Ask Angus: The Many Uses of Vegepod's Winter Shade House Cover

If you visit the ‘shop’ page of Vegepod’s site you might see small, medium and large Vegepods being offered with an accompanying ‘shade house cover’ (aka a hot house cover or greenhouse cover). It’s a PVC non-permeable greenhouse cover that can either sheath atop the regular eco-climate Vegepod or replace the regular canopy for a completely clear zero-shade hothouse. You may be wondering of what benefits and use the winter cover is. Well, have no fear, Vegepod’s Angus Stewart is here to explain the recommended uses of the winter covers for plant propagation, coming towards the end of winter and early spring.

1. Using the Winter Cover for Propagation

The main reason the winter cover is so beneficial is during the colder months where seedlings, seeds, and cuttings are lacking light and finding it harder to grow, the winter cover can provide an extremely versatile mini greenhouse environment - no matter what growing technique you’re using. Stewart says, “While it may be easy during the cooler, frostier months to propagate hardy seedlings - such as beans and peas, the full plastic cover will provide a higher humidity environment that is seriously helpful for delicate propagation operations, such as fine seeded species or delicate soft tip cuttings”

2. Get a Jump Start on Spring & Summer Veggies

Pots and Punnets Now is the perfect time to use the winter cover for propagation of your Spring and Summer vegetable plantings. Tomatoes, eggplants, capsicums, chillies, beetroot, and onions can all be sown as seed in punnets or pots during mid winter, provided you give them a head start with a sheltering cover. Angus recommends the pots and punnets be slightly burrowed into the potting mix and be watered from below only, using the Vegepod’s wicking bed action. Once the seedlings are big enough to handle, they can be transplanted into a garden or kept in the Vegepod.   Soft Tips Vegetables (& Ornamental) Cuttings Similarly, soft tip vegetables can be planted under the winter cover in late winter. Angus notes on propagating soft tips: “Simply cut the soft tips from various veggies such as tomatoes, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. Place the cuttings into good quality general purpose potting mix and when there is new growth at the top of the soft tip, you know it is time to lift the plant from the Vegepod and transplant it into the garden to enjoy the warmer weather”. Alternatively, if you have a medium or large sized Vegepod, you may prefer to leave your soft tip vegetables in the Pod. Those are our tips and tricks for how to use the Vegepod Winter Cover for the propagation of plants, seeds, seedlings and soft tip cuttings in time for Spring. Have you tried out the Vegepod Winter Cover, or used a hothouse for winter plant propagation? We’d love to find out what you experienced so don’t be afraid to let us know! Get in touch today, we love hearing from you.