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Hotbeds

Does anyone know if you can use grass clippings for the base of a hotbed? Many Thanks

Posts

  • As long as it hasn't been treated with any form of herbicide, you'll be fine. 25-30cm depth will do it.

  • Max2016Max2016 Posts: 24

    Thank you - I think I'll be doing that!

  • PalaisglidePalaisglide Posts: 3,414

    The hot part of the hot bed is the raw manure. We started one every spring to get a good start, a large wooden box, very large, then a bale of fresh straw in the base, our own manure piled in and spread then another bale of straw. It would be topped with garden soil and the plants seed trays and anything needing heat stacked on the top, the heat this gives off is unbeleivable. You could use thin layers of grass cuttings plus anything you would put in the compost, we had straw and manure finding it worked well. After use and left the stuff coming out by now compost went on the potato patch for next year, nothing wasted, green before greens were invented, the old ways are still best.

    Frank

  • Max2016Max2016 Posts: 24

    That sounds brilliant- Thank you!

     

  • paulk2paulk2 Posts: 184

    I'm not sure if you've seen it, but Chris Beardshaw built a hot bed in the Beechgrove Garden in 2014: I've just found the clip here...

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01xrn7y

     

  • ICEDICED Posts: 2

    Palmist life, erm, when you say "we use our own manure..."  did you really mean that? It must take an awfully long time to save enough!

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,139

    It's been used for centuries https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_soil 

    Not so common in the UK nowadays, but Frank's been around quite a while image


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Steve 309Steve 309 Posts: 2,753

    image

  • ICEDICED Posts: 2

    Hi Dove from Above,

    You are right, of course! Humanure, to use the modern term, was vital in maintaining the fertility of the market gardens outside our Victorian cities. Trainloads of the stuff used to be moved from city centres, and quite literally caused a stink with Victorian commuters (to use another modern term). To some extent human waste is still used  -the contents of septic tanks are, so far as I am aware, still spread on farmers fields, and in some places composted humanure can be purchased. I approached our local council about buying composted sewage sludge some years ago, and ordered a couple of tons for the garden. It was only at this point that the council employee pointed out that I would be getting raw sewage sludge, not composted. Order promptly cancelled!

    My apologies to Palaisglide - I hadn't noticed that my iPad had converted your user name to Palmist Life! Too clever by half, I'm afraid

     

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