Growing Tomatoes and Peppers in Winter by Regina Anneler 

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To get started with your winter project you will need to decide if you want your plants to be grown in pots, a trench row, or in some cases, you might even have an earthen floor to in which to grow.  If you choose trench rows you will need boards or some other type of material to build a retaining wall to contain the soil and therefore should consider this when figuring the costs.  In our case we chose pots, or in all actuality buckets – a feasible option for many of you who don't have spare buckets lying around and don’t want to go to the trouble of buying pots! 

A lot will also depend on whether you grow the plants from seed or start with live plants.  We dug up our summer tomato and pepper plants and transplanted them into our extra feed buckets. 

Next, we moved them into the garage where electricity is easily available.  Please note that if you transplant plants from your summer garden into containers it is best to loosen the outside soil from around the roots of the plants before potting them.  If you do not do this, the dirt might become too compacted within the pot and cause the plants to weaken or die.  If you are transplanting them, keep in mind that the plants may wither a little and possibly loose a few leaves.  This is normal because they will be a little shocked from the transplant experience. They should recover without any problems, however.

Ideally, you should provide a framework made from wood or metal construction and set up as a cold frame to hold plastic sheeting around the plants to maintain heat.  In our case I am not sure if that was too much work for us at the time or if it was just our plain laziness showing itself, but we used the summer lawn tools as our framework.  We set the plants close to the work bench and placed the weed power mower near by and used that for the framework.  It works relatively well and also provides a good brace to which we attached our lamp.

Material requirements will vary depending on if you wish to build a framework for the plastic sheeting - if so, 2x4 lumber would definitely be more economical to purchase than, say, metal pipe would be.  However, another good idea for cold frames would be to check with stores in your area that might be disregarding used display racks and shelves for winter.  Often they will give these away if you just agree to haul them off. These make excellent cold frames for attaching the plastic sheeting and provide good-sized space for the plants under the covered area.

The other must-haves for this project are all low-cost and easy to find at your nearest hardware supply store.  Plastic sheeting, depending on the size and mil, ranges in cost between $5-$50.  Lighting, a requirement for providing heat to the plants as well as aiding their growth can be provided in the form of a grow light – again, a relatively inexpensive option, as a small one is approximately $15.00.  If you prefer to use an old-fashioned heat lamp with an infrared bulb in place of the grow light you will spend about $10-$12 depending on the brand and store where you buy it.  Once you have all of your materials collected, you are ready to begin setting up for your winter crop.

How you set up your winter project will depend a lot, again, on whether you are starting from seeds or are using older plants.  If you do not already have the plants then chances are that you will have trouble finding them at this time of year and you may not have any choice but to start from seed. 

If you choose to, or must start your plants from seeds, then you will need to add a seed tray and mix to your shopping list.  This ranges from $5-$15 and is key to a good start for the plants.  Start the seeds in these kits in the house and once they are growing well, transplant them to your chosen growing area for the winter.  If you want to practice a more frugal way of supplying seed kits then try using old salad take-out containers.  These are the clear plastic trays that you often get salads or sandwiches to go in from your favorite restaurants and stores.  Add potting soil and a little Miracle Grow – if you are unconcerned about being organic – and you have made your very own seed starter kit. 

Once the seedlings have reached about 3 inches in height, they are ready to be moved and potted into their individual pots.  You will need to prepare the soil and have your growing spot picked out for the cold frame.  It is important to note that pepper plants are much harder to germinate and therefore more difficult to grow from seeds than are the tomato plants.  Most often gardeners find it simpler to start their peppers from young seedlings or transplants.

 

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