Hot Bed/Hot Box

[doc623]

Has anyone made and/or used these to start seeds?
If so I would appreciate and info,i.e., size, material,shape, & etc.
Thanks.

[Jan Doling]

Nope, but I thought your thread title was a sequel to another one: "Things to include in new Cat House??"

Down here in zone 9 we're more likely to need cold beds so the plants don't wilt.

[uncle Will in In.]

doc <> I'm glad you asked. They were once a standard fixture in the good old days. There were "Hot Beds", and "Cold frames" <> They look alike. A hot bed is a rectangle shaped box about a foot high with a glass top of some sort made from old windoows or anything you get free. A hole is dug in the box about 2 feet deep. The removed dirt is placed around the outside of the box to protect the box from the cold. The bottom of the hole is filled about 2/3s full of pure horse manure. The manure is then covered about 6 inches deep with very good top soil with some spagnum peat mixed with it. The sun shinning through the glass top will heat the top area, and the wet manure will ferment or heat up causing the top soil to stay warm all night.
I don't think that is what you really want to know about. A COLD FRAME is the same thing without the hole filled with horse manure. You can't plant as early in a COLD FRAME as you can in a HOT BED. However you can get a two or three week head start on the time you could plant seeds out in the gardens or beds without protection. The size of the box you build is dependant on what you can find to cover the top of it with. Many cold frames are set up with the north side about 6 inches higher than the south side, thus alowing a better sun angle on the top. Either one of the discribed boxes have to be monitered during the day to prevent it from overheating due to the sun coming through the glass top. It is common to prop up one end of the glass with a stick to let the heat escape. Plant the seeds in little rows about 3 inches between the rows.

Let's have a show of hands if there are any questions. (OR HELP) UNK

[doc623]

YES THAT IS BASICALLY WHAT i AM LOOKING FOR.
I MADE A FRAME YESTERDAY. HAVE AN OLD WINDOW FOR THE TOP.
I HAVE A SOURCE FOR HORSE MANURE AND A DRIED GROUND COW MANURE.
I HAVE A GOOD SOURCE FOR TOPSOIL.


QUESTIION?
HAVE YOU EVER USED THE ROLLS FROM PAPER TOWS OR TP FOR PLANTING THE SEEDS IN THE COLD FRAME/HIOT BED?

[ldc]

No, doc623, I never used the rolls for planting either in the frame or hotbed; the tradition used to be to plant in the ground. Sometimes (when I lived in NJ) I might have a pot of herbs in the coldframe, but everything else was in the ground. If you are thinking about using the rolls so you don't have to carefully separate the roots later when you plant them out, I'm not sure. The rolls might rot or mold before planting time. Good luck w this! ldc

[uncle Will in In.]

I suppose you could use them if you wanted to. I think the coldframe would soak up the sun better without the paper tubes shading part of the soil. Most people used to plant the things that bthey transplanted directly into ground, such as tomatoes cabbage, brocc. pepers and the like.. Most of these plants were pulled up and put into the garden bare rooted. It don't get much simpler than that. The plants need to be put into a good sized hole with room for the roots to spread out and soaked really well, with daily watering until the plants get established. Something we do that really give newly transplanted plants a big boost, is cover them with a clear plastic jug with the bottom cut out and the cap discarded. This protects the plant from wind and foul weather. We water the new plants through the top spout. The ground don't dry out so quickly with the jug over the plant. The plants will outgrow non protected plants two to one. Gallon vinegar jugs are better than milk jugs. UNK

[Lazy J]

Oh my, the thread title got me...... I won't comment.........


:-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

[doc623]

No I was referring to putting the cut off rolls being put into the soil and filled with dirt of the cold bed/hot box and starting the seeds in a confined space so that you may keep track and later identify plants from weeds and etc. Just a way to confine the plants initially.
Then when the plants are big enough to transplant into the garden; you simply remove from the rolls and plant.
Not to keep the plants confined in the paper rolls.
I guess I didn't make that clear.

[wally]

lazy j....LMAO