How to make hotbed with own hands

How to make hotbed with own hands

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The hotbed established on personal plot allows to receive early harvest of vegetables, berries, greens. The home greenhouse can function during the summer period or provide with seven vitamins all the year round. It is not obligatory to involve professional builders, good hotbed it is possible to make with own hands.

Hotbeds: what they happen

Having decided to build the greenhouse the hands, it is necessary to count its sizes in advance, to pick up the suitable place, material, to think over design. Depending on assignment the hotbeds are divided into winter and summer. The first can function during the whole year, the second use for acceleration of vegetative cycle and receiving earlier harvest.

Hotbeds divide also on other signs:

The most widespread and inexpensive option – film hotbed. Dense polyethylene is pulled on metal support or wooden frames. The roof of such greenhouse can be arched, lean-to or dual-slop. Film hotbeds perfectly are suitable for early grades of tomatoes and cucumbers, garden radish, cabbage, spicy greens.

More expensive design means use of cellular carbonate. Sheets strengthen in support from metalplastic or aluminum. On sale ready sets for independent assembly are provided. The hotbed can be used all the year round, planting seedling of vegetables and flowers, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, squash, garden wild strawberry, exotic plants.

If on the site there is no place for the spacious greenhouse, the small hotbed can be attached to wall of the house, shed or other farm building. Such design perfectly are suitable for cultivation of high lianas: cucumbers, tomatoes, grapes.   

When choosing roof it should be taken into account cultures which will be grown up in hotbed. The double-pitch roof provides excellent insolation and ventilation, it is ideal for photophilous plants: vegetables, flowers, berries. The arch design is simple in mounting, the film tense on it gives the soft diffused light suitable for the majority of vegetable cultures.

The single-pitch roof is more often used for wall hotbeds. The greenhouse is simple in service, it is simpler to carry out necessary communications to it. The single-pitch roof with strong bias does not need to be cleaned from snow, at the correct designing it independently slides off smooth surface.

Options for summer

The easy film or glazed hotbed – the only chance for inhabitants of the northern regions wishing to receive good result. In many areas such thermophilic cultures as cucumbers, just will not ripen in the open air. The greenhouse will protect gentle plants from night frosts, dry air, heavy rains and other vagaries of the weather. In summer hotbeds it is convenient to grow up seedling which then can be moved on beds.

At summer designs there are a lot of advantages:

It is possible to refer temperature restrictions to minuses. Light-weight summer constructions are not suitable for use in the early spring or in the fall. At the end of season of design it is necessary to sort and transfer to the shelter.

All-weather greenhouses

Capital winter hotbeds are necessary to the people dreaming to reap crop in the winter, late fall and in the early spring. In the summer heating it is possible to disconnect and use design as the shelter for thermophilic plants.

All-weather designs are reliable and durable. They do not need to be sorted at the end of season, correctly established hotbed quietly will worry winter. There are many options of winter greenhouses, the plot owner can choose the hotbed suitable for specific climatic zone.

However at winter greenhouses there are a lot of shortcomings. The main – the high price. To the initial cost of materials expenses on year-round heating increase. From time to time it is necessary to do small repair, replacing the damaged covering, changing support, usovershenstvuya heating, watering and ventilating systems. In the winter the roof needs to be cleaned from snow. The bulky design occupies considerable part of the site, at incorrectly chosen arrangement it will be very difficult to move it.  

The original hotbed thermos will help to save. For its creation it is necessary to dig deep trench which is covered with double-pitch roof from double polyethylene. Minus designs complexity of service of hotbed and harvesting. Great advantage – economy on heating during the winter period.

Material selection

For creation of framework choose arches or frames from tree or metal. For covering use polyethylene film, cellular polycarbonate, glass.

Polyethylene film – the most available material for the beginning gardeners. Among advantages of covering there are low price, possibility of tension of any framework, ease. The film hotbed is well protected from wind, but demands additional heating and good ventilation. It is necessary to update plastic each 2-3 years. It collapses under the influence of the sun, is deformed from rain, suffers from rats and birds. The film can be used for winter hotbeds, but in this case it fix in 2 layers and update annually.

Glass looks very esthetically and is suitable for creation of winter greenhouses for exotic plants. Demands very careful mounting and strong support. Quality material costs expensive. Some gardeners build hotbeds from old double-glazed windows, however such constructions do not differ in stability, are blown and badly pass light.

Experienced gardeners and farmers prefer covering from cellular polycarbonate. This material differs in durability, is suitable for summer or winter hotbeds, well passes light, suppresses wind gusts. Polycarbonate can be bent and cut, creating designs of any form. The covering is not deformed, well transfers frosts and snow.   

Where to establish the greenhouse: preparatory work

That plants well developed, it is important to arrange correctly hotbed. For it choose the open flat place far from trees and other sources of shadow. It is desirable that the space was lit throughout the day. Wall designs need to be established so that the transparent wall has been turned to the South.

After the choice of the place the drawing of future hotbed is formed. On the scheme the arrangement of doors, windows for ventilation is marked. It is necessary to calculate excavating depth and height of the base, the sizes of the hotbed, arrangement of watering system, width of passes. 

When the drawing is made and checked, it is possible to start territory marking. On perimeter of future ditch pegs are driven in. Further actions depend on what hotbed is going to be constructed.   

Base options: basis of qualitative hotbed

For the winter greenhouse it is necessary to dig out rather deep ditch. At first the fertile soil layer which is useful for creation of beds is removed. Excavating depth depends on weather conditions. In midland for the winter greenhouse it is enough to dig out hole of 1700 mm in depth, 2000-5000 mm wide. Length is chosen randomly. Such sizes allow to organize economic services of heating and watering. At edge of ditch the flat descent for door is dug out.

One more option of the winter greenhouse assumes filling of the base. On perimeter the trench of 300 mm in depth is dug out. In trench fill up layer of sand and crushed stone. Along trench the timbering with small deepening is established then previously mixed concrete solution is filled in. That in the base the air bells reducing structural strength after filling concrete several times were not formed pierce spade. In svezhezality solution establish metal pipes of support.    

Hotbed on the wooden basis: step-by-step instruction

The all-weather hotbed can be established on wooden frame from bar. The design is not too difficult for mounting, is reliable and steady. Will be necessary for its creation:

In the superficial trench which is dug out on perimeter of future greenhouse fill up sand, atop stack the basis from the boards impregnated with antibacterial structure. The basis has to lie densely, otherwise the design can be deformed. Gaps are closed up by stones or brick, the design is verified by level.

On corners of wooden frame fixers from pieces of armature about 700 ml long are from the inside driven in. Longer metal rods I am driven outside, on surface there have to be not less than 800 mm.  

Put on metal plastic pipes the pieces of armature which are sticking out of the earth, creating framework of arched roof. In the lower part they are fixed by metal loops and self-tapping screws. The edge parties amplify wooden bars. As additional fixer the long metal plastic pipe strengthened in the center on all length of hotbed will serve. Plastic collars or construction adhesive tape will help to record it.

The framework is with an overlap covered with dense polyethylene film. In the lower part of hotbed the film fastens to box metal brackets and the stapler. In aperture for door polyethylene is bent inside.

The door is produced from wooden rails on which pull film and fixed brackets. The product is hung on loops, the ventilating aperture from the opposite side of hotbed is in the same way made out.

Author: «MirrorInfo» Dream Team

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