A few questions about cole crops...

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TammyTN Greenback, TN Dec 29, 2004

Hi all,
I have a large container of spinach planted and also some Iceburg lettuce and radishes. Our temps are mild for this week will they be okay outside by day and zipped up in my mini greenhouse at night? Would I be better off bringing them on in and getting them under lights? I just sowed the seeds yesterday for the radish and spinach and the iceburg is baby sprouts.

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Yuska San Antonio, TX(Zone 8b) Dec 29, 2004

Cole crops are usually considered to be the brassicas such as broccoli, cabbage and kale. They are usually quite tolerant of cool weather. Spinach, lettuce and radishes are different genera but also tend to do well in cooler weather. Unless you are facing freezes at night I would think they might do okay in the mini greenhouse, although plants in containers are sometimes more prone to chilling depending on the materials from which the containers are made. Otherwise, indoors under lights might hasten sprouting, too. Not much of an answer...sorry!...but I don't know enough about your hardiness zone to hazard a guess.




















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CApoppy Santa Cruz Mountains, CA(Zone 9a) Jan 09, 2005

It sounds like your climate might be something like ours. I have had some luck in the winter with lettuce planted in the ground and then covered with a gallon plastic milk jug with the bottom cut off. It works like the expensive glass cloches of the Brits. If you put the lid on the jug at night to keep in the heat, and take it off in the morning, your lettuce not only has its own private mini-greenhouse, but enough dirt space to develop good roots. Then when things warm up, you are way ahead of the game.

Maybe experiment with a couple of plants to see if it works.

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