Mini Hoop Tunnels and Watering

[Lucius_Junius]

Hello, everybody. I just planted my first seeds in mini-hoop tunnels. I put down some white- and red-stemmed swiss chard. My question is about watering, since it seems to me the plastic covering will both prevent rain from getting through and also cause evaporation to be slowed considerably. My assumption is to just water enough to keep the ground a little moist beneath the surface, but I would like to hear the wisdom of experienced gardeners before I put that into action.

[Timlin]

Never watered my hoop gardens. The rain dampened things enough and the hoop kept things moist a long time. If you see it's really drying then a hose or a watering can will take care of it.

Why are you growing chard under protection? They prefer cold don't they? Peas, lettuce, chard that sort of thing don't do well with heat they much prefer cold and so are planted as soon as the soil will allow ..... don't even worry about frost or snow they don't care.

[Lucius_Junius]

Thanks for the reply. I planted them under cover because it's still relatively cold here, and I thought I could get a jump on the season by a few weeks. The ground is well thawed, but the temperature is still dipping below zero occasionaly and it's even calling for snow. I think the hoops may help me start a couple weeks early. Is there any reason not to use cover with chard when the weather is cold?

[applestar]

This is pure speculation, but recently we wre discussing behavior of biennial vegetables and it was mentioned that a period of extreme cold followed by warm can fool them into thinking they are in their 2nd year.

So given that under plastic it can get unseasonably warm/hot and your still freezing temps, maybe the fluctuation and temp swings might hit the right combination and cause them to bolt?

But if you are zone 6a, I think you could have skipped the plastic cover and used floating or slightly heavier spun bonded cover, if at all. In my zone 6b garden (last avg frost last wk of April) they have sprouted and are working on their first set of true leaves without protection despite early morning frost (but we haven't had any sub freezing temps).

[rainbowgardener]

I'm in zone 6a and some of my chard wintered over, through the whole winter with no protection at all and is now growing like crazy again. Chard is incredibly cold/ frost tolerant.

Save your hoops and plastic for warm weather things that need protection.

[Lucius_Junius]

I understand that Chard is incredibly cold tolerant, as I was harvesting them without cover well into December last year. What I am more concerned about is getting the seeds to germinate with the ground so cold. Once the little fellas get get their heads above the soil I think they'll be okay. I'm not too worried about frost. I've been opening up the ends of the tunnels whenever it's warmer out. Since the voice of experience speaks against the tunnels and chard, however, I believe I will be taking them down sooner than I had intended, or at least moving them to something else. Thanks again.

[digitS']

My soil temperature in the warmest part of my yard at a 4" depth is 38°F (3°C). Germination would be incredibly delayed if it were to stay so cold.

Of course, the soil will warm. And we are finally have a series of days above 60°(26°C) .

The onion and shallot sets went in the ground 1st. And, it is my understanding that chard/beets will not germinate at nearly as cold of temperatures as spinach and lettuce. Even if they can handle some late spring cold it may make sense to get them off to a quick start.

About the time you want protection for warm-season transplants - your chard should be off and growing.

Steve