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  • Terminology

    What exactly does "over-wintering" mean?

    I see the phrase mentioned in several books and magazines, but I'm not clear if it means - storing over winter, or if they grow over winter?

    "Pinching out" is another one.

    Does anyone know of a decent "gardeners glossary"?
    A simple dude trying to grow veg. http://haywayne.blogspot.com/

    BLOG UPDATED! http://haywayne.blogspot.com/2012/01...ar-demand.html 30/01/2012

    Practise makes us a little better, it doesn't make us perfect.


    What would Vedder do?

  • #2
    I take 'overwintering' to mean that the plant will survive over the winter. Often they don't put more growth on for a few months, but at least they don't die off. Pinching out is nipping off the growing tip. Dunno about a glossary - I would think many gardening books have one at the end.
    As with the jargon in any other field, people assume you know what it means. If you do it saves a lot of explanation. If you don't it's totally meaningless!
    Whoever plants a garden believes in the future.

    www.vegheaven.blogspot.com Updated March 9th - Spring

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    • #3
      Heywayne, not much to add Flummery has said it all, although the reason for pinching out is to allow the plant to put more effort into flowering and production, instead of growing.

      Over-wintering will give you an early crop, with most plants growing a little then becoming largely dormant over the winter months. They are then established for early spring production and growth.


      An onion can make people cry but there's never been a vegetable that can make people laugh.

      Will Rogers


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      • #4
        Where a crop can take a number of months to reach full fruit. A gardener will sometimes sow at the end of summer if they know the plant will survive the winter if protected. Next year the plant has a head start on spring-sown seeds. As a result early crops can be harvested when other gardeners have very immature plants and no sign of fruit.
        A classic example of this would be chilli and pepper plants.
        Over-wintering put simply is when a plant becomes dormant until the spring when growth will restart. Some delicate plants will need protection from frost in order to survive.

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        • #5
          To give an instance:-Japanese onions sets will be ready for planting soon to overwinter and form an early crop in June. Whereas spring sown maincrop onions will crop slightly later in July/August!

          Pinching out can be for various reasons, but on some types of Tomato plants the shoots which form in the leaf axils are pinched out to force the plant to grow on a single stem with a fixed amount of flowering trusses up this stem (Usually five)
          Pinching out can also mean removing the growing tip so that the plant forms a bush.
          My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
          to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

          Diversify & prosper


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          • #6
            It can also mean bringing in more tender plants to a sheltered spot where they will survive the winter, such as a greenhouse, or even into the house, depending on how hardy the plant is.

            Dwell simply ~ love richly

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            • #7
              I overwinter my hanging baskets in the cold greenhouse. They have ivy leaf geranium and trailing fuchsia in, which are at risk from frost.
              As soon as the risk of frost has gone I give them a feed a little trim and pop them back out. Neighbours are always shocked at how big and full of flower they are at the start of summer compared to their own baskets which have little growth but lots of bare earth.

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              • #8
                For a decent gardeners glossary, I would recommend the RHS Illustrated Dictionary of Gardening which I have just bought from the Book People website at a discounted price of £6.99 which is a bargin considering it is a huge book with all the terminology meanings you could ever need!

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Jaxom View Post
                  A gardener will sometimes sow at the end of summer if they know the plant will survive the winter if protected. Next year the plant has a head start on spring-sown seeds. As a result early crops can be harvested when other gardeners have very immature plants and no sign of fruit.
                  A classic example of this would be chilli and pepper plants.
                  could i just ask - does that mean i should be sewing pepper seeds fairly soon?

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by redadmiral View Post
                    could i just ask - does that mean i should be sewing pepper seeds fairly soon?
                    No, I think the comment was more referring to plants that have been growing all this season and that somebody wants to keep for next year. Personally for things which are easy to grow such as chillies, I wouldn't bother over wintering. However, I always overwinter a number of tender plants such as my lemon tree / bush which was far to expensive for me to want to replace but wouldn't survive the winter outside. Also, I'll dig up some of my pelegoniums as I'm too tight to buy loads of new flowering plants and they're a pain to grow from seed and I need something for cuttings even if the original plant is getting scruffy!

                    Some of us live in the past, always talking about back then. Some of us live in the future, always planning what we are going to do. And, then there are those, who neither look behind or ahead, but just enjoy the moment of right now.

                    Which one are you and is it how you want to be?

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