wrote:

So does a solid bed mean I use a flat edges trowel to put adhesive on
and dont comb through any grooves?

No, it means that you apply a thickness of adhesive, typically 4-6mm and
lightly comb the surface. The idea is that air does not get trapped
behind the adhesive giving maximum contact area and leaving no voids
which fail to support the tile under point loads. For uneven floors, the
thickness can be increased locally to the maximum specified by the
manufacturer. As you are not a professional tiler, if this is the case,
patching the floor with PVA/mortar at least a day before is the easy
route to follow.

http://www.axp.mdx.ac.uk/~john49/faq0.htm

will give a pointer to my tiling FAQ, but also to the rest of mine.

John Schmitt