disability adult activities centre as gardener and would love to build a hotbed in their polytunnel but unfortunately the local foxes have torn great holes in the polythene and the recent stormy weather has buckled the frame, it's over 30years old, so we wouldn't be able to keep the foxes off an young plants on the hotbed 😢🌱☀️
Thank you, that's a nice idea!
And I sympathise with you about the foxes, that sounds a real pain!
I find a propagator in a mini greenhouse in a polytunnel works just fine and zero faff or work tbh 👍 and was there any manure in that ? As it looked all straw ?
Exactly right, and yes about a quarter manure
Do you know off the poo is safe? Is it free of the long term herbicide?
I can't be sure, but the yard manager who grew the hay says they used none of the dangerous herbicide
Would a solid layer of dry wood chips (tree mulch) on top help absorb some of the ammonia and prevent that damage?
Maybe!
I thought I saw someone using a very thin layer of charcoal on top of a hotbed which was to help with the ammonia. I cannot remember where I saw the video but it was on RUclips somewhere when I was researching heating a greenhouse with a hotbed.
Watched a Japanese version which used leaves gathered from roadside trees with rice bran powder added to each layer, surrounded with rice straw all built in a bamboo frame.
Sounds amazing, and so different!
Sorry I don’t know how else to ask you a question. I have an allotment where we have club root, but from what I’ve read you don’t use lime. Will my brassicas be ok if I’m doing no dig? Or do I need to add lime? Thanks x
I would not use it Lucy. I've heard from two separate allotments of people growing great brassicas without liming, but they added around 3 inches/7.5 cm decent compost, which can be old animal manure. And not digging!
This allows soil life to heal, the soil improves in drainage and quality, and plants are stronger with less damage from the club root. It seems to take a few years to become non-affective to plants.
I reckon a lot of traditional gardeners do not understand or agree with this because they keep digging and using lime et cetera. And never get rid of club root. But I'm sure you can within a few years, maybe not year one
@@CharlesDowding1nodig thank you, it was confusing to get told different things but you explain it so well, I will apply plenty of compost and not lime 😊 x
Hello Charles I'm putting up hoop house in west Virginia . Zone 6. I will not have heat. But I will put compost heap like you are doing. Horse manure I'm getting has a lot of saw dust. I might have to put layer of straws and wet it pretty good . What do you think? Can you give me some advice. Thanks!
That's exciting.
However a hotbed like this will not increase heat much in your hoop house. Polythene simply does not hold much heat and the temperature rise happens mainly when the sun is shining. And is there only as long as the sun stays present. Also sunlight can warm the soil and that's what makes more difference, while the hotbed does not do that, and I think you have to accept that it won't make a huge difference to ambient temperature.
Thank you charles.really appreciate for your respond.. a lot of work but it is free I find it rewarding. Thanks again!
Don’t like using plastic in my garden but, would a plastic sheet over the hot bed, under the seed trays, stop the gas going so directly on to the seed trays?
I agree but you can see the plastic cover are used at 11:59 and that did work, but I didn't want to leave it on after that because I felt it might be keeping the manure anaerobic below. The damage level this year is quite acceptable to me.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig that makes sense now. Thank you
i have make it this year but i have a lot of little flys in it how do get rit off it
Recently, I have a lot of flies, sounds the same as you.
I'm not worried by them because they do not damage any plants: they are part of the decomposition process
I have a large horse farm around the corner where I can get all the bedding I need but don't have a greenhouse at the moment. How bad is the smell in your greenhouse after building that hot heap?
The smell can be quite strong in the first 10 days and especially I found that after covering with the plastic for the first week. I can put up with it because I know how beneficial it is to my plants. And after two weeks, the smell is quite pleasant.
I clean my stalls twice a day and right now I only have one horse and I get a lot of poop! I don’t see much horse manure in yours.😅
Yes it's about 3/4 straw in this manure
Sow a few beans seeds instead of tomatoes. Bean seeds are cheaper, faster to sprout, and faster to react to the herbicide.
That is quite a bit of heat. What was the general temperature outside day/night?
What is the temperature inside greenhouse day/night? Thanks.
Outside two week average 2C night and 8C day, in greenhouse about 4C night and 15C day
@@CharlesDowding1nodig So a 2°C lift.
What size is the greenhouse? (thinking of the possibilities of keeping a 20'x10' polytunnel (or part of one) frost free here (3 miles inland from the Cumbrian coast), where anything lower than -2°C is pretty unusual.
That’s going to be lovely compost in a few months. Fingers crossed it doesn’t have any of these dreadful poisons in it.
Where did we go wrong. Perfectly manicured lawns while killing medicinal dandelions also for the pollinators. Clover and the list is long?
If you want to really get it cooking spread over ground then run over with lawn mower then wet as you build 3" layers
Would covering the top with biochar or charcoal help to absorb the amonia?
Maybe but would need working out how to remove then replace, for the top-ups of fresh manure
@@CharlesDowding1nodig layer it in?
Ha! @ 8:47 ...you had me @ 'Pfffffff' Yeah, lots of work. In our mid-70's, even though we have ample horse manure & bedding, we compost that material insitu. I wonder if you'd consider an electric feed line to your greenhouse for the short period of needed heat for early spring germination. I would think your neighbor with the copious amounts of raw compost material could provide product for lots your composting needs. As a compromise to eliminate chemical ag, using electrical power [imo] is an acceptable source to the process of food production.
Good point Dave but I still enjoy making the hotbed.
For using more manure to make compost, problem is risk of the weedkiller
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Is the possible weed killer in the manure from the uneaten hay or the straw?
@@davelively1901 from eaten hay
@@CharlesDowding1nodig I don't understand why farmers would use such poisons to grow pure forage and even worse, using as a staple for equine feeding. We've been growing hay for decades and would never apply a herbicide for any reason.
Charles, you have answered everyone of my posts that required an answer. I am going to join the group. To receive such great response and humble approach to answer and be open to suggestions deserves a seat @ the table. Are the seats padded?
Can we build a hotbed outside or does it need to be inside a cover/greenhouse only?
Have you actually watched the video?
Oh my gosh, please be careful, hanging up there 😢
I never knew horse manure was 95% straw.
This stables use a lot of straw!
Interesting but I’ll pass thanks unless I stumble upon a bigger greenhouse and a massive supply of free local horse bedding :)
😎 good conclusion
Please Dont fall!
Get a truck rachet rope instead of wire to tie it together easier
thanks
Can you hot bed horse manure ?
Whoops he answered to that question immediately lol
mister cahrly😲agarras la popo con tu mano! 😵😨🙊
¡Es solo hierba fermentada con enzimas! Huele bien también 😀
at £30 an hour you are making a net loss of £20 an hour and thats if you dont pay for anything....you must have another income sourse....I still like your vids but dont have your money........
* Source
Yes sure that's the point, and £30/hour from market gardening would be impressive
Suggestion no.2. Can you install a vent or tube under the plastic that leads directly outside for that first week to disperse the ammonia?
Sounds a plan!
Suggestion Charles. If you sank a post in each corner of that heap you could easily support the sides and brace with a wooden stave or even a steel angle iron or two if available.
Thanks Trevor. I'm not sure that would be easier because just looping the wire around it works so well, and with only two stakes in the ground.
I am wondering if a sunken under ground one would last longer, especially if it was smaller?
Possibly, but that would be a huge amount of digging, and also it would be much more challenging to empty out!
How does it look once it's "cooked" ?
Like normal compost from horse manure. Within a year, it's beautiful, and we spread it in the polytunnel and greenhouse