Creating a cold frame for your garden bed can extend your gardening season - you can get a month or more on both sides of the normal growing season, or you can grow all year round. According to your budget, the materials you want to use, and the size and location of the garden, there are many ways to create a cold frame for your garden bed.
Greenhouse or cold frame?
Of course, if you want to plant all year round, you can invest in a greenhouse. But greenhouses are usually much larger and more expensive. In winter, the crops will survive in the cold frame, which can let you take a step ahead when planting seedlings, let the plants live longer or start planting earlier, and provide fresh food from the garden in the whole winter months. This is equivalent to moving your plants to a slightly warmer agricultural area. If the cold box is too hot, open it to release some trapped heat.
DIY cold box with many upgraded recycled materials. Another advantage of cold frames is that they are usually more portable than greenhouses (even mini greenhouses). You can move the cold frame made of lightweight materials from one bed to another year after year. If you don't need them all year round, take them apart and store them.
In essence, the cold frame allows sunlight to capture and warm the air around plants through a material. The top is often raised, like in a box. The box is placed on the plant. Because it absorbs sunlight and heat, the effect will be best if you put the cold frame in direct sunlight. If possible, turn the top of the frame toward the south, so that you can capture as much heat as possible from the low sun in winter.
A cold box method for your garden DIY
1. Use any hard and transparent plastic products. Mother Earth News said that they had achieved great success in using transparent plastic manhole covers. Transparent PVC corrugated window roof attached to a frame can work.
2. Use the shower door. The transparent glass shower door can be made into a cold frame. The key is to fix the door on a frame so that the door can be formed and opened safely. One possibility is to put a straw bag around your bed and put the door on the straw bag. When straw bales begin to decompose, use them to cover your garden or control weeds on the road.
3. Cycle window. Many cold frames are made of abandoned windows. Keep the windows small enough so that they are not too heavy to move. Most gardeners will use wood to make a simple bottomless open box. Then, fix the window on the top of the box. Hinge windows or use sliding windows to open ventilation on warm days. Go to your local "human habitat restoration", thrift stores, waste recycling yards or thrift markets to look for windows.
4. Use a piece of glass. If you have a piece of glass, you can handle it safely. Consider placing it on your garden flower bed to create a temporary cold frame during the growth of your seedlings.
5. Use the abandoned skylight. Another thing you may find in human habitat is an abandoned skylight. If you find one, fix it on a frame like a window. Or put a straw bag around it and put the skylight on the top of the straw bag.
6. Build a PVC frame. A good way to make a cold frame for your garden. If you have a raised bed, make a frame with PVC and cover it with PVC. The plastic sheet can be fixed with clips. Depending on how you fix the parts of the frame together, you can disassemble the frame and store it. The advantage of this option is that the frame can be designed to fit any size of bed and any shape of garden area.
Greenhouse or cold frame?
Of course, if you want to plant all year round, you can invest in a greenhouse. But greenhouses are usually much larger and more expensive. In winter, the crops will survive in the cold frame, which can let you take a step ahead when planting seedlings, let the plants live longer or start planting earlier, and provide fresh food from the garden in the whole winter months. This is equivalent to moving your plants to a slightly warmer agricultural area. If the cold box is too hot, open it to release some trapped heat.
DIY cold box with many upgraded recycled materials. Another advantage of cold frames is that they are usually more portable than greenhouses (even mini greenhouses). You can move the cold frame made of lightweight materials from one bed to another year after year. If you don't need them all year round, take them apart and store them.
In essence, the cold frame allows sunlight to capture and warm the air around plants through a material. The top is often raised, like in a box. The box is placed on the plant. Because it absorbs sunlight and heat, the effect will be best if you put the cold frame in direct sunlight. If possible, turn the top of the frame toward the south, so that you can capture as much heat as possible from the low sun in winter.
A cold box method for your garden DIY
1. Use any hard and transparent plastic products. Mother Earth News said that they had achieved great success in using transparent plastic manhole covers. Transparent PVC corrugated window roof attached to a frame can work.
2. Use the shower door. The transparent glass shower door can be made into a cold frame. The key is to fix the door on a frame so that the door can be formed and opened safely. One possibility is to put a straw bag around your bed and put the door on the straw bag. When straw bales begin to decompose, use them to cover your garden or control weeds on the road.
3. Cycle window. Many cold frames are made of abandoned windows. Keep the windows small enough so that they are not too heavy to move. Most gardeners will use wood to make a simple bottomless open box. Then, fix the window on the top of the box. Hinge windows or use sliding windows to open ventilation on warm days. Go to your local "human habitat restoration", thrift stores, waste recycling yards or thrift markets to look for windows.
4. Use a piece of glass. If you have a piece of glass, you can handle it safely. Consider placing it on your garden flower bed to create a temporary cold frame during the growth of your seedlings.
5. Use the abandoned skylight. Another thing you may find in human habitat is an abandoned skylight. If you find one, fix it on a frame like a window. Or put a straw bag around it and put the skylight on the top of the straw bag.
6. Build a PVC frame. A good way to make a cold frame for your garden. If you have a raised bed, make a frame with PVC and cover it with PVC. The plastic sheet can be fixed with clips. Depending on how you fix the parts of the frame together, you can disassemble the frame and store it. The advantage of this option is that the frame can be designed to fit any size of bed and any shape of garden area.
