The Greenhouse as an Ecosystem
(Page 7 of 9)
November/December 1984
By Colleen Armstrong
Pak choi (bok choy)is a favorite Chinese vegetable whose name means "flowering white cabbage." Its succulent white stem and dark foliage are relatively hairless, compared with those of other Oriental brassicas. The time from seed to harvest can be as short as 60 days. It, too, will bolt in late winter. The tiny flowerets are entirely edible. Pinch off the terminal bud to encourage bushy growth.
Chinese cabbage is the term for dozens of different varieties, which are divided into two categories: loose-heading and heading. Many are hairy plants that are best for stir-frying. The pale green, tender, blockish types are more productive but less conducive to leaf-by-leaf harvesting. In winter, this vegetable is three times as productive as lettuce. Some varieties stand 20" tall.
Swiss chard can be grown indoors year-round. Chard is a hardy green that can withstand much abuse. Dig it up from the garden in late autumn, then replant it in your greenhouse. Both the root and leaves are edible. Tender, immature beets (cousins of Swiss chard) can be brought in from the outdoor garden, too. Both are susceptible to damage from thrips.
Kale and collards are two leafy members of the cabbage family that do best as fall or winter crops. Kale can grow to two or three feet in height, but collard buds should be pinched off at the top of the plant. This pruning initiates lateral growth that creates a bushy plant. Both kale and collards are vulnerable to aphid infestation.
Summer turnips- sharp, mustardlike greens with white globeshaped roots—can be sown directly into the soil or planted as young seedlings. They can be grown under low light conditions, unlike radishes, which require brighter light and a longer day. Tokyo Cross Hybrid, a wintertime favorite, takes only 45 days from seed to harvest.
Celery thrives in rich, sandy-loam soil. Like parsley, its cousin, celery may take three weeks or longer to germinate . . . and another six weeks for the vegetable to reach transplant size. Space the plants 10" apart with 1' between each row. One month before harvest, blanch the bottom part of the stems by mounding soil around the bases of the plants, or block out the light there with boards. Celery guzzles both water and nitrogen. Watch out for aphids. For an extended harvest, pick only the outside stems at first.
From late winter on, the year races with endless greenhouse activity. Home gardeners start bedding plants for outdoors and for indoor spring crops of cauliflower, tomatoes, and cucumbers.
In the warm season, the use of vining or trellised crops will maximize the growing area. Keep tomatoes, European cucumbers, melons, and pole beans to manageable heights (usually no more than 6' tall). Pruning extra growth every week encourages higher productivity, better air circulation, and prettier shapes. The fruiting vegetables require plenty of water (particularly on sunny days) and a steady diet of all the essential plant nutrients. Monthly side-dressings of sifted compost protect exposed roots and replenish easily leached nutrients such as nitrogen, potassium, and sulfur.
The following notes on tomato, cucumber, melon, and pepper culture are only tips, but you can find a wealth of written information on growing such crops under glass. If you've decided to grow flowers, you'll be glad to know there's even more information available. The newly revised Organic Gardening Under Glass (see number 1 on the reading list) is devoted primarily to ornamental horticulture.
Tomatoes, the favorite greenhouse crop, can be grown to extend your summer harvest into fall or spring. Plant them when soil temperatures reach at least 55°F. Air temperatures should approximate 75°F during the day and 65°F at night. Select indeterminate tomato varieties, and have your trellis or poles ready when you set out the crop. If you suspect you already have a whitefly problem in your greenhouse, set up sticky yellow traps to lure the adult insects away from the crops. If you're using containers, provide each plant with a five-gallon pot. Tomatoes require plenty of phosphorus and potassium in order to flower and set fruit. Fertilize or top-dress each plant with compost every two weeks. At midday, gently shake each plant to encourage better pollination and more fruit, and prune off the vegetative growth called suckers. Sweet 100 and Park's Whopper VFNT perform well in solar greenhouses.
Peppers can provide an excellent late-summer crop. Sow the seeds in May, and grow them outdoors in one-gallon pots until August. In the afternoon, transplant the peppers into a bed or into a larger container. Watering with a seaweed solution helps revitalize the crop after transplant shock. Peppers prefer a well-balanced soil, proper spacing (18" apart, 18" between rows), and bright or partial light. Green bell, banana yellow, jalapeno, and sweet and hot cherry peppers can all be grown indoors. Peppers are highly susceptible to aphid infestation.
European cucumbers, "burpless" and thin-skinned, are long (14"15") and weigh more than a pound each. They're a vining crop that doesn't require pollination to fruit. (Nearly all of the flowers are female.) The seeds are expensive ($7.00 to $8.00 for 25 seeds), so you may want to split a package with a neighbor. However, when stored under the right conditions, the seeds are viable for two or more years. What's more, one plant can easily yield 35 pounds of cucumbers! This crop requires high levels of nitrogen and frequent irrigation. (The Stokes Seed Company provides detailed cultural instructions with its seeds.) Powdery mildew and bacterial wilt are common diseases. Cucumbers also attract whiteflies, spider mites, and thrips.
Melons, a popular crop for northern growers, must have soil temperatures of 60°F and up. They can be trellised if the fruit is supported with netting (or retired panty hose) tied to the trellis with wire or cord. Higher yields are obtained by artificial pollination. (At midday, take a camel-hair, thin-tipped paintbrush . . . insert it into a male flower . . . and then transfer the yellow pollen onto a female flower.) Ambrosia Hybrid and Charantais produce four- to eight-pound, salmon-fleshed cantaloupes.
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