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Gays Mills, Wisconsin

I seek of thee fellow growers ideas for heating soil for about 30 gays w/o the use of electricity or burning fuel.

Anyone thought of or have experience using a subsurface compost pile that'll break down/heat up the soil (which is under a clotche) for early planting? I can perceive possibilities but would it work? What other ideas are there?

TY
John

3/28/2009 5:47:47 PM

Gays Mills, Wisconsin

What? 30 gays? of course I meant 30 days. No idea why 30 gays would need the soil warmed up.

3/28/2009 5:57:58 PM

Frankfort Ohio

whats on your mind ? lol

3/28/2009 6:29:17 PM

Menomonie, WI ([email protected])

I think if you made a mound with a aeration pipe it would work. Composting needs oxygen

3/28/2009 7:09:38 PM

Menomonie, WI ([email protected])

I also think a solar pool heater would do the trick with about a coil buried and about 250 on the surface.

3/28/2009 7:10:39 PM

Picton,ON ([email protected])

We have used the black plasic thing for several years and find it works pretty well.

This year we are going to try a few heating cables.

We always dig down a foot and a half or so an remove the old wet soil and replace with compost/ peat moss.

3/28/2009 7:31:17 PM

Western NY

my simple solution:

http://bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=62044

kind of want to make sure you don't really overheat things on the super sunny days, but it does a good job i think.

3/28/2009 8:56:50 PM

Denver, CO

Have never tried the hot pit idea beofore.
But last year I accomplished what you are asking by using soil heating cabels hooked to a marine battery and run through an inverter. Not a cheap setup, about $100 for the battery and Inverter. Then you also will need a battery charger because even a marine battery will only make it about 9 hours at a stretch (1 cable). Charger is about another $20 at Wal-mart. Takes about 14 hours to charge a marine battery so its a constant operation of charge, run and charge again.

Takes about two weeks to get soil to temp at which time, just 4 hours a day will keep it there. It does work but it's alot of effort, much more then it sounds like.

I am not going to do it again this year, Just to much running back and forth from the patch.

3/28/2009 11:33:15 PM

Gays Mills, Wisconsin

Thanks for the feedback.

3/29/2009 1:41:46 PM

Garden State Pumpkins

Hoop house and deep buried greens....take a look back at Alun J's diaries a few year back...he had a glass hoop house and double dug in the greens if I remember correctly... said he had his best year back then with this process...hoop house was always up ..so the earlier the better...GrowEmBig! Chuck

4/1/2009 4:37:32 PM