The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Growing => Vegetables => Topic started by: alang on February 17, 2018, 07:46:56 pm
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Was doing some thinking this afternoon whilst processing some firewood. Would painting the raised beds black help absorb heat and thus help get the soil warmer earlier? I know it may sound like a stupid thing but it all started when my son asked me why the fridge freezer was white. I explained it was to reflect heat away and this got the old grey matter smoking.
Any thoughts?
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What will help to raise the soil temperature would be covering the raised beds with the dreaded black plastic.
We are thinking about doing this but still have to figure out how to get the plastic secure in the bed and not flying around the allotment site at the first big wind.
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Because wood is such a good insulator, I can't see much advantage of painting the outside of your raised beds - if the wood is thick enough to support the beds adequately then it will be too thick to transfer heat to the inside. As Cans says, best to cover the beds to warm them up or if they're deep then put fresh manure in the deep bottom so that will warm the soil as it rots down. We do have a couple of raised beds although we mostly grow on the flat. We painted the beds with the same coloured preservative as our multicoloured hen houses and compost heaps - just because it looks pretty ::)
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What will help to raise the soil temperature would be covering the raised beds with the dreaded black plastic.
We are thinking about doing this but still have to figure out how to get the plastic secure in the bed and not flying around the allotment site at the first big wind.
Dig a narrow trench and bury the edges of the plastic. That works for me
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My raised beds are 2 and a half feet deep at least. Chicken shed residue on the bottom which consists of shredded paper and guana. A really thick layer of that - about a foot or more. Then good compost on top (or not so good depending on what I want to grow). Beds are made of old pallet wood, so about an inch think. If you put a rod right to the bottom it comes out really warm. So I can't see a need for additional insulation.
Needs topping up every year, but plenty of chicken mature here, and an occasional top up of compst if equired. Rotation of raised beds of course - I have four one metre square and two which are one meter by two metres.
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What will help to raise the soil temperature would be covering the raised beds with the dreaded black plastic.
We are thinking about doing this but still have to figure out how to get the plastic secure in the bed and not flying around the allotment site at the first big wind.
I put old tyres and bricks on top of the plastic and it held it for several months last summer killing all grass and weeds underneath.
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your not likely to gain anything from painting the wood black. Best bet for warming the soil is a black liner on top, or better still a good layer of mulch or even better well rotted compost.
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Cheers everyone. It was at least worth the ask. Best i get on and build the things now then or the OH will not be best pleased