ANYTHING I can plant in December in zone 6?

[Gardener123]

If I use a small greenhouse? ( I would germinate it indoors )

I have grown Kale outside in late February. But that is really the only cold weather veggie I ever tried to grow. Well, spinach, but that was 3rd week of March.

[Meatburner]

Nope. At least cost effectively. You can grow almost any crop in the winter if you have a limitless amount of money to invest in the equipment to do so. For the common gardener, just wait until early spring.

[applestar]

Outside, we are headed into the darkest days and deep freeze -- normally we would already be there by early December, temperature-wise. And very little crop plants would grow much less survive under 20°F. If you can keep the lowest temp above survival level, then there might be some that will hunker down and show tiny spurts of growth on warmer, above freezing days.

I'm thinking spinach and kale for sure, some of the winter mustards, radish, hardiest lettuces (I'm growing a variety called North Pole), maybe Swiss chard, maybe onions, definitely garlic.... You could see if you can start and keep broccoli and Brussels sprouts alive -- they might surprise you by surviving, then they will be the first to make heads once temperatures warm up in spring.

Seeds will take 3 weeks or more to germinate in the coldest germination temperature range. Started indoors in warmer conditions, you would have to try to acclimate them to put them outside. Another way you might try is to sow seeds and cover with extra protection inside the greenhouse, then remove the secondary and/ or tertiary protection after sprouting.

Outside in the garden, this works much better when seeds are sown about a month before to around first frost. Right now, my fall-sown lettuces, radish, spinach, Chinese cabbage and Asian greens are still alive. Some of the earlier sown lettuce and looseleaf Chinese cabbage are ready to start harvesting. I put lightweight cover over them to minimize frost settling on them, but the protection doesn't protect from freezing temps. (FWIW - This summer's Swiss chard and Red Russian and Toscana Kale are actually recovering from the summer pest onslaught and showing some fresh new leaves)

If you have room to start growing something in the house, I'm finding peas sprout and grow surprisingly well as seedlings even under lower light conditions. (They will need to grow up into brighter light when ready to bloom). I also have the usual onion and garlic bottoms growing, as well as microgreens and sprouts. If you don't have fungus gnat problems, bagged indoor grow block type mushroom kits are fun and perfect for this time of the year. My new fun project this year is milk kefir.

[applestar]

I like this reference guide from Southern Exposure because they show winter hardy temperatures (depending on maturity) AND I think climate-wise they are similar to my location even though a little bit further south.
https://www.southernexposure.com/fall-&- ... p-204.html

...I wont go get the link but Territorial Seeds has a similar detailed guide that I would follow if growing in Pacific Northwest type climate.

(I noticed I forgot about arugula and cilantro... those would be possible candidates, too.)

Note that when talking about starting from seeds NOW, an issue would be how easily or difficult/long it takes to germinate. Carrots and parsley are harder to start to begin with. I do sow extra seeds in late summer/fall -- just sow and forget... if they grow, great! But fall started, they are just as likely to bolt next year since they are biennials -- and thats what I'm counting on for attracting beneficials.

More detailed guide: https://www.southernexposure.com/souther ... zp-38.html



--- so, what do you think you will do?

[imafan26]

Couldn't you still do sprouting seeds indoor, or is it too cold for that too?

[applestar]

You could start the seedlings indoors, but soon daily norm might be 30's to 40's by day and teens to 20's over night. It will be difficult to acclimate the indoor started plants to that kind of temperature.

The ones that could have would have been grown in the ground to some size by now, with deep root systems and having undergone gradual physiological and chemical changes to enable them to withstand the freezing temperatures.

[tomc]

An inter-library loan of Elliot Colemans Four Season gardening will be worth your read. but mostly you should be started already for things growing in December.

Wintersown projects can be started now for spring germination.

Grand-theft yard waste can go on now if it is still being put out on the curb.

[imafan26]

I wish someone would steal my yard waste, they just like to steal the flowers.

Would an aeroponic garden grow indoors or is it still too cold to do that?

You could always move to zone 10. In frost free zones it is actually a good time to plant cool season veggies like broccoli, kale, carrots, spinach, beets and gobo, but not the best time for tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, eggplant, squash, beans, and peppers. Lettuce does better when the days are cooler and longer (So around Feb-May). The summer crops grow and produce better with warmer longer days but they get a lot of mildew and fungal diseases when there is a lot of rain. Roses have to be fungicided regularly now because of the almost constant rain.

[jal_ut]

If your ground is not frozen, you can certainly poke in some garlic cloves. Other than that, best wait.

Wanting something to grow in the house? Try some Pansies, African Violets, Geraniums

[Gardener123]

Couldn't you still do sprouting seeds indoor, or is it too cold for that too?

This is probably more like what I meant.... start seeds now, put them in a greenhouse sometime in January, beginning February.

[imafan26]

I actually meant sprouting seeds to eat like bean sprouts.

It sounds like where it freezes over the best you can do is put the garden to bed or maybe plant a winter cover crop and feed the compost pile. You could start planning for next year's garden. I just got a couple of emails from a couple of seed companies that the 2017 catalogs are available or will be soon. Applestar keeps a jungle indoors but unless you do winter indoor gardening there isn't that much you can do.

Apple has a good well organized garden planning tool. I still underestimate the amount of time and space everything takes up so I still need to tweak mine a lot.

[jal_ut]

You can certainly sprout seeds indoors in the winter. A South window is good, and artificial light . A four foot neon fixture with two bulbs in it is great. Hang it from chains so the height is adjustable and put it down close to the plants. I have started tomatoes and peppers indoors like this for years. Never tried growing any greens for eating.

[Gardener123]

You can certainly sprout seeds indoors in the winter. A South window is good, and artificial light . A four foot neon fixture with two bulbs in it is great. Hang it from chains so the height is adjustable and put it down close to the plants. I have started tomatoes and peppers indoors like this for years. Never tried growing any greens for eating.

I have grown micro greens with only indoor lights.... the same system where I start all my seeds. I have a full spectrum 5 lamp fixture, and then I drape medical blankets over the fixture which reflects the light from pretty much every angle,

[ID jit]

Just out of curiosity ...

Has anyone ever tried a solar furnace with heat sink to warm up a small green house / cold frame kind of thing to grow things when there is white stuff on the ground?

[Gary350]

YES you can sprout seeds inside the house all winter. I buy Alfalfa seeds at Farmers Co-op in 20 lb bags to sprout. I put 2 teaspoons of seeds in a 1 quart mason jar then put a 5" square of screen wire on the mouth of the jar then screw on the ring then fill the jar with 90 degree water. About every 4 or 5 hours dump out the cold water refill it with 90 degree water. Do this for 24 hours the warm water gets a quick jump start on germination. Start a new jar of seeds every day and keep them in a warm place. If you have an electric hot pad set the jars on the tiny heat pad. Rinse the seeds with warm water 4 times every day after they sprout continue to rinse 4 times every day with warm water. Keep jars in the window to get sunlight if you want green color sprouts. In about 4 or 5 days a jar of seeds will be full to the top with Alfalfa sprouts, pull them out with a fork they make a good salad and are also good on a sandwich in place of lettuce.

I also sprout other seeds, flax seeds, millet seeds, even beans. I like to buy dry Navy Beans in 1 lb bags at the grocery store 50 cents per bag they make great bean sprouts. Soy beans make good sprouts too I buy soy beans at farm supply stores they are much cheaper than health food stores. Soy beans also make good soy milk and soy protein.