Not everyone has a greenhouse. We get it. Greenhouses require an upfront investment, can raise your utility bill each month, and there are a lot of decisions that need to be made, so it’s easy to get choice paralysis. Still, those of us who live in the colder parts of the USA (the parts that get snow and have to deal with winter) recognize that growing outside is no longer feasible once November rolls around. While having a state-of-the-art climate-controlled greenhouse alleviates this issue, there are additional ways to grow in cold weather. Cold frames, hoop houses, covers, and other garden accessories allow dedicated growers to mind their gardens through the winter months at minimal cost.
Cold Frames
Cold frames are a form of greenhouse, though they’re much less high tech than a modern greenhouse. In fact, a cold frame doesn’t even need electricity to keep your plants warm. Instead, a cold frame possesses a transparent lid made from glass, plastic, or polycarbonate. This lid focuses light onto the plants, warming the inside of the cold frame, creating a microclimate, and increasing the amount of sunlight your plants receive. Still, cold frames do have their limitations. It’s difficult to truly overwinter a plant using a cold frame. Instead, cold frames extend the growing season. When you use a cold frame, you can harvest plants later and plant seeds for spring earlier. While the air inside your cold frame will be warm, the soil will still gradually freeze. You can slow down the freezing of your soil by adding hay, peat moss, or woodchips to your soil.
Dark, leafy greens do well in cold frames. You’ll be able to harvest spinach, cabbage, and kale well into winter with a cold frame. You’ll also find success with root vegetables like potatoes and carrots. Once the weather gets warmer, simply put the cold frame lid into storage and you’ll be left with an ordinary gardening bed.
Hoop Houses
Hoop houses offer a more substantial level of protection than cold frames, which allows the avid grower to cultivate a wider range of crops throughout the winter. Like cold frames, hoop houses are also relatively low cost, though they are noticeably more expensive than cold frames. They consist of flexible hoops, typically made of PVC or metal then covered with a durable plastic sheeting. Unlike cold frames, which typically have soil at the bottom, hoop houses are more commonly used with raised-bed gardens. If you’re looking to overwinter a large number of plants, hoop houses tend to scale better than cold frames.
The vegetables you overwinter in a hoop house are similar to those that thrive in cold frames, so think along the lines of lettuces and radishes.
Frost Covers
Unlike cold frames and hoop houses, frost covers are best used as a temporary solution. If you’re looking to seriously extend your growing season, invest in a hoop house or cold frame. In fact, the plastic sheeting found on the outside of a hoop house is very similar to the tarp that comprises a frost cover. A frost cover is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a sort of blanket that you can lay down over plants to protect them from frost. This can be handy if you have a weird cold snap in early October or early May, but it’s not something that will sustain you through an entire winter.
ARBICO Organics was founded in 1979 in Arizona. Over 40 years later, ARBICO Organics continues to produce innovative means of natural biological pest control and disease management for hobbyists and professionals alike.
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