cdog222
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Posts: 62
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2009 11:52 pm
Location: Zone 6a, St Charles, MO

Overwintering a few crops....

Hi all,

Rainbow Gardener gave me the idea earlier this season to try overwintering some brassicas as a way to avoid pests and get an early jump on things in spring. I may have planted a little too early this fall - I have several cauliflower, cabbage, and kale that are about a foot tall that I would like to try to overwinter. My thought was to loosely pack the plants with raked / chopped leaves and then cover the whole thing with garden fabric. We haven't had a hard frost yet in the Saint Louis area. At least my neck of the Saint Louis area...

I will probably wait until it looks the cold nights are here to stay before doing so. What do you guys think? Anyone have a different suggestion?

Thanks :)

imafan26
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Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Kale doesn't mind a dusting of snow. It actually makes it sweeter.

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digitS'
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Location: ID/WA! border

I think it should work, cdog'. You might find yourself doing it again and again, if it does.

I have had brassicas in greenhouse beds for the last 2 winters. The greenhouse has been used for a long time but almost entirely for spring plant starts. The heat is not turned on except during a few weeks in March and April and I haven't changed that schedule.

Both winters have been mild but there has been some sub-zero temperatures. Only uv-resistant plastic film separates the greenhouse interior from the outside cold altho' I use a Weather Service forecast of 15°f to prompt me to cover the beds of veggies with a second layer of plastic. That film goes over pvc hoops. A below zero forecast and I add a tarp.

A tunnel inside the greenhouse ...

This has worked for transplants from the fall garden for harvesting until about New Years.'s Day. Seeds sown in the bed in October have produced bok choy in February. This year, I sowed seeds in a flat of soil in September and filled the bed with those plants about a month ago. Really, I could begin harvesting bok choy and choy sum now.

Everything has to be out by early March so that I can move the benches back in and they fill up with plants destined for the outdoor garden.

Steve

JayPoc
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Location: Virginia, The mountains Zone 6a/6b

I've had temps in the low single digits....even negative single digits with wind chills much colder. For me, the kale looks like poo, but generally survives. Collards die back when it gets that cold, but many or most of the plants come roaring back from the central stem in the spring.

cdog222
Cool Member
Posts: 62
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2009 11:52 pm
Location: Zone 6a, St Charles, MO

I appreciate the feedback! Looks like Saturday night is going to get down into the low to mid 20s. Let the experimenting begin! I'll follow up on this post in the spring with the results. If this works out well, it may be a good solution to my warmer weather pest issues - at least for the brassicas...



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