Does anybody have advice regarding winter useage of an unheated greenhouse - what can be grown over winter or started early?
i've just started off overwintering lettuce for baby leaves, also onions from seed, we overwinter herbs and things, more expert people than me on here, though :)
thanks, I will give onion seed a go
I'm starting quite a few flower seeds in the conservatory including sweet peas plus broad beans & as soon as they are up I am planning on putting them in my unheated greenhouse & will cover them with fleece when frosts are forecast.
Hope you don't mind me saying but I think you might struggle germinating your onions, they usually require a minimum temperature of 16°C (60°F) to germinate.
But all is not lost, try germinating them in the house, cylinder cupboard would do. Once germinated then they should perform quite nicely in a cool greenhouse.
This applies to lots of seed........ highish temperatures to germinate then the heat requirements are substantially less.
As I was taught;...... warm feet, cool head is the best.
sorry, forgot to say, I'm starting them off on a windowsill in the house then in the greenhouse ::) ;D
and the lettuce have just reared their heads, brill ;D
We're mostly using the cold g'house for storage over winter:
- root veg layered in pots of peat, sand or compost - we dig out a few days' supply at a time
- cleaned pots and trugs
- hazel poles and pea sticks for next year - they last longer if kept dry
- drying beans waiting for shucking
- dismantled compost bins, ready to put together once warmer weather arrives
Growing
Like you say, at this time of year I germinate e.g. onion seed in root trainer modules in the warmth at home, to go to the cold greenhouse when they're established. I sowed the first baby carrot and beet indoors a week ago. In a few weeks from now, I'll plant them in pots of compost in the g'house, fleeced against frost :) Lettuce up? Yay! ;D
thanks for all the advice. I have started off some onion seed in a propogator indoors and will transfer these into the unhaeted g/house once germinated. Do they also need fleecing?