hot bed

[marathon]

Can I use chicken manure for a hot bed? Have loads of the stuff

I was wondering if I could try to plant a cucumber plant early but as my polytunnelisn't heated I felt it would be too cold at night.

Would a hot bed help?

How deep whould it have to be, what could I get away with, the bed in the pt are about 25cm high which I guess i could make higher by placing a wooden frame on top

[rustylady]

Hot beds were traditionally made with cattle or horse manure, fairly bulky and usually mixed with straw. The heat is produced by the manure/straw composting or rotting down. Chicken poo is not bulky enough I would have thought, and would have to be mixed with straw or something, but if you could get the mix right it should produce enough heat when rotting down. Lord knows what it would smell like, though

[marathon]

Hot beds were traditionally made with cattle or horse manure, fairly bulky and usually mixed with straw. The heat is produced by the manure/straw composting or rotting down. Chicken poo is not bulky enough I would have thought, and would have to be mixed with straw or something, but if you could get the mix right it should produce enough heat when rotting down. Lord knows what it would smell like, though

Yes. All the info does suggest cow or horse manure. I do have some straw so could mix that in.

I might try it but perhaps not in the PT but outside in a faraway corner of the plot.

[bridget mc laughlin]

Best to use horse or cattle manure. it can take quite a bit of manure to make a hot bed worthy of a few melons. I've tried and failed many times. Altough it can be great for pumpkins on the second or 3rd year.

[Paulottie]

Chicken guano great for compost heap...will make that hot. I think your a bit late for a hotbed by now anyway....takes a few weeks to get up to temp etc. I don't know about melons etc...greenhouse easier.