Spring Crops

Finding land, working a small plot or anything else countryside related
User avatar
Zasso Nouka
Tech Support
Tech Support
Posts: 5705
Joined: Wed Sep 23, 2015 9:37 am
Location: Chiba Prefecture
Has thanked: 4120 times
Been thanked: 3394 times

Spring Crops

Post by Zasso Nouka »

So with another year beginning it's time to get ready for spring and plan what to grow. Last year we experimented with a soil heating cable in one of our vinyl houses but the electricity bill was horrific even though it was under a double tunnel inside the vinyl house so this year we are starting some crops off inside our house and some under agricultural fleece inside low tunnels.

This weekend we seeded various types of sweet pepper and nasu indoors and will be starting tomatoes in the next few days. Outside we have seeded turnips, chingensai (mini and ordinary sized), baby leaf salad and are starting to prepare the ground for potatoes that will go in the ground around the end of february/early march. It's also time to start snow peas or any peas for that matter, many folk grow them through the winter but we found in our location they often die during the coldest part of the winter so start them inside a poly tunnel and then move them outside in March.

If you want to harvest kabocha before the rainy season begins they should be seeded over the next few weeks but they will need some protection when first moved outside or you can seed them directly into mulch and cover with a low tunnel during February and they will germinate when the soil warms up enough. It's better to cover them with some agricultural fleece inside the tunnel until around mid April.

Will add more things as we seed them.

Ian
Posts: 125
Joined: Thu Oct 01, 2015 6:28 pm
Location: Hyogo Prefecture
Has thanked: 37 times
Been thanked: 160 times

Re: Spring Crops

Post by Ian »

Good advice ZN - thanks.

How about using water heat to help with your vinyl house growing system e.g. solar hot water and wood fire heated water?

User avatar
gonbechan
Founder
Founder
Posts: 2531
Joined: Wed Sep 23, 2015 9:10 am
Has thanked: 2687 times
Been thanked: 1436 times

Re: Spring Crops

Post by gonbechan »

I was thinking black PVC pipe coil type water heaters..

Flockaducks
Posts: 46
Joined: Thu Mar 24, 2016 9:53 am
Location: Izu penninsula
Has thanked: 80 times
Been thanked: 44 times

Re: Spring Crops

Post by Flockaducks »

Thanks for the awesome post im in the process of building a hot house now.
i was wondering what do you mean by protecting the kabocha? i want to start some now but i want start them indoors
then plant it outdoors later

User avatar
Zasso Nouka
Tech Support
Tech Support
Posts: 5705
Joined: Wed Sep 23, 2015 9:37 am
Location: Chiba Prefecture
Has thanked: 4120 times
Been thanked: 3394 times

Re: Spring Crops

Post by Zasso Nouka »

Ian wrote:Good advice ZN - thanks.

How about using water heat to help with your vinyl house growing system e.g. solar hot water and wood fire heated water?
That's a great idea Ian, it would have to be portable to be stripped out in the summer as we cultivate the soil between crops with the tractor but I guess flexible poly pipe would take care of that. Some of the shiitake growers around us use giant maki stoves to heat their tunnels in the winter and those burn for 9 or 10 hours once fully loaded so that may be another option. How does the flexible poly pipe handle freezing ? Does it just expand or split ?
gonbechan wrote:I was thinking black PVC pipe coil type water heaters..
That would work better than rigid pipe for us. Would have to figure in some sort of back heating for cloudy days or risk loosing any tender young plants then.
Flockaducks wrote:i was wondering what do you mean by protecting the kabocha? i want to start some now but i want start them indoors then plant it outdoors later
I'd suggest slowly acclimatising them to the outdoors around March or April (depending on your climate) by putting them out in the day and then bringing them in at night if you were to start them off in the house or you could put them in your poly tunnel inside another small/low tunnel and cover with agricultural fleece and remove the fleece during the day.

If planting them outside use black plastic mulch and that will heat up the ground really well during the day which will act as a radiator at night. Then cover that with agricultural fleece and a low tunnel to trap that heat during the night. We've successfully started kabocha in February using this method in previous years.

User avatar
gonbechan
Founder
Founder
Posts: 2531
Joined: Wed Sep 23, 2015 9:10 am
Has thanked: 2687 times
Been thanked: 1436 times

Re: Spring Crops

Post by gonbechan »

You can use compost bins on wheels to heat your vinyl house.
You move them out when it gets warmer.

User avatar
Zasso Nouka
Tech Support
Tech Support
Posts: 5705
Joined: Wed Sep 23, 2015 9:37 am
Location: Chiba Prefecture
Has thanked: 4120 times
Been thanked: 3394 times

Re: Spring Crops

Post by Zasso Nouka »

gonbechan wrote:You can use compost bins on wheels to heat your vinyl house.
You move them out when it gets warmer.
It's a good idea but we get night time temperatures of around -8 at the moment so you'd need a huge amount of heat to keep the whole vinyl house warm. That's why it's easier to heat the soil in a single low double tunnel within the vinyl house. Your heat source also has to be dependable, the last thing you want is for plants to get wiped out by something like several days of cloudy weather followed by a cold night as that could set you back significantly. Not a major problem if you are only growing for yourself but if you are growing commercially you could well miss an early harvest or be very late.

Ian
Posts: 125
Joined: Thu Oct 01, 2015 6:28 pm
Location: Hyogo Prefecture
Has thanked: 37 times
Been thanked: 160 times

Re: Spring Crops

Post by Ian »

ZN - With the steading supply of firewood you are getting then the maki stove direction like the shiitake growers use would be a possible option. Still a lot of work though.

Yes, you'll have the risk of surface pipes freezing.

Wondering if a water pipe from inside your house, near the main heat source, to the inside of the tunnel, looped back into the house using a small circulating pump might be enough to keep the plants from freezing.
Or, how about the temperature of your well water.....
Ideas, ideas. :D

No spring planting for us today. :think:
snow2.jpg
snow2.jpg (56.31 KiB) Viewed 517 times

User avatar
Zasso Nouka
Tech Support
Tech Support
Posts: 5705
Joined: Wed Sep 23, 2015 9:37 am
Location: Chiba Prefecture
Has thanked: 4120 times
Been thanked: 3394 times

Re: Spring Crops

Post by Zasso Nouka »

Ian wrote:ZN - With the steading supply of firewood you are getting then the maki stove direction like the shiitake growers use would be a possible option. Still a lot of work though.
One of the shiitake growers is retiring in a few years so may be able to pick one of their maki stoves up for a reasonable price but they got through a colossal amount of wood each winter. Still though it works out cheaper than what the tomato and piman growers pay to heat their vinyl houses.

Ian wrote: Wondering if a water pipe from inside your house, near the main heat source, to the inside of the tunnel, looped back into the house using a small circulating pump might be enough to keep the plants from freezing.
Or, how about the temperature of your well water.....
Ideas, ideas. :D
No that's an idea that could be made to work
Ian wrote: No spring planting for us today. :think:
We haven't even had a sniff of snow yet this winter and to be honest I'm quite happy with that, it may be pretty but can be a bit of a hassle if you need to get things done.

Ian
Posts: 125
Joined: Thu Oct 01, 2015 6:28 pm
Location: Hyogo Prefecture
Has thanked: 37 times
Been thanked: 160 times

Re: Spring Crops

Post by Ian »

ZN - Another idea is to use your chickens and other animals as a heat source in winter, as in what these people in the video are doing in France.

https://youtu.be/oNreOaTK4BU?t=8m46s

Post Reply