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Donna Balzer is a former brand ambassador, garden expert, a regular guest on CBC radio and host is internationally aired "Bugs & Blooms" on HGTV.
As summer thrives, it's the ideal time to start preparing your winter greenhouse for a successful cold-season harvest. This guide will provide essential tips on succession planting, choosing the right crops, and maximizing your greenhouse's potential through strategic summer planning.
What Are the Tips and Strategies to Maximize Your Winter Greenhouse Growing?
Maximizing winter greenhouse success involves keeping temperatures cool, using layered row covers to protect hardy crops, and starting seedlings early in a warm nursery before transplanting them to the cold greenhouse. Strategic use of soil warming cables, careful crop selection focused on cold-tolerant varieties, and staggered planting schedules help extend the growing season and increase yields despite low winter light. Experimentation and planning are key to adapting these strategies to your specific greenhouse conditions and achieving reliable winter harvests.
An overview of winter greenhouse growing has been covered in our December 2023 blog post, but it seems worthwhile to expand the conversation of winter growing in a home or hobby greenhouse this month as well. For one thing, a greenhouse is not the end of the story. A few other accessories and ideas will make you a more successful grower this winter.
What should you know before starting winter greenhouse gardening? Winter greenhouse gardening is a rewarding but planning-intensive process that requires selecting cold-hardy crops, managing light levels (especially when natural daylight falls below 10 hours), and using techniques like nursery starts and staggered planting to maximize harvests. Unlike summer gardening, winter growing demands attention to airflow, spacing, and temperature control, as well as a realistic understanding of slower growth cycles. With insights from The Winter Market Gardener and practical strategies like using indoor nursery spaces, new growers can simplify the “work” of winter gardening and set themselves up for consistent cold-season success.
Uncover insightful tips and strategies that turn the labor of winter food cultivation into a rewarding journey. Your next adventure in gardening awaits.
As we close in on late fall and the days get shorter, I am considering ways to bring more light and joy into my life. I decided to decorate my greenhouse with lights. Not grow lights. (They have to be placed 15 cm above plants to make a difference.) No, I am thinking about decorating generally and decorative lights specifically. Lights to stretch the beauty of my greenhouse through the upcoming social season and spread a bit of cheer.
My Helpful Husband (AKA Keith) installed a door sill on my new greenhouse while I was away last week. I had no idea I needed a sill so that proves my point: I am a gardener, not a builder. I take certain things for granted.
I am sitting in my newly built greenhouse as snug as a bug. The sun is shining, and I take my coat off even though it is a cool fall day. I am still dreaming of my final greenhouse layout and watching my little lemons grow. (Okay - that's an exaggeration - the lemons bloomed in August and the tiny fruit is still the size of my baby fingernail! They are growing slowly, but unlike the grass a June rain, I can't actually watch them grow.)
How do I revive my plants and know if they need fertilizer? Yellowing leaves, pale color, and stunted growth are common signs of nutrient deficiencies—especially nitrogen and sulfur—while shiny, vibrant leaves indicate a well-fed, thriving plant. Are compost, worm tea, and manure enough to fertilize greenhouse plants? Though compost, worm castings, and manures improve soil texture and microbial health, they lack essential nutrients and should be paired with a balanced fertilizer for full plant recovery. What other issues might be stressing your greenhouse plants? Inconsistent watering, pest infestations like scale, or high pH levels can also cause symptoms of stress; identifying the root cause and responding with steady care, micronutrients, and natural pest control helps restore plant vitality and resilience.
This summer, I returned from a long-distance move to find my greenhouse plants crying out for help—wilted leaves, dry tips, and pale color. Turns out my house sitters were a little too cautious with watering and fertilizer. Now that I’m back, I’m coaxing everything back to life, and the transformation has been remarkable.
What Are the Key Considerations for Building a Greenhouse on an Older Property?
Building a greenhouse on an older property requires careful planning to address obstacles like shallow tree roots and undocumented gas lines, making hand digging and utility checks essential for safety. Choosing the right foundation—such as gravel, treated lumber, and cinder blocks—must accommodate site-specific challenges like power line placement and height restrictions. Thorough pre-construction investigation and professional coordination ensure a safe, durable greenhouse that maximizes growing potential while protecting existing infrastructure.
“The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. *” I just never thought they would go awry during the...
How Do You Prepare Your Greenhouse for Spring?
Preparing your greenhouse for spring involves starting seeds and cuttings of both cold-tolerant and heat-loving plants, organizing space by moving or harvesting early crops, and timing indoor planting according to local frost dates. Efficient greenhouse management—rotating crops, repotting, and maximizing space with shelves—ensures continuous harvests and healthy plant growth throughout the season. Beyond growing food, a greenhouse provides a year-round sanctuary that nurtures both plants and gardeners.
It’s really, truly spring and the neighbours are jealous. They don’t have a greenhouse, so getting ready for spring in their gardens is all about buying high-cost overgrown plants from commercial greenhouses.
