Whether you’ve grown many plants during winter, or this is the first time taking on this season, there are a few things to consider about how your crops will be affected.
Sadly, you can’t quite leave your crops to grow in their own time during the cold weather, you’ll have to keep a close eye and assist.
There are a range of vegetables you can grow during these cold months, that are much more sustainable than during the summer months. Vegetables such as parsnips are one such example.
Cell Destruction Explained
When it gets colder, our plants, flowers and crops can struggle to grow, sometimes outright dying off.
The reason this happens is mainly due to the water getting inside the plants. So far, that’s not a problem, after all, plants need water to thrive. The issue arises when the temperature gets cold enough to freeze the water inside the plant cells. Causing them to expand and destroy the plant from inside.
Usually, this is more common and worse for younger plants, as they have yet to grow in strength to support their cells expanding.
As well as the inside, water freezing on the outside can cause issues with the soil and roots, disrupting the overall water supply coming in.
Prevention Methods
When it comes to growing your plants in winter, there are methods and things to consider to help protect your garden.
You could attempt to grow your crops in a greenhouse like setting. The idea is, that the glass will help trap sunlight inside, keeping the plants slightly warmer. That, and it will help keep rain away, assuming you have a well-made and sealed greenhouse.
What you could also do, is invest in some high-quality protective frost coverage. The useful thing about protective netting is that you can use as little or as much as you need.
Rather than just buying a straight-out greenhouse that might be too big or too small, you can order custom length garden netting to suit your plant needs. Little Fields Farm other a range of different types such as plant fleeces, jackets and tunnels, all optimised with thermal design, helping keep frost damage away.
As well as these nettings offering suitable internal temperatures, effective nettings also help keep pests and insects away, protecting what you grow.
Aftercare Needs
There’s plenty that you can do to help assist plants in their wellbeing during the winter, especially after they have been through some trauma.
You can get specialised plant food, if you think they’re not getting enough nutrients or naturally occurring vitamins.
It could be worth replanting or relocating your crops if the soil is ruined, or the location has the potential for more trouble down the line. The same can be said for trimming down overgrown part of plants, and certainly cutting trims when parts are dying. You don’t want much needed water and nutrients to focus their energy towards leaves and stems that have no purpose.
