1. Start your hotbed 6 to 8 weeks before your transplanting time in the garden. Any earlier will get too much cold weather which a hot bed can't avert.
2. Cold tolerant plants such as cabbage can typically be started 3 to 4 weeks before tomato seed can be placed in the hot bed.
3. Leaving plants too long in a hot bed can cause them to get spindly from overcrowding and the root system can get too intertwined to easily separate the plants.
4. A hotbed should be in the warmest location with maximum sunlight. On the south side of a building or tall board fence with protection from West winds is preferred.
5. It should be easily accessible so plants can be tended to quickly and easily even if it means opening the bed on an unfavorable day.
6. Drainage is critical. If you make a trench and rain fills it full, you won't get many plants.
7. Dig the pit 3.5 to 4 feet deep, 2 to 3 feet wide, and as long as you want.
8. Line the sides with lumber to keep rodents out! Make a frame from the bottom of the pit extending 1 foot above ground level and bevel the top as needed to give the window sashes a southerly slope.
9. Procure enough fresh horse manure and tree leaves to fill the hot bed nearly full. Place in the pit and leave it to begin heating. When it is thoroughly hot measuring 100 degrees or more, pack it down thoroughly.
10. Pile 4 to 5 inches of very fine topsoil on top of the manure. It should be nearly level with the ground surface. Now cover it with the sashes and wait until the temperature is 90 degrees. Check the soil moisture, the soil should be very loose and crumbly, not over moist.
11. Plant seed in the soil and watch them grow!
DarJones - who just happens to have a nice copy of the 1911 Garden Library book "The Vegetable Garden" to look up things like how to make a hot bed.
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