Biofuel preparation technology and hotbed filling for vegetable crops

The efficiency of heating a hotbed directly depends on how uniformly the biofuel heats up. 7–10 days before filling, the prepared heating materials must be shovelled, thoroughly mixed, and piled into loose mounds. If the mounds have frozen during the winter or are heating up too slowly, the process will need to be started forcibly.

• Preparation of biofuel mounds — 7–10 days before
• Forced heating period — January–February
• Soil thickness for seedlings — 12–16 cm
• Additional filling — after 3–7 days

To quickly activate frozen manure in early hotbeds (when laying in January-February), a temporary brick stove with a flue and single-brick pipes is used. The cold manure is placed onto the stove, the stove is lit, and as it warms up, the batches of raw material are replaced with new ones. For smaller volumes of biofuel, simpler methods of heating the mound are suitable:

• placing hot horse manure in the center or in separate pockets;
• watering the mound with hot water;
• placing hot stones, bricks, or quicklime inside.

The heated biofuel is laid into the hotbed in sections. To avoid cooling the manure during work, follow a strict sequence of actions.

1. Start filling from the edge of the hotbed under one or several frames, placing cooler manure at the bottom and top, and hot manure in the middle.
2. Thoroughly lay and compact the manure along the walls of the hotbed frames to prevent voids from forming as the loose material settles.
3. Immediately cover each filled section with frames and mats.
4. Sequentially proceed to the next frames until the entire hotbed is filled to the top of the frames.

Laying the soil layer and caring for a burning hotbed

3–7 days after filling, the hotbeds are inspected. If the cultivation of low-growing crops is planned, an additional filling of the settled biofuel is carried out. For tall plants, such as tomatoes, secondary filling is not required. After this, soil is quickly poured over the heated manure to avoid cooling the hotbed.

The soil is carefully leveled and loosened with iron rakes or pitchforks. The thickness of the soil layer depends on the purpose of the plantings: 12–16 cm is sufficient for growing transplants of most crops, while for growing vegetables for harvest, the layer is increased to 25 cm.