How to Heat a Greenhouse With Wood Chips
- 1). Fill a 36-inch-by-36-inch-by-36-inch composting bin halfway with wood chips. Fill the rest of the way with greens from your garden.
- 2). Mix the greens and wood chips together using a hand trowel. If the mixture does not reach the top of the bin, place a square of polyethylene plastic on top of the mixture and tuck around the sides to capture more heat.
- 3). Dig a hole for the bin 1 foot deep inside your greenhouse to take advantage of the earth's heat to aid in the composting process. Place the hole below plant benches, so that rising heat from the compost can warm the plants.
If your greenhouse is not over bare ground, but instead has a floor, simply place your bucket of wood chips in a location underneath plant shelves or benches. - 4). Add water until the mixture is slightly damp.
- 5). Turn the mixture every three to 10 days. This will lengthen the composting time to about six weeks. If you turn the compost every day, composting may be finished in two weeks.
- 6). Check the temperature weekly using a long composting thermometer inserted to the middle of the mixture to ensure the compost is maintaining itself at about 160 degrees. Add water as needed to keep a consistent degree of moisture in the compost.
- 7). Transfer the compost out of your greenhouse after six weeks. At this time, your mixture will most likely be finished composting, and new compost must be started in order to maintain a source of heat for your greenhouse. Store your wood chip compost for two years in buckets or another compost pile before using it in your garden.
