Growing winter vegetables - my new project

[MrBig46]

I was in the garden yesterday. It's still raining, there's mud everywhere, so I just opened the cauliflower cover and took a picture. I also downloaded the temperatures measured over the last twenty days to my computer. Only four nights were cold, the minimum temperature was -5.4 ° C. The plants look a bit different than in the previous photos. They didn't grow much, only the drawing on their leaves is more pronounced. I don't know if it's right or missing something them. According to forecasts, the real winter will not start until after the Christmas holidays. All I have to do is wait, watch it and hope it works out.
Vladimír

[Rosine]

Vladimir, good morning!
Yes they look like that now. I have small brassica in pots with same nonwoven to cover. Growth stopped Beginn December. Grows again in february, mid to end feb you see movements.
It is for me near the house often not the cold like in your garden ( it is outside city you said elsewhere), for me it is first wind protection. The wind can destroy frozen leaves even if plants will survive the wind, for leavy vegetables you then have no good harvest.
I planted spinach too and the little rosette making salads (do not know name in english it is valeriana)
Ate a good salad yesterday from mixed wintergreens.
Had little onions bought for overwinter, looks like yours too in hight.
Thank you for the pictures, this is anice comparision.

[MrBig46]

Originally Posted by Rosine

Vladimir, good morning!
Yes they look like that now. I have small brassica in pots with same nonwoven to cover. Growth stopped Beginn December. Grows again in february, mid to end feb you see movements.
It is for me near the house often not the cold like in your garden ( it is outside city you said elsewhere), for me it is first wind protection. The wind can destroy frozen leaves even if plants will survive the wind, for leavy vegetables you then have no good harvest.
I planted spinach too and the little rosette making salads (do not know name in english it is valeriana)
Ate a good salad yesterday from mixed wintergreens.
Had little onions bought for overwinter, looks like yours too in hight.
Thank you for the pictures, this is anice comparision.

I grew the onion from seeds at home from sowing in August. These are varieties directly intended for this cultivation. From what I've read, they should be as thick as my pencil. I think that's exactly what they look like. But if that cultivation fails, the world will not collapse. It's just a test.
Vladimír

[MrBig46]

Yesterday I went to look at the garden after a long time. So far, winter is warm rather than cold in our country. Two or three centimeters of snow fell and most of it was melting. My cauliflower in the tunnel is still in great shape. Meteorologists report that it should soon be colder, temperatures at night up to -15 ° C, which would mean three degrees more in the tunnel. When I downloaded data to a computer yesterday, I accidentally downloaded a temperature graph for a completely different period from the data logger I measure in the tunnel, so the data in the picture is only from the outside.
Vladimír

[MrBig46]

Cauliflowers and broccoli are still alive.
Vladimír

[GoDawgs]

They're looking pretty good, Vladímir. A little burn here and there on some older leaves but the central areas of the plants are in good shape. They just grow so much slower in these darkest days of winter.

[Gardeneer]

O. my..
thats too cold for me to do anything in the garden.

[MrBig46]

I'm not even trying to go to the garden. My gate is frozen in ice from melted snow. I have to wait for it to warm up and everything to thaw. It will be frost for a whole week, so I'll go to the garden in about ten days. I'll just look at what cauliflowers look like and take a substrate for tomato germination in the shed. I'm glad it's so cold, at least I'll see if I can grow cauliflowers again next year. The temperatures around -12 ° C are common in my garden in winter, of course elsewhere in our country they are even lower, down to -20 ° C. I think the record is -42 ° C, but that was long ago.
Vladimír

[MrBig46]

Today I finally got to the garden. I opened the tunnel, took a photo and downloaded the measured temperature to the computer from 1.1.2021. I was quite surprised at how the tunnel protected the cauliflower. At the lowest temperatures, the difference was up to 10 ° C.
Vladimír

[jmsieglaff]

They look like they'll make it through the winter. Your tunnel works really well, especially when you need it most, on the coldest nights. Good work!

[MrBig46]

I was quite surprised by the difference in temperature in the tunnel and outside. I explain it so that the tunnel is large enough moisture when the temperature drops below 0 ° C and the water freezes on the fabric and creates such an igloo. A new experience for me.
Vladimír

[MrBig46]

Most cauliflowers are still alive. Yesterday was the first nice spring day, even the sun was shining. I removed the nonwoven fabric (only the curtains remained due to pests) and flooded the cauliflower with calcium nitrate. I hope they start growing. I have tried several varieties and it can be seen that some are more durable and some less. What pleased me most was the perennial broccoli Star Perennial Broccoli, which looks like there is no winter.
Vladimír

[Andrey_BY]

Great project!

[MrBig46]

Today I was in the garden and checked the vegetables planted before the winter. Of the cauliflowers, Aalsmeer and Walcherin Winter 5 are still the best in the tunnel (Figure 1). The three Aalsmeers, which were only covered with non-woven fabric, even look good (Figure 2). Nine Star Perennial Broccoli also looks very good (picture 3). The unequivocal success of the winter onion, all three varieties (Figure 4).
Vladimír

[MrBig46]

I finished this project a few days ago. All the flowering plants formed heads, but the size was not large. Practically the bigger the plant, the bigger the head. Overall I am disappointed with the size, the largest head was 14 cm in diameter. The lesson for me for next season is that I have to grow as biggest plants as possible before the winter. That's why I start pre-growing a fortnight earlier and I also have to deal with snails. I still left the smallest cauliflower heads in the flower bed. I want them to bloom, pollinate them and grow seeds. So are the side heads of that broccoli. I cook the harvested cauliflowers and broccoli and taste them drizzled with butter.
Vladimír