- Cold frame sowing and planting calendar for the first half of the year
- Tips for the second half of the year - that goes in the cold frame
A cold frame is set up in no time at all. With a little manual skill, home gardeners can build the miniature greenhouse themselves from wood or Euro pallets with a cover made from old windows. The question of which plants are really suitable for the cold frame proves to be more difficult. Read what's coming in here.
Lettuce can be sown as early as February
Cold frame sowing and planting calendar for the first half of the year
If you have laid out your cold frame correctly, the planting season will begin here in early spring. Above all, vegetable plants that are tough anyway and have adapted to low temperatures thrive under the protected conditions. The following overview shows which types of plants are planted in the cold frame in the first half of the year:
| Cold frame sowing plan | January | February | March | April | May | June |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| early salad | Lamb's lettuce | Kohlrabi | Cultivation of leeks | iceberg lettuce | Kale | |
| pick lettuce | radish | radish | Cultivation of runner beans | bush tomatoes | bush tomatoes | |
| spring onions | spinach | Cultivation of broccoli | Cultivation of broccoli | pick lettuce | Red cabbage | |
| chard | Growing Brussels sprouts | basil | growing melons | Beetroot | pick lettuce | |
| Early carrots | Cultivation of cauliflower | Cultivation of peppers | zucchini | zucchini | ||
| cress |
As soon as the temperatures level off at 15 to 18 degrees Celsius at night, you can remove the cover and use the cold frame as a normal cultivation area.
Tips for the second half of the year - that goes in the cold frame
When the mercury column falls in September, the cold frame gets its transparent cover again. Salads of all kinds and radishes thrive here well into autumn. You can sow classic winter vegetables until the end of September to supply the kitchen with fresh vitamins during the winter. Leek and kale are very popular.
Incidentally, the cold frame is ideal during the cold season for storing the autumn harvest. Apples, potatoes and numerous types of vegetables stay fresh on a thick layer of straw. Regular ventilation ensures the important exchange of air so that no mold forms. A cover made of opaque fleece creates the necessary darkness for a long storage period.
tips
In a sunny, sheltered location, the spring sun brings the cold frame up to operating temperature from mid/end of March. If you would like to sow and plant in February, equip the mini greenhouse with natural heating. This consists of a 20 cm thick layer of fresh horse manure and a 20 cm thick layer of compost.