Hot beds with wood chips?

[Heritage]

Tania,

It will interesting to see what results you end up with. I have added some supplemental heat to my winter greenhouses using 2.5' X 4' X 4' piles. I use alfalfa, leaves, and corn stalks in the pile and it usually stays very hot for about 3 weeks and then gradually cools down. I use the pile as bottom heat to root dahlia cuttings (sides are wire with plastic and removable boards on top.) I keep two piles going so I always have one pile hot. I have not yet mastered the correct watering and turning schedule that would allow me to rely on only one pile. Even with my unscientific methods I am getting a worthwhile amount of heat.

Good luck, please keep us posted!
Steve

[Tania]

I checked the woodchips/coffee grinds pile today. It is still quite hot. 132F 3-4" deep.
Watered it nicely today.

[MrBig46]

What is coffee grinds ?
Vladimír

[Zana]

Originally Posted by MrBig46

What is coffee grinds ?
Vladimír

The left over ground up coffee beans from making coffee.

[MrBig46]

Yet it is not clear to me. Is cofee grinds a waste of production (roasting) coffee beans? And where do you get it?
Vladimír

[Zana]

After you've made coffee from the ground beans, you have a waste product that is compostible - or in this case can be added to the hot beds.

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by MrBig46

Yet it is not clear to me. Is cofee grinds a waste of production (roasting) coffee beans? And where do you get it?
Vladimír

No Vladimir. Coffee grounds are the used portion left after making a pot of coffee, like the spent tea leaves after brewing a pot of tea. Here in US and Canada, coffee is more popular than hot tea. So nearly everyone has spent used up coffee grounds. We also get them from cafes or coffee shops like Starbucks.

[Tania]

Vladimir,

Yes, it is a waste from the coffee shop - we get it from a local Starbucks coffee shop. They usually have anywhere from 1 to 6 garbage bags, half-full, every day (unless someone else takes them away before Stan comes). Yes, Stan takes them from their garbage bin .

Cheers,
Tatiana

[MrBig46]

I drink only two cups of coffee a day.

I have no other choice, so I'll have to deal with otherwise.
Vladimír

[Tania]

Originally Posted by MrBig46

I drink only two cups of coffee a day.

I have no other choice, so I'll have to deal with otherwise.
Vladimír

We do not drink coffee at all

Vladimir, instead of coffee grinds, you can use any other 'green' waste, like kitchen waste, fresh leaves, grass, alfalfa.

Tatiana

[Tania]

Todays update - the half of the pile that got very good soaking cooled down significantly (to 102F). The half that got less water is still going at 132F.

I am thinking perhaps I should not be turning it and soaking at the same time.

Starting another experimental pile with the same ingredients, but I will not be turning it. I will be watering the layers as we pule them on, and once the height is 2', we will stop piling and watering.

We'll see how long this one will stay hot.

Cheers,
Tatiana

[Tracydr]

I have one of those barrels that spin head over foot on a stand. I cleaned out my horse trailer, which was mostly pine shavings and urine, a bit of manure, and started the bin with this 3 weeks ago. I've been adding the coffee grinds from two pots of coffee and kitchen scraps/paper towels,etc, daily. It heated up in 2-3 days and there is a noticeable heat coming off when I take the kid off to add.
It's not very big, maybe a 30-40 gallon barrel and I only fill about 2/3rds full. As the old stuff shrinks and I keep adding to it I keep the level the same and keep it hot. I turn it everyday. In a couple of months, I'll stop adding and give it another 1-2 months to finish off.
I did this last winter using poultry waste and it also made amazing compost, despite the bin's small size.
I was thinking, you could have 3-5 of these going in a greenhouse and probably get a good amount of heat.

[Tracydr]

Originally Posted by Tania

Zana, I have no idea - first time experimenting!

We are thinking about building a plywood box 4'x8'x2', fill it with the layers and put a piece of plywood on top. Then cold frame comes on top. The cold frame will hold seedlings in February/March.

I am hoping it will stay warn enough, so we can leave the seedlings there for the night.

So far it looks too hot to plant anything there, even if you top it up with 1' compost/soil. I think the soil will be too hot. Plus, it will not be possible to stir the pile when it start to cool down (that will be necessary to give it another 'kick' for heating up again).

A few years ago I had some new raised beds and no dirt to put in them as our house in AZ was "landscaped" with a foot of gravel, river rocks and had a hard pan caliche underneath.
I have horses and I cleaned out the paddocks, adding pick-up loads to the garden to fill it to the brim. I planted directly into this ( most of the manure was very well aged) and then planted directly in it. It warmed up for a few weeks and the seedlings grew like crazy. Luckily, it cooled off as the weather was heating up.
That was the only year in AZ that I got a decent crop of tomatoes, although that was probably weather related more than anything.

[Tania]

The pile is still quite hot, although the temperature dropped to 126F 4" down. I am sure it is hotter if we dig further. I find that it stays hotter when covered (we covered it with plastic garbage bags, to keep it moist). It is in full shade, so it does not get any additional heat from sun.

Tracy,

Lucky you to have manure! That certainly helps to heat it up.
We only have coffee grinds and wood chips, and some limited kitchen scraps we produce in our household.

Also, with the wood chips, I was wondering if turning the pile may not be such a good idea, as turning will break fungi mycelium (strands). I thought fungi is what breaks down cellulose and lignin in the wood chips. What do you think?

Tatiana

[Redbaron]

Turning heats it up faster.