advice on making of little greenhouse, please

[blurose]

I have a small greenhouse erected in my back yard. It has a nice shelf system and they can even be removed to allow for growing in the ground, in the greenhouse. I live in the PNW and want some advice on what kinds of things I can grow this fall and winter in my unheated greenhouse, other than just dragging my herb garden inside to protect it from the cold. It does snow here occasionally but not much and it always is gone within a day. The temps usually don't get much below 33 F on winter nights either. However, there isn't much sun to be had and tons of rain happening all winter long. Whatever I put in the greenhouse has to be in pots or containers of some kind as the greenhouse is so small.

 

[OaklandCityFarmer]

Don't know why no one ever answered here.

I think you should be able to plant lettuces, carrots with some good results. There may be some small varieties of broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower that you might be able to find.

We normally grow lettuce and carrots in small movable greenhouses we set up each season. These are in the ground though.

 

[patandchickens]

Spinach would be another 'natural', assumingit doesn't get too hot during the day.

You might want to add as much thermal mass as possible (filled jugs o water; rocks; cinderblocks; etc) to help stabilize day-night temperatures somewhat.

Pat

 

[TanksHill]

A little off subject , but. I had a little greenhouse similar to yours. The cover was a bit loose. When the rains came it collected water and put such a strain on the fabric it tore. Not sure if you have had this expierence but it was not good for me. gina

 

[DrakeMaiden]

This is a little late to respond, but most fall/winter crops like carrots, spinach, etc. will do just fine in the ground without a greenhouse, if they are planted at the right time. If you are late in planting, then the greenhouse may aid you in "catching up" with growing these crops.

Since your greenhouse is relatively small, I would agree with Pat that you should add jugs of water, etc. to stabilize the temps at night. In that case you could probably add pots of lettuce or other cool season crops that would not perform well outdoors in the winter. However, if you don't place jugs of water in the greenhouse, next to your plants, you may find that plants on the top shelves do not keep as warm as those closer to the ground.

Without added heating you won't have much success with plants that perfer summer-like temperatures. Your limiting factor is going to be night time temperatures.

Maybe place a thermometer in and check it first thing in the morning to see just how cold it gets relative to outside. I would guess you might get 5-10 degrees of added protection, but it is hard to guess. My point is just that without added heating you will only, at best, gain one hardiness zone of winter protection.

The greatest benefit of an unheated greehouse will be added growth during the winter season relative to outdoors, because you will be getting more heat units when the sun is shining, and heat units are what correlates with faster growth.