Undercover Gardening Secrets: Will Make You Grow Like A Pro

Gardening undercover will give you earlier harvests in the spring by allowing you to plant before your last frost and allow you to extend your fall harvests for a few weeks longer.  Read on to find out what you can use to extend your gardening season and get those spring veggies out earlier!

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What Is Undercover Gardening?

Spring is technically here with the passing of the Vernal Equinox on March 20 and that means that the days are getting longer and should be getting warmer, although looking at the snow outside that’s hard to believe!  I live in zone 7A and my last frost date isn’t until 10 May but that doesn’t mean I can’t grow anything!  Even if you live in colder growing zones, you can start sowing vegetables now.

Undercover gardening is simply growing under the cover of a greenhouse, cold frame, row cover, polytunnel or cloche.  These are called season extension gardening or frost protection tools.

You can invest in season extension or frost protection tools by buying them or making them yourself.  These tools will pay you dividends in being able to grow food sooner and harvest earlier in spring and allow you to harvest longer in fall.

In some cases, some of these season extension tools allow you to plant warm weather plants up to 2 months before your final frost date…..Mind Blown!!!!

How Does Undercover Gardening Work?

The protection is placed over an area which creates a microclimate underneath.  The plants under this layer of protection are moved 1.5 USDA zones south.  For example, a raised bed in my zone 7a garden with 1 layer of season extension over it becomes zone 8a and can allow me to start plants about 3 weeks earlier than without the season extension.

A second layer of protection on top of the first, would move my covered raised bed to the sunny climes of zone 9 and a longer harvest season and an earlier planting schedule.

Let’s take a look at some of the frost protection and season extension options available to you so you can grow like a pro.

Greenhouses: Fancy Season Extension

Greenhouses and walk in polytunnels or hoop houses can be put to good use by the suburban homesteader or home gardener.  They are the most costly of the season extension tools available but offer some great advantages.

1.  Standing Room

As crazy as it sounds, being able to stand in a greenhouse or polytunnel is great.  You can work outside harvesting, sowing seeds, potting on plants into larger pots without being out in the elements in winter.  The height can also provide growing room or overwintering space for taller plants like a potted fig tree or pomegranate.  

Greenhouses in cooler climates like the UK will enable you to grow heat loving vegetables like cucumbers, melons and tomatoes which can be grown vertically up a line from the roof.

2.  Heat

Some greenhouses, but not all can be heated which allows you to maintain the temperature above freezing.  By keeping the temperature just above freezing, you will be able to grow a wider variety of plants. 

If you have purchased your greenhouse, check the manufacturer’s recommendations for heating.  Always use caution when heating greenhouses to guard against fire.

3.  Best Protection

You can’t really beat a greenhouse for protecting your plants from the wind and the cold.  You can even use additional season extension methods inside the greenhouse or polytunnel to keep your plants and seedlings nice and snug, no matter the weather outside!

4.  Space

Greenhouses and walk in polytunnels or hoop houses provide a larger space to grow fruit and vegetables in.  Wide planting beds may be in the ground or raised up and often a potting bench or table can be added for sowing your seeds.

In my own 10 x 10 lean to greenhouse, I have a potting bench with storage, all my garden tools, a shelving unit for seed trays and seedlings, two wormeries, a mini greenhouse and two deep raised beds.  This space allows me to grow vegetables in winter, start my seeds and keep my tools out of the bad weather.

You can also use these larger structures to keep ducks, chickens or quail warm, bees overwintered or bunnies snug if their housing is small enough.  Ensure adequate ventilation if you are using your greenhouse for this purpose.

Hoop Houses & Polytunnels

This photo is of a rough hoop house over a raised bed made with plastic water pipe, a curtain rail and some clothesline pegs holding frost fleece over it.  Even though it was lightly snowing in this picture, my winter salads were still lush and green on the inside.

There are many incredible designs available online for how to build a hoop house over a raised bed.  My favorite though is fellow YouTuber Patrick at One Yard Revolution.  He has a double layered design for his zone 5 garden using 1/2 inch PVC piping that you can pick up really reasonably from a hardware store, you can also use Schedule 40 piping too.

These lower hoops are typically covered with 6 mil greenhouse plastic that will let the maximum light in.  Light is key to your undercover gardening success.  It is better to have 2 thin layers when dealing with hoop houses and polytunnels rather than 1 thicker layer.

