Greenhouse Growing in South African winter

[Flanjet]

Hello everyone,

I’m wanting to try grow in a green house through Winter.
Where I am, in South Africa, the winter would look like this:

10-11 hours of sunlight a day.
During the day, the temp will be around 10-18 degrees Celsius (50-64F), Nights average around 3-7 degrees Celsius (34-44 F), with cold snaps, which last a couple of days, getting down to about -5 degrees Celsius (23F). This happens maybe 5 times a Winter.
There is no rainfall in this period and it is very dry, and being at about 6000 feet above sea level, the air is very dry too, but water can obviously be supplied.

Can anyone give me some direction on if I would be able to grow through this period, which strains I should try, and any other information that would help.
I should mention I’m a complete noob...


Thank you in advance.

 

[Old Salt]

to the forum...

I envy your winter, as ours is ending, hopefully soon. I've put up with far too many weeks where the high was below -20°C, and have 10cm of snow on the way tonight followed by another 20cm on Monday.

With this view from my kitchen window following a winter storm, I can't give any hints for growing outdoors in the winter.

View from the Kitchen after 75cm (30") Snowfall​

 

[Blew Hiller]

I’m wanting to try grow in a green house through Winter.
10-11 hours of sunlight a day.
During the day, the temp will be around 10-18 degrees Celsius (50-64F), Nights average around 3-7 degrees Celsius (34-44 F), with cold snaps, which last a couple of days, getting down to about -5 degrees Celsius (23F). This happens maybe 5 times a Winter.
There is no rainfall in this period and it is very dry, and being at about 6000 feet above sea level, the air is very dry too, but water can obviously be supplied.

Challenging with those temps. What type of greenhouse (GH)? Are these listed temps the same inside the GH?

 

[Strainyourbrain]

Hello everyone,

I’m wanting to try grow in a green house through Winter.
Where I am, in South Africa, the winter would look like this:

10-11 hours of sunlight a day.
During the day, the temp will be around 10-18 degrees Celsius (50-64F), Nights average around 3-7 degrees Celsius (34-44 F), with cold snaps, which last a couple of days, getting down to about -5 degrees Celsius (23F). This happens maybe 5 times a Winter.
There is no rainfall in this period and it is very dry, and being at about 6000 feet above sea level, the air is very dry too, but water can obviously be supplied.

Can anyone give me some direction on if I would be able to grow through this period, which strains I should try, and any other information that would help.
I should mention I’m a complete noob...


Thank you in advance.

Hi Flanjet.
I am in SA and have more or less the same Temps as you in winter. I also have a tiny greenhouse on a tomato farm. Unfortunately with those daylight hours it's our ideal time for plants to be in flower, so you have a problem. the only way you can help your plants grow is to add some extra light from around 5pm to maybe 11 or 12 at night. You would also need to get your temps up as well to at least above 22 degrees constantly. above 25 degrees would be even better. In addition to that with the air being dry you probably need to add humidity in some way as well.

This is why I end up growing indoor in a grow cupboard over the winter season. I hope that's not a discouragement. If you have the means give that a try.

 

[FoNz]

Hi Flanjet.
I am in SA and have more or less the same Temps as you in winter. I also have a tiny greenhouse on a tomato farm. Unfortunately with those daylight hours it's our ideal time for plants to be in flower, so you have a problem. the only way you can help your plants grow is to add some extra light from around 5pm to maybe 11 or 12 at night. You would also need to get your temps up as well to at least above 22 degrees constantly. above 25 degrees would be even better. In addition to that with the air being dry you probably need to add humidity in some way as well.

This is why I end up growing indoor in a grow cupboard over the winter season. I hope that's not a discouragement. If you have the means give that a try.

Supplemental light is one option, but it may also be worth looking into photo cycle independent autoflower strains. Many autoflowers also handle a chill a bit better to my understanding.

 

[Strainyourbrain]

Thanks FoNz. I didn't really think about Auto's for this.
I'm just not sure they still gonna handle the cold snaps which go down to -5 Celsius, for 4 to 6 days at a time.

 

[FoNz]

Thanks FoNz. I didn't really think about Auto's for this.
I'm just not sure they still gonna handle the cold snaps which go down to -5 Celsius, for 4 to 6 days at a time.

For sure, temperature control would be necessary. There are folks who use hoop tents, lights, heater and humidifiers to grow peppers through the winter in my zone but it is definitely only an enthusiast type set up. This year I'm not even sure their setups would have help up because it went down to around -25 Celsius.

The auto suggestion was more to combat the inconsistent light I associate with winters while being able to handle temperature dips a bit better is a perk, you'd still need some kind of climate control for temps going down near and below freezing for sure.

 

[Strainyourbrain]

For sure, temperature control would be necessary. There are folks who use hoop tents, lights, heater and humidifiers to grow peppers through the winter in my zone but it is definitely only an enthusiast type set up. This year I'm not even sure their setups would have help up because it went down to around -25 Celsius.

The auto suggestion was more to combat the inconsistent light I associate with winters while being able to handle temperature dips a bit better is a perk, you'd still need some kind of climate control for temps going down near and below freezing for sure.

I agree. I don't know how much Flanjet is willing to put into the winter grow idea.
Flanjet are you out there?