A cold frame can be created in no time. With a little craftsmanship, home gardeners can build the miniature greenhouse themselves from wood or Euro pallets with a cover made from old windows. The question of which plants are really suitable for the cold frame turns out to be more difficult. Read what's coming in here.
Which plants fit in the cold frame?
In the first half of the year, cold-resistant vegetable plants such as early lettuce, lettuce, spring onions, chard and early carrots thrive in the cold frame. In the second half of the year, lettuces, radishes, leeks and kale are suitable plants for the cold frame.
Cold frame seed and planting calendar for the first half of the year
If you have set up your cold frame correctly, the planting season will begin here in early spring. Above all, vegetable plants, which are already tough and have adapted to low temperatures, thrive under the protected conditions. The following overview gives you an overview of which plant species go into the cold frame in the first half of the year:
| Cold frame sowing plan | January | February | March | April | May | June |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early salad | Lamb lettuce | Kohlrabi | Growing leeks | Ice cream salad | Kale | |
| Plucking lettuce | Radish | Radish | Growing runner beans | Bush tomatoes | Bush tomatoes | |
| Spring onions | Spinach | Growing broccoli | Growing broccoli | Plucking lettuce | Red cabbage | |
| Chard | Growing Brussels sprouts | Basil | Growing melons | Beetroot | Plucking lettuce | |
| Early carrots | Growing cauliflower | Growing peppers | Zucchini | Zucchini | ||
| cress |
As soon as the temperatures settle at 15 to 18 degrees Celsius at night, you can remove the cover and use the cold frame as a normal growing area.
Tips for the second half of the year – this goes into the cold frame
When the mercury falls in September, the cold frame gets its transparent lid back. All kinds of salads and radishes thrive here well into autumn. You can sow classic winter vegetables until the end of September to supply the kitchen with fresh vitamins during the winter. Leeks and kale are very popular.
By the way, the cold frame is ideal for storing the autumn harvest during the cold season. Apples, potatoes and numerous vegetables stay fresh on a thick layer of straw. Regular ventilation ensures the important exchange of air so that mold does not form. A cover made of opaque fleece creates the necessary darkness for a long storage period.
Tip
In a sunny, sheltered location, the spring sun brings the cold frame to operating temperature from mid/late March. If you would like to sow and plant in February, you can equip the mini greenhouse with natural heating. This consists of a 20 cm thick layer of fresh horse manure and a 20 cm thick layer of compost soil.