Re: CULT: answers - hotbed

Judging from the responses to my original post, I guess this is mostly
for Betty and (maybe) Griff.

From the Roane County Extension guy:

Maximum temperature the compost can reach is 165oF.  Above that, the
bacteria die off faster than they can produce heat.  Mine topped out at
about 150oF a few days ago.  He says this first anaerobic fermentation
is the hottest and fastest part of the process.

He wasn't able to guess how long it would stay above freezing, but he
said I could easily keep it going till spring by turning it, or if that
doesn't heat it up enough, adding more alfalfa pellets whenever the
temperature drops too low to suit me.  From what I've read and can
remember of the one successful hotbed I did decades ago, it should stay
above freezing for at least a month without doing anything more to it.

Griff, it doesn't smell bad to me - reminds me of fermenting corn silage
- sort of a beer-like aroma.  And I don't notice it at all unless I lift
the cover.

Might smell considerably different if the manure was on top of the
alfalfa pellets instead of the other way around.
--
Linda Mann east Tennessee USA zone 7/8
East Tennessee Iris Society <http://www.korrnet.org/etis>
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