winter crops for greenhouse

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Gwendalou Langley, WA(Zone 7b) Nov 10, 2004

Tomorrow we get possession of our new house which includes a small greenhouse. There is elec and water in it, but I don't think heat, altho I'm not positive.

But I thought I would try and do lettuce and spinach in there right off the bat.

I'm new to this. Any reading you can point me to? Do I just grab some flats and plant seeds in them? In in the pacific northwest, zone 8. Will I be able to have lettuce and spinach all winter long? I understand I'll have to find some way to heat the gh on nights it dips below freezing. What is the lowest temp lettuce and spinach can withstand?

There is a grow light suspended on chains at one end. Would I use this on grey/overcast days or will the spinach/lettuce be fine w/out?

Words of wisdom welcomed.

Gwen

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Sue_WA Seattle, WA(Zone 8b) Nov 18, 2004

Hi Gwen!

Spinach can be grown in the greenhouse over winter - here is what my book "Greenhouse Gardener's Companion" says:

"Let's say you wanted to grow some greens, such as spinach. Well, spinach is a fine plant to grow in the winter greenhouse, but if you instead decided to grow Swiss chard in the same, you could quadruple your yields. The reason? Spinach bolts (goes to seed) with sunny days. (LOL, like we get many of THOSE here in Seattle in the winter!!) The author says, "I've had spinach bolt after five weeks of growth. Swiss chard rarely goes to seed (bolt), unless it receives frost, so it produces abundantly for many seasons in the greenhouse. Swiss chard is a relative of spinach and has a similar taste. When cooked, some people can't tell them apart. Many people then prefer Swiss chard to spinach. But you can still grow spinach and put up with less of a harvest.

Temps are cool to warm - 40-50 degree range.

Not my words of wisdom, but I hope that helped.

This message was edited Nov 17, 2004 7:40 PM

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Gwendalou Langley, WA(Zone 7b) Nov 18, 2004

I guess I'll just have to try it and find out! Maybe I shouldn't put the grow lights on it. Maybe I'll do one with lights and one w/out.

I don't cook spinach - just use it in salad, which I like alot. I've never tried swiss chard, but maybe I will. I'm not normally one for trying new things. I like too many foods as it is - don't need to add more to my list!

Discovered recently we have some sort of heated tray thingies too. I'm trying to get ahold of the orig owners who put all this in so I can ask them about it all.

We have a bit more sun and nonrainy days than Seattle. We're in the so-called 'banana belt.' Oftentimes when it is raining in Seattle, it's fairly nice here. We can see downtown Seattle from our current rental. That will change when we move into the new place as there's no water view at all. We've had three different water views since we moved here 3 years ago and have enjoyed them all.

Gwen

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