Hi people,
I have just invested in a large coldframe with a polythene UV stabilised cover and all the necessary air vents and fly screens etc. Can I expect to successfully grow salad crops and carrots (lettuce, radish etc etc) throughout the summer? I have heard they promote healthy growth providing they get adequate ventilation and watering etc. does anyone have any helpful tips for a newbie??
I have started my lettuce etc in the greenhouse but have been told that planting directly out leaves then exposed to attack. Would the coldframe retard their growth in any way??

Not sure if you mean an enclosed cold frame on a hard surface or one on soil - I grow most of my salad in cold frames on soil, easier to protect from slugs especially in the early stages. I use a garden not an allotment and I am retired so watering and controlling ventilation are not an issue.
My first crop we are just finishing was grown in cold frame in cold greenhouse (cgh), frame moved outside some weeks ago.
Here is the batch we are about to start on.

At the far side are Spring Onions started in heated greenhouse (hgh) 18th Feb.
Nearest are various Lettuce (I grow several varieties to mature at different times so sow less frequently than often suggested), sown in hgh 11th March, moved to cgh 25th then planted in here on 8th April. Between them are Radish, Rocket and Greek Cress sown in the cold frame on 1st April.
To follow on I have another cold frame.

Lettuce sown in cgh 2nd April, planted in cold frame on 2nd May when Rocket and Greek Cress were also sown.
And so it goes on through the summer - sometimes growing some outside but usually moving a cold frame to a new patch.
Hope that helps!

Wow! most impressive, many thanks. The cold frame I have purchased is on the Two Wests and elliott website. If you go on there and search under coldframes SC400 you will see what I'm getting. Your opinion will be very much appreciated.
Many thanks
Phill

Hi Geoff,
I take it that the sides to your frame are of Polycarbonate and not mesh.
I have been toying with the idea of another salad table. After many years the original gave up the ghost last year when I really needed it.
The table is on 4x29" high legs with the cold frame on the top. I used mesh as opposed to polycarbonate and although it lasted some ten years I am sure had it been polycarbonate sides it would still be with me.
I had a succession of plants growing as I still sell plants locally and it was lettuce out new one in. The Table is 4'x3' but I only grew salad onions radishes and lettuces but no cut and come again. Small quick growing Cos.
Little Leprchaun and Warpath to name but just two of the varieties.
JB.

A neighbour gave up on a ploycarbonate greenhouse that blew away several times and eventually buckled the frame. He wasn't doing anything with the panels so I made two cold frames that I can move about plus lids for three concrete based / concrete block frames that I use for hardening off etc.
Phill - I'm not familiar with this type of frame but stopping it blowing away looks like the main issue - they even had to hold it down for the photograph!
It's certainly big enough to be useful.

Hi Geoff
Its going in a relatively sheltered spot so fingers crossed. Many thanks for the previous advice though, much appreciated.
Phill.

Hello Phill
I have a few cold frames of a similar size to yours. They are ideal for growing all sorts of salads during the winter, keeping herbs going through the cold weather and for bringing things on in the spring. For the summer months though I use them for growing bush tomatoes, Red Alert is a very good one to try, and mini-cucumbers, like La Diva. I grow these in a similar way to strawberries with the plant sitting in a bed of straw. If you decide to try these don't put too many plants in the frame - two bush toms will be enough or one cucumber per frame. It will have to be one or the other as these two plants require different growing conditions.
Frames are too warm in the summer for salads which do best in cooler conditions.

John

I must say that Yes, it's possible, if you grow your own clean vegetables in a cold frame. Cold frame supports are easy to create, take very little care, and can provide you with clean vegetables throughout the fall, winter and springtime periods. In fact, with the use of a chilly shape it is possible to have clean vegetables from your own garden all 12 months of the year.