Unpredictable winter weather can make consistently protecting plants challenging. If you have just a few plants of concern a cold frame is a good choice. Add an electric heat cable to the bottom of your cold frame and presto it becomes a “hot bed.” A hot bed is handy to give extra warmth to sensitive plants this time of year, or grow on cool crops.
Turning a cold frame into a hot bed.
Come spring, you can use your Cold Frame to help force spring bulbs, and later harden-off young plants before they go out into the garden. In fall, use it to extend summer harvests, grow cool crops, and as a holding area.
Locating Your Cold Frame/Hot Bed
Choose a site that faces south to get maximum benefit from the low winter sun. Ideally you’d like full sun from mid-morning to mid-afternoon.
The area should be protected from wind and near a water source.
Choose a place close enough to your home that you can easily check on it. (For a Hot Bed, it needs to be near an electrical outlet.)
Even in winter, temperatures can heat up dramatically, so venting on warmer days is important.
