Greenhouse

Many gardeners think vegetables can only be planted in spring, but they can also be planted in fall with either of two goals in mind:

Each winter, many gardeners eagerly look forward to getting back out into the vegetable garden. Most gardeners realize that the average last spring frost date in eastern Nebraska is May 10th. Meaning until that date, some vegetable transplants or new seedlings planted outside may need extra protection in the event of a frost.

For many home gardeners, it's fun to get a head start on the upcoming garden season by starting seedlings indoors. Growing quality seedlings indoors requires high quality seeds, a well-drained, disease-free growing medium, clean sanitized containers, proper temperature and moisture conditions, and adequate light. The best quality transplants are short, stocky and dark green.

The garden centers beckon and planting season has begun. Many gardeners have already started planting seeds of cold-hardy crops like carrots, radishes and lettuce, and ornamentals like panies. But if you've purchased transplants for your garden, or grown them yourself, make sure you get them off to a good start by hardening them off before planting them outside.

A cold frame or hotbed is an easy and inexpensive structure to create. It functions as a small greenhouse, enabling gardeners to extend their growing season in both spring and fall. It can be used to harden off seedlings in spring or grow late season crops of cold tolerant plants like greens.

A major challenge for good growth of houseplants indoors, particularly in winter, is poor light. Most homes are just too dark for plants to grow well in winter, especially those plants requiring high light.

Signs your plants are not getting enough light are small leaves, long thin stems, failure of blooming plants to flower and lighter-than-normal colored foliage. For example, a geranium grown in low light tends to be spindly and have light green leaves, while the same plant in bright light will be shorter, better branched, with larger dark-green leaves.

Winter greenhouse production is nothing new, but rising concerns about heating with fossil fuels and their impact on climate change, have some growers looking for new ways to grow winter crops with less damage to the environment.

Let’s take a look at three techniques, both new and old, that can be used to make winter vegetable production a reality for large-scale growers and small home gardeners.