[boosmummy]

can anyone help me, i keep reading about hot heaps and cold heaps? i keep reading about them but im unsure what they are    xx

[arugula]

As far as I understand it, cold compost is just your regular mix of kitchen veg scraps, eggshells, newspaper, card, grass cutting, leaves etc. Just a general mix of everything. A hot compost requires much more management and a much more closely controlled mix of "green" and "brown" waste which causes a much higher temperature to be reached. Hot compost will be ready as compost, much more quickly but you may find the extra time and effort not worth the trouble.

Does that make any sense?

[sunshineband]

Yes, that's it really... management.

The average heap just gets built up as it goes -- and gets warm but not hot as it rots.

For a hot heap, you need all the materials to hand at the start of building it, and add them in thin layers: green wet materials, kitchen waste, chopped stalks, shredded paper, sometimes manure too.
This all heats up really quickly and rots down all the the same time. generally turned once too .

First one works well enough for most of us -- just don't put weeds seeds in it as they won't be killed off 

[boosmummy]

ah thats grand thanks, it does make sense, i think ill just stick to a cold heap i think im going to try and make it out of crates x

[Kleftiwallah]

Unless you mean the practise of building a large heap from fresh manure covered with a layer of topsoil and as the manure rots down gives off heat and warms the topsoil.   You use this heat to obtain a very early crop of i,e. salads under a cloche.    Cheers,    Tony.

[JayG]

Agree with Argyllie! 

Hot composting is what we probably all aspire to as it is quicker, and also (should) kill most weed seeds, viruses, harmful bacteria and fungi.

Hard to achieve in practice because the right mix (and lots of it all at the same time) is essential and rarely achieved by those just chucking bits and pieces into the dalek or compost bin.

Any compost is better than no compost though, but unless you can really "raise some steam" you need to be careful what you put on your heap (i.e. no diseased material and try not to incorporate anything which has gone to seed - even tomatoes and squashes can turn out to be weeds in the wrong circumstances.)

[sunshineband]

Weeding tomatoes out from under our runner beans --- know what you mean JayG 

[arugula]

Agree with Argyllie! 

Again?!   

[sunshineband]

Agree with Argyllie!  

Again?!  

Carefull -- sit down slowly and .... breathe 

[JayG]

Agree with Argyllie!  

Again?!  
Carefull -- sit down slowly and .... breathe 

I'm finding that breathing and relaxation exercises are quite helpful in these circumstances!   

[TerryB]

Unless you mean the practise of building a large heap from fresh manure covered with a layer of topsoil and as the manure rots down gives off heat and warms the topsoil.   You use this heat to obtain a very early crop of i,e. salads under a cloche.    Cheers,    Tony.

I think this is called a hot bed.

It is usually made with fresh horse manure.
Try it once, inside greenhouse at the end of winter but not succesfull, maybe didn't make it big enough.