Enjoy Fresh Veggies in Winter with Greenhouse Vegetable Gardening
Vegetables can be grown any time of year when you utilize greenhouse vegetable gardening methods. Growing vegetables greenhouse style is almost the same as producing them from a garden outside in the summer. You merely need to supplement what nature provides that a greenhouse cannot.
There are two different techniques of using a portable greenhouse. One is known as the cold greenhouse technique and that’s when only the sun during the day gives the greenhouse its heat. The temperature at nighttime typically goes down to about 45 degrees at the coldest and heat does kick on when it gets very cold outside. No growing takes place in this kind of greenhouse, however you can maintain many plants that will come back in the summertime such as rosemary.
Greenhouse vegetables need to have warmth and the second method, the warm greenhouse system, should be used in this case. This technique will require more financial outlay since the temperature cannot fall below 55 degrees F. A heating system must be installed into your garden greenhouse. You can use a propane, electric or gas heater.
Most vegetables can be cultivated in a greenhouse. There are several types of each vegetable that are available in plants developed specifically for greenhouse growing. Look in seed catalogs to find those varieties. You want to look for kinds that will thrive in cooler temperatures than normal. You also want to find varieties that are more compact because room is at a minimum in a greenhouse.
Among the things you need to offer your greenhouse vegetables other than heat is pollination. You will not find any bees or other insects in your greenhouse that you would in the outdoors. A great example is cultivating tomatoes. Tie tomatoes to bamboo stakes and once the flowers appear tap the stakes once in the morning and once at nighttime. Do this when you see that the flower petals are curving backwards. You must watch daily because you just have a three day window of time that the flower petals will do this.
You’ll need to supplement sunlight throughout the winter too so plan on supplying grow lights in a winter greenhouse. Plants generally need 8 hours of sunlight per day. You’ll also have to supply water and fertilizer regularly.
Greenhouse vegetables during the wintertime can be hard to work with, more so than in the summer, but it can be very rewarding. Tomatoes can be picked out of the greenhouse in the dead of wintertime. You will be able to enjoy fresh veggies any time of year.
