I have a great friend who is seventy seven years old. He has a green house and has decided for the first time to try to grow some vegetables now instead of waiting until spring. He has found that he can keep the night time temp in the 40's and 50's. He would like to try growing some vegetables. Has anyone grown veggies at this time of year in a cold climate? What did you grow? Also he likes to grow flowers so if you have any pointers there too. He is a really nice guy and I want to see him have good luck with this. Any extra info that you can add would be helpful. This man has offered me loads of advise in the years and I would like to help him with this project but I need your helpful hints. Thanks! George

-- george nh (rcoopwalpole@aol.com), January 18, 2002

Answers

The plants that I put in in the fall are in a holding pattern right now. The pansies went in blooming and still are, The veggies are healthy but appear to be in suspended animation. I have seen this in cold frames before: as soon as the weather warms up they will grow much faster than transplanted plants. In Iowa I used to be eating my spinach, lettuce and non-heading cabbage when my neighbors were just putting their bought frost-hardy plants in the ground.

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), January 18, 2002.

Hi George Where does your friend live? Besides temperature, many plants are day-length sensitive. That means if there aren't a minimum number of hours of sunshine (or its equivalent) some plants just don't do well. For those things you would need to supplement with gro-lights or the equivalent. Peas like cooler temperatures, as do things in the cabbage family. I'll have to check my garden notes and get back to you. It's waaaay too early for me to start yet here in Northern Ontario. It's 5:30pm and almost dark, it was dark when I got up at 7am. Not to mention that everything is white..... Have a good day George.

-- Bernadette Kerr (bernadette_kerr@hotmail.com), January 18, 2002.

Hi Bernadette, He lives in sothwestern New Hamphire and he has grow lights installed already. George

-- george nh (rcoopwalpole@aol.com), January 18, 2002.

I've got a planter box in the front room window with grow lights. I now have a dozen Red Robin cherry tomato plants that have started to fruit out. Cherry tomatoes are great indoor plants for wintertime. I feed them dilute miracle-gro and a liquid mineral suppliment and they really look healthy.

-- bruce (rural@inebraska.com), January 18, 2002.

Hi Bruce.

Do you have to pollinate the tomato plants or do they self pollinate? Thanks, George

-- george nh (rcoopwalpole@aol.com), January 18, 2002.

Personally I don't think there's enuf lite for tomatos yet. Around here its not commercially viable to grow hot house tomatos because of the extra lite requirements.

On the other hand cabbage, lettuce, peas(?), and spinach would do ok.

-- john (natlivent@pcpros.net), January 18, 2002.

Hey George, the other day I was reading an article by Elliot Coleman on this very subject. I hope I bookmarked it, if not I'll find it for ya. The article was in a New England gardening magazine. Coleman has been experimenting with growing certain types of veggies in an unheated greenhouse, year round. If I remember correctly, he had to start the plants in November because of the hours of sunlight. Let me check on where I saw it and I'll post it for ya. If nothing else, it's an interesting article.

-- Annie (mistletoe6@earthlink.net), January 18, 2002.

Here ya go, George.....www.newenglandgardening.com/home.html

On left hand side, click on "sample feature articles", then scroll down to gardening all winter and click on it.

Also, it looks like a pretty neat site for all the northeastern gardeners. There is a garden calendar to click on, on the first page and some other neat stuff.

-- Annie (mistletoe6@earthlink.net), January 18, 2002.

I'm in central MO, USDA zone 5b. I got a 12' x 24' unheated greenhouse as an early Christmas present and made my first plantings of cold tolerant vegetables on 10 December. I now have several varieties of lettuce, spinach, bunching onions, chard, beets, radishes, and some volunteer dill plants coming up. The radishes were the first to emerge but I have true leaves about 1/2" across on the spinach and lettuces. I'm following the suggestions in Coleman's book using floating row cover, etc., although as I said, I didn't get things in until late. I have a friend southwest of St. Louis who grew such vegetables last year in a cattle panel and plastic hoop house when we had a much colder, snowier winter than this is. However, as I type, we have 4" of snow and it's still coming down.

It's so great to go into the hoop house on a cold but sunny day, take off my coat and hat because the temperature inside is near 65o and look at green growing plants.

-- marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), January 19, 2002.

Do you have to pollinate the tomato plants or do they self pollinate? Thanks, George

George,

I just turn a fan on them for 5-10 minutes each day, that seems to be all they need to pollinate.

-- bruce (rural@inebraska.com), January 19, 2002.