Lost the Plot?

[BrideXIII]

I am loving this site, so I have a question for all you 'mad organic engineers' out there.

container veg really seems to be taking off , we all want to try and grow a few, despite the lack of garden space so many of us urbanites suffer from, and having had some limited success this year I am eager to extend the experiment with more varieties next season, but.............. what do we do between now and then?

so, here is the question, have any of you tried to grow veg out of season? if so what, and with any success, how, and any tips?

I would be intrigued to know, cos I just love sticking seeds etc in at any time of year and seeing what happens.

[Nicos]

My initial thoughts are that 'out of season' will mean you'll need to provide extra warmth and Ultra Violet /Infra Red light to mimic the natural conditions which are missing.
For the cost involved ( £ and carbon footprint of heating and lighting) I'd have thought it'd mostly be an expensive experiment.
It works with plants like potatoes in greenhouses and strawberries grown above a composting bed- so it's certainly worth a go.( you're just extending the seasons I suppose).
Never tried them myself- so it'll be interesting to hear what other peeps have done!

[bluemoon]

I'm trying not to heat my greenhouses at all from now on in an attempt to reduce our Carbon footprint still further, so I'll be growing just in season veg, although there are plenty which can be grown for picking in winter though or for winter storage. There is a thread somewhere about a 'Russian Doll Greenhouse' basically layered protection, which I shall be trying. Although I would imagine that each successive layer reduces light and I don't want to cut out the heating only to have to replace it with lighting. Light will be your biggest problem if you try to grow out of season as many plants not only do not thrive in low light levels, but actually are day-length sensitive, meaning they won't grow unless the days are growing longer. Seeds are cheap though, so it's probably worth the experiment.
Good luck, and welcome to the vine. BB, Bluemoon.

[BrideXIII]

I'm trying not to heat my greenhouses at all from now on in an attempt to reduce our Carbon footprint still further, so I'll be growing just in season veg, although there are plenty which can be grown for picking in winter though or for winter storage. There is a thread somewhere about a 'Russian Doll Greenhouse' basically layered protection, which I shall be trying. Although I would imagine that each successive layer reduces light and I don't want to cut out the heating only to have to replace it with lighting. Light will be your biggest problem if you try to grow out of season as many plants not only do not thrive in low light levels, but actually are day-length sensitive, meaning they won't grow unless the days are growing longer. Seeds are cheap though, so it's probably worth the experiment.
Good luck, and welcome to the vine. BB, Bluemoon.

thats precisley it, seeds are cheap, or if like me you collect your own, free!
it's the experiment that excites, I don't really expect any success stories as such, and I am not really interested, no offence, in what is expected to grow in the winter, but i would like to know if people have tried and failed, because it's the failures tell us why such things can't be done, and lead to research into how to reverse that.

i realise of course that artificial heat, light and day length is an issue, and i would hope we are all trying to be responsible, but carbon footprint reduction doesn't mean don't do it, it has more to do with output versus long term benefit.

it was the xmas potatoe thing that got me thinking, i had never heard of it, and my mum swore blind ten minutes ago it wont work, but the evidence is all around that it does, so if potatoes can, what else?

[maytreefrannie]

There's another thread opened today about winter veg and one person posted a mention of overwintering onions, garlic, broadbeans (aquadulce variety) and spinach.

Certainly last year I planted onion sets in Autumn and picked some as spring onions around Feb/March - I left the rest to grow on. If you're short of space, maybe you could 'thin out' the container in this way.

This year, I'm trying the old potatoes-in-a-bin-for-Christmas, the onions again and I've put down a few hardy peas (in a container) - as you say, it's worth a try.

DON'T FORGET to let us know what you decide to do and how it goes.

By the way, I'm not a great knowledgeable gardener, so I could be wrong.