Hoop houses provide good protection from the wind and snow but you must secure down the plastic and vent the hoop house on warm days to prevent overheating.

You can also obtain giant cloches or mini hoop houses like the one above.  These are much smaller and work well to warm soil.  In this garden bed, I planted Norland Red potatoes on St Patrick’s Day and they should grow just fine!

I actually cut this mini hoop house in half to cover two of my raised beds.  It was a little too scrunched up in my raised beds in the garden.  These season extenders kept my tomatoes safe from the late April frosts.

A Word Of Advice

One thing I have learnt from gardening all these years is that it really is worth buying the proper 6 mil greenhouse plastic as it contains UV inhibitors which makes the plastic last longer from being broken down by the sun. 

This means you will get a couple of seasons use (depending on manufacturer and where you live) out of the plastic before it starts breaking down and becoming fragile.  The proper stuff will also stand up better to a battering from the wind, rain and snow than using some of the other cheaper plastic I’ve seen recommended like painters drop cloth.  Painters drop cloth will tear in the wind and with snow or heavy hail.  Don’t waste your heard earned cash and risk your veggies!

Make sure you open up the hoop house and check the moisture level in the soil; the plastic acts as a barrier keeping the snow and wind out.

Cold Frames

Cold frames are sturdier than a hoop house and can be made into a Victorian style hot box for even earlier crops or allowing gardeners in really cold USDA zones to harvest veggies!  A well positioned cold frame can have you harvesting carrots and greens for winter salads even in zone 3 if you sow your seeds inside the cold frame by July.

Cold frames can be made really easy and cheap and can even be made from a thrifted window or door!  We are making more cold frames this year using thrifted windows or doors from our local Restore.

A cold frame provides good protection from chilling winter winds for your plants and should ideally be orientated so the sloping glass is facing south so that it will get the most light and warmth from the sun.

Just like hoop houses and greenhouses, you will need to open up the cold frame on warm winter days (those which will be above 50F) as temperatures can heat up fast and high!

 

 

Floating Row Cover

Also known as horticultural or agricultural fleece.  This is a spun fleece material kind of like that fake spider web stuff you get for Halloween decor.  It allows light and moisture through unlike the solid plastic used for hoop houses.

To use floating row cover, simply lay it over your plants, raised bed or over supporting hoops!  Make sure you secure the fleece so it doesn’t blow away in the wind!  Old bricks come in really handy for this!

Floating row cover can be used inside undercover structures like greenhouses, hoop houses and cold frames to add an additional layer of protection on particularly chilly nights or you can use it in early fall as the temperatures are beginning to drop to keep your semi frost sensitive plants going for a slightly longer harvest.

 

Cloches

Garden cloches are traditionally made of glass but now come in lightweight, easy to move and less likely to break plastic.   Individual plants are inside a cloche and can be made from plastic bottles with the bottom cut off, milk jugs other containers which can have the bottom removed and have some ventilation hole.  Cloches are inexpensive undercover gardening tools that work great in more temperate climates like the UK.

Top Tip: If you are using plastic bottles, try to use the same shape and size so that you can stack them out of the way at the end of spring and they don’t take up too much room!

A cloche can also protect your plants from damage by slugs and snails!

Walls of Water

I saved the best until last!  These a circle of plastic tubes with one end which is sealed.  You fill the tubes up 3/4 of the way with water around a 5 gallon bucket.  Plant your warm weather crop like chilies, peppers, tomatoes, okra or squash into the center of the Wall O’ Water.  The top of these tubes will fold inwards creating a mini greenhouse.

Wall O’ Water allow you to plant warm weather crops undercover up to 2 months before your last frost date!  These are currently being trialed in my garden this season to move out many of my warm weather crops in March.  

 

Frost protections and season extension are valuable undercover gardening tools for home gardeners and suburban homesteaders.  They can allow you to harvest vegetables throughout winter and can help you to plant out seedlings up to 2 months earlier in spring.   Get a heard start by sowing seeds indoors so you transplant sturdy seedlings for an early crop.

You can double up the frost protection in colder climates or in winter to enable you to keep your plants protected from severe cold.  Remember when dealing with hoop houses, it is much better to have two thin layers than one layer of thicker plastic, more light is much better for your undercover plants.  

In general, you want to start sowing your cold weather crops like winter lettuce, carrots, kale, cabbage or Asian greens in July so they have enough time to establish before the harsh frosts arrive then place them undercover.  

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