Cut & come again salad greens and herbs all year round in conservatory

[Dave Rennie]

I want to use our conservatory to grow food all year round.

I�ve already started some cut & come again lettuces and other salad greens, and today transplanted the seedlings from a propagator to pots.
I�d ideally like to cut enough for at least 2 large salads per day.

However, I feel like the route I�ve taken involves a lot of hassle, and I�m wondering if I could have grown straight into the grow bag trays that are about 4-5cm deep?

I also want to grow herbs & spices all year round, such as: Basil, Thyme, Sage, Mint, Coriander, Chillies.

Last request, is there anything that would grow well all year on a kitchen windowsill that faces into the conservatory?

I�d be grateful to receive any advise to successful year round growing in a UK conservatory without lights/heating.

Thanks
Dave

[Jungle Jane]

I wish I had a conservatory I'd get a lemon tree I've used my windowsills east facing for parsley,basil,rocket & lemon grass. I started the lemongrass last spring,split the plants at the end of summer (not very equally,one pot has only one grass in it,the weaker grasses died off with lack of water in both pots its difficult remembering to water them!) then repotted & overwintered them on the windowsill. I'll add some photos so you can see. I sow two or three basil seeds per 3" pot & they'll overwinter with a nitrogen feed to keep them going. Parsley sow about 20 seeds per 3" pot,I've grown rocket in a small 5cm deep tray it doesn't grow very big,more depth more plant? Seaweed is a nice liquid feed to use,the nutrients in the compost only last about six weeks,they'll need nitrogen or their leaves start yellowing.

[burnie]

Nothing will grow during the winter without some grow lights, things might tick over, but if you want to harvest, then I think you may have to spend a fair bit of money. In an old shed you can mackle something together, in a conservatory SWMBO insists it has to look nice(read "posh") other wise it's out lol.

[Dave Rennie]

Thanks for the replies Jane and Burnie,
I'm hoping potstubsdustbins will share some of his knowledge on the mesclun salads, as he mentioned in another thread that he grew certain mix all year round, not sure whether or not he harvested all year though?

Ideally I want to avoid using grow lights and grow what I can with ambient.

[veggiechicken]

I grow mixed salad leaves in the GH over winter and can usually find a few leaves to pick as required.
I have no idea how many leaves you'd need to pick "2 large salads every day" but you either need a lot more plants than I grow or to be very good at succession planting.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Hi Dave, yes I have Mesclun in an unheated green house in the colder months and apart from January and February (light issues) it grows fairly well, then come April I move it outside.

I grow in MPC in troughs 24" x 6" x 6". I set 3 in late Sept and they go in the GH as soon as it starts to get cold, because it is cut and come again that will see me through till I plant my next trough in late Feb again kept in the GH till April. Through the summer I find two troughs will keep me going with some to give the son.

[Dave Rennie]

Thanks for both of your replies, and thanks to potstubsdustbins to joining in.

I made some changes earlier this evening.
I now have 2 large grow bag trays elevated on 2 shelf tops (about 1m high) in the conservatory.
I transplanted the seedlings into 4 full size standard seed trays filled with MPC (111 seedlings per tray). These 4 seed trays fit into 1 of the grow bag trays.
These seedlings aren't a mesclun mix, they are individual seeds from various lettuce and pack choi.

My plan for the other grow bag tray is another 4 seed trays, but this time with meclun mix straight into the trays.

Is this a good idea? and are there any types of mesclun mix that will work better than others at this time of year?

Thanks
Dave

It's a but dark now, but I'll take some pics in the morning to show where I'm up to.

[Dave Rennie]

Here's a pic to show the current way I've got my cut and come again set up.

I'm going to plant cut and come again in the other grow bag tray to the left. What advise woul you give please?

Best seed to buy, best practice etc...