Because my last post was a garden update for my outdoor garden, I thought I’d better share a greenhouse update.
I planted my greenhouse the beginning of May, and had to keep heat in it until almost the very last week in May because we had a cold snap. In fact, we had a frost on May 31.
Everything started out slow because if was so cold, even in the greenhouse the daytime temperatures didn’t reach 70 F. But, the first week of June it was like a switch got flipped, and we went from a fairly cold spring with temperatures barely getting into the 50’s F, to 85 F from one day to the next. It was crazy.
That’s when my greenhouse really started to take off. Everything started growing what seemed like feet every single week. I had to trellis the tomatoes and cucumbers higher and higher, and everything started to put on blossoms, lots and lots of blossoms.
I have aphids in my peppers again this year, I am wiping them off, spraying them off, using soapy water to spray them off, and I just recently sprayed them with a 50/50 mixture of water and milk. We’ll see if that helps at all. I have had one more suggestion to try rubbing alcohol, but it has to be done when it’s not super sunny, so I’ll have to try that on a rainy day.
Here’s what I have planted and how each thing is doing:
Tomatoes
These are doing fantastic! I have so many blossoms, so many tomatoes growing, and I’m excited as some of them are starting to get a little bit yellow!
Peppers
I have Jalapeno’s and Hungarian Wax peppers. The Hungarian Wax are doing excellent and I’ve already picked some, the Jalapeno’s took a bit to get going, but they’re starting to produce peppers. I just need to get rid of the aphids.
Cucumbers
These are almost to the roof rafters. I’ve been hand pollinating as it’s a closed environment, and we’ll s
Beans
I planted beans 2 different ways. I started some early and I direct seeded some. The direct seeded ones have out performed the early starts by leaps and bounds. They have so many flowers and are doing so good.
Celery
I’ve never successfully grown celery, but with the greenhouse it’s working wonderfully. They’re getting huge, but they also attract the aphids.
Herbs
I planted a variety of herbs: rosemary, oregano, thyme, sage and basil (I’ll mention below). They are all doing well, the sage is taking over, and the oregano is bolting a bit, but I’ve pulled some off each and started drying for later.
Basil
Basil is my favorite, so it deserves its own line. The Basil took a bit to get going. I recently started picking some down kind of low to get it to bush out and it’s starting to get bushier. I also pulled one of the Marigold’s that was near it and overpowering it, which has helped immensely.
Onions
I planted onions in January, and decided to try some in the greenhouse and see how they faired. They are growing great, but now that the other plants are doing so well, they get less sunlight, so we’ll see if they continue to do well.
Having this greenhouse has been fun, and it’s expanded not only my garden, but also the variety of things I can grow here in my Alaska garden. I think I’m a zone 3A here in Willow. Hopefully soon, I’ll be starting to harvest!
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