Winter veggies in hoop house, Zone 9 California

imstblnow

14 years ago

Trying one out myself this year and would be interested in finding the same kind of forum. A Zone 9 fan club or something like that.

Hey jlerwill and imstblnow: I feel the same EXCEPT I'm in a cold Zone 4 and I let go a big sigh when I see all the info on zone 5, 6 & 7. How I envy those zoned winters!!! (OMG, you'd think after 58 years of Iowa winters that I'd stop whinning!)

I think I'd like to start a fan club called "Zone 4 with 30 mph north winds from October to April" for people that are crazy enough to LOVE gardening, greenhousing and ponding :-). Sign me up for the "Hi, I'm Beck and I can't be seed, greenhouse or pond free for more than one day" meetings - hee hee.

Good luck in Zone 9, I'm sure you fight the heat like we fight the cold!

Happy gardening from NW Iowa.

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Elisa, I got the onions form a friend who was tilling up his garden late in the year. He didn't use them and thought they were too big and old. I say waste not, want not. I think they'll make it just fine, but some of those onions are about the size of an entire bunch that you'd buy at the grocery store, so I'm not sure about the whole "old tasting" thing. And thanks for the recommendations on the other lettuces. I'm always willing to try new crops. Jay, I've actually got row cover on order so I should be good there. The only problem is going to be with my job. I am a professional FireFighter and work 24 hr shifts, so if it gets too cold during the night that I'm at work, it won't be covered for that night. Hopefully since I chose all cold hard plants, it won't be a problem. The napa cabbage and kohlrabi sound great to me, but I'm afraid I'm all out of room. Thought I might have a little room to try a thin row of peas, but I have to research if they'll make it or not. I also gave a fleeting thought about heating with manure in the spots that I use to walk in there, but I've been reading of a lot of sites that say the minimum size of a pile to produce heat has to be 2 to 3 feet deep. I don't think I can get that much manure on a monthly basis, nor do I think I would have the room to dig the trench in there without crushing/messing up some plants. Guess I'll just stick to the milk jugs for now.

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What are you growing that needs 60 degree minimum temps? I erect a simple pvc pipe hoophouse in my zone 7 yard and heat it with a small electric space heater with the thermostat set to come on at 32 degrees. For nights that get really cold (maybe 12 nights throughout the winter where the low is in the teens) I drag in a regular kerosene heater and let it run all night. If we're going to have multiple cold nights or high winds I will cover the whole hoop house with a plastic tarp. Tricks I do to help keep it warm inside: I soak the soil floor with water on sunny days; I pack the hoophouse with as many potted plants as possible, even large empty pots of soil or bags of soil mix; I store water in buckets inside the hoophouse; I run a large box fan all the time with it pointed up towards the ceiling at an angle to circulate air. Even with all that work it will still freeze one night per winter in there but I rarely lose anything because the coldest of the cold temps is only for an hour or so rather being all night long. I mostly grow plants that can handle cool but not frozen temps. Things like citrus, brugmansias, begonias and tree ferns do better if they get a cool winter instead of a warm one.

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How long do you want to extend your season or start your season earlier? I think a hoop building is the way to go. That way you won't sink so much $$$$ into it. With such a small area, that is what I would do. I had two small hoops this year. 12 by 18 and a 8 by 12. I used them to start my plants earlier. I almost froze them over a period of 3 nights. Late cold snap, the previous year I had almost everything planted out! Next year I have purchased materials for two 12 by 45 foot hoops. It will be awesome, I hope. The two buildings are still up, without plastic, I am planning on reskining the smaller one and try some greens. It should have already been done, but I am slow. Good Luck! Jay

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imstillatwork

14 years ago

I'm interested also, although I'm a bit farther north, we rarely freeze, and it's only a few days a year. The problem with up hear is the amount of sunlight. days are short, sun is low, and cloud cover blocks a lot. I think that would be the limiting factor rather than the temps. You are farther south, so maybe not as big of an issue?

Winter veggies in hoop house, Zone 9 California

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imstblnow

nbacres

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