The growing season is a critical moment for the life of plants, especially cultivated ones. In most of them, it begins when the ambient temperature reaches 12 degrees. Having received a signal that it is safe enough around, the plant “triggers” the mechanism of growth and development, and subsequently flowering and fruiting.
The sooner the heat comes, the longer the growing season, the larger the crop can be harvested. But what about gardeners in those regions where the warm period is not long enough for garden plants to fully "fit" into it ? Particularly accustomed to warm soil and subtropical expanse. Warm beds come to their aid.
It’s worth explaining right away in order to prevent mistakes: for their heating the device of greenhouses or hotbeds is not used,
heating pipe systems are not laid
. A warm bed for heating the root system of plants uses the natural process of heat generation by organics during its decomposition.
The device of warm beds
The most perfect warm beds can be created in baskets: in addition to all the advantages, they are protected from infection by weed seeds. The box should be 40-50 cm deep and at least 40 cm wide, any length. It is built from old boards, pieces of slate, brick, etc. material.
The entire filler of the box is divided into carbon-containing (paper, rags, dry foliage, dried sawdust) and nitrogen-containing (grass, tops, food waste, manure). The bottom of the box is covered with wood (branches, hemp, rotting pieces of boards and logs). “Carbon” and “nitrogen” layers, sprinkled with ash and lime, are laid out on this litter, alternating and slightly tamped. To speed up the decomposition process, each layer can be treated with a compost biological product. Additional heating can be achieved by mulching the topmost layer with compost or covering the box with black film.
Now you need to wait about a week, during which the decomposition of organics will warm the warm beds to +25. After that, a layer of soil with a thickness of at least 20-30 cm is poured into the box, in which, in fact, the plants will be planted. It can be fertile land or a mixture of land from a summer cottage and compost (1: 2).
You can equip warm beds in the spring, when the period of tillage begins. But the best time is still autumn: the lion's share of the work in the vegetable garden and in the garden is completed, the harvest is harvested, there is more free time and much more organic waste to fill the box.
It is desirable to arrange the boxes, orienting them along the east-west line, so that they are warmed up by the sun's rays from above. A great location - at the house or outbuildings on the south side. Firstly, warm beds will be protected from the north winds, and secondly, the southern wall, heated by
the sun during the day, will radiate the accumulated heat at night just to the plants.
Take care of sufficient hydration of the warm beds so that the decomposition of organics does not stop. If the summer is hot, mulch the bed with light material (straw, paper, burnt grass).
In warm beds, seeds or seedlings can be planted 3-4 weeks before the planting date. In addition to the early harvest, plants are provided with better nutrition and are more resistant to traditional diseases.