If November is frost-free, now is the last chance to sow or plant outdoors. In addition to planning for the next garden year, the pre-cultivation of the first types of vegetables begins. You can sow these plants in November.
Table of Contents
Asiasalate
Asian salads germinate at low temperatures and take around 14 days to germinate. If Asian lettuce is sown when it is cooler, there is less risk of it shooting and, depending on the weather, it can be harvested after around four weeks. Even if it freezes, the lettuce will sprout again. However, what they do not tolerate is moisture, as this quickly causes the leaves to rot away. Therefore, you should preferably sow Asian lettuce in a foil tunnel or greenhouse in November .
Sowing Instructions
- loosen soil
- lightly fertilize
- Distribute seeds evenly
- cover with 1 to 2 cm soil
- keep constantly slightly moist
Chili
Chilies (Capsicum) have a very long cultivation period and need up to three weeks to germinate. It is therefore advisable to start pre-cultivating indoors at the end of November so that you can start harvesting from July. If you prepare the seeds, you can speed up germination, giving you a few days to a week faster.
Sowing Instructions
- Lightly roughen seeds with fine-grain sandpaper
- Soak in lukewarm water for 24 hours
- Fill the bowl with seed soil
- Distribute seeds evenly
- cover with 0.5 cm soil
- Keep soil slightly moist
Lamb’s lettuce
You can sow lamb’s lettuce (Valerianella locusta) all year round, ie also in November, outdoors or in a greenhouse. The advantage is that the lamb’s lettuce only germinates when the ideal temperatures prevail and then it takes about ten days for the first leaves to appear. It is harvested about three to four weeks later.
If you currently have no space in the greenhouse or garden, you can grow the lamb’s lettuce in multi-pot trays and only plant them out when you have space. If autumn is frost-free for a long time, there may be plenty of vegetables in the garden well into November, making pre-cultivation a good alternative to having small plants ready to plant out.
garden cress
Garden cress (Lepidium sativum) is also a culture that you can sow in November. Garden cress germinates at temperatures of around 10°C and has a short cultivation period of around one to two weeks from germination to harvest. Since the cress does not grow very large, you should preferably sow it in a greenhouse or polytunnel.
carrots
If you want to harvest carrots (Daucus carota) early in the year, we recommend sowing late in November. A greenhouse or cold frame is ideal for this .
When sowing in November, only choose varieties that have a short cultivation period, as they germinate within 14 days. The early carrots are characterized by a short ripening time, but only germinate when the right temperatures prevail. It is usually harvested in the spring of the following year.
Appropriate Varieties
- Laguna
- Nantes 2
- Totem
Knoblauch
Garlic (Allium sativum) can also be planted late in the year. The toes will no longer drift this year, but they will start growing by spring at the latest. If you are still stuck that late, however, the harvest will also be postponed and will only start in summer. However, it’s also a good option if you want to stagger your harvest next year.
If you want to harvest fresh onion or garlic greens in winter, place the onion sets and cloves in a clay saucer on the windowsill. Pour in just a little water and spritz the onions and cloves occasionally. They sprout after a short time and you can harvest them regularly.
spring onions
You can also sow spring onions (Allium fistulosum) in the greenhouse. The bulbs won’t sprout until next year. The bulbs need at least 15°C to germinate. The germination time can be up to 20 days. The spring onions are harvested in spring.
You should sow the seeds about a 1/2 inch deep. Also cover the area in the greenhouse with a fleece and make sure that the soil is always slightly damp.
Physalis
You can grow physalis on the windowsill from the end of November. Although the seeds germinate within a week, the fruit takes a long time to ripen. In order for them to be as aromatic as possible, they should be ripened by September so that they can still get a lot of sun and warmth. This will only succeed if you start pre-cultivating in November.
Rocket
You can sow rocket in the greenhouse in November. It also has a short cultivation period and usually only takes two months from sowing to harvest.
You should consider this when sowing:
- light germinator
- Simply press seeds
- Depending on the weather, between three and six weeks until harvest
- Harvest possible as soon as three pairs of leaves are on the plant
Spinach
You can sow spinach (Spinacia oleracea) in November in the greenhouse, polytunnel or cold frame. As a rule, the spinach will no longer germinate this year. However, there is a very good chance that you will be able to harvest early next year. As soon as it has a constant 12°C, the seeds will germinate within a week. This allows you to harvest at least one extra set of spinach in sheltered cultivation by summer.
Topinambur
Topinambur (Helianthus tuberosus) is resilient in the garden. Although the vegetable is originally native to the warmer regions of North America and Central America, it also survives the winter as a rhizome. You can plant and harvest the rhizomes all year round, as long as there is no frost. The root pieces should be placed at least 15 to 20 cm deep in the ground.
Winterportulak
The ideal time for sowing seeds for winter urchins (Claytonia perfoliata) is when it is cool. The temperatures should be around 10°C, because the seeds will not germinate above or below this. They need about a week to germinate and the Winter Postelein can be harvested after about three weeks.
- light germinator
- Just sow seeds or press lightly
- first harvest possible in the greenhouse at the end of the year
The advantage is that once you have winter postelets in the garden, the plants reproduce very well by self-seeding. It is therefore recommended that you sow the seeds in a corner of the garden where they can grow undisturbed. A sheltered spot that is slightly damp is ideal.
onions
If you have not yet managed to plant winter onion sets (Allium cepa), you should do so by the beginning of November. There are usually still a few days until mid-November when the ground is not frozen and you can plant the onion sets.
Planting Guide
- Deeply loosen the soil
- do not fertilize
- Stick the onions or cloves at least 2 cm deep
- mulch thin
- don’t water
sow flowers
Sowing flowers in November may seem unusual. However, there are some species that only germinate once they have had a frost. So that the seeds do not lie in the ground for too long and are destroyed by rot, it is ideal if you do not sow until November.
Suitable flowers
- Bergenie (Bergenia)
- Christrose (Helleborus niger)
- Eisenhut (Aconitum)
- Pasqueflower (Pulsatilla)
- Cowslip (Primula)
- Trollblume (Trollius europaeus)
The seeds are only scattered and lightly pressed. Keep the seeds moist until next year when they germinate.
frequently asked Questions
Yes, you can also grow cress in a bowl indoors. However, the cress must then be harvested quickly, as it tends to shoot quickly in warm temperatures.
Yes, if you want to start pre-cultivating that early, you will need supplemental lighting that gives the plants at least 10 hours of full daylight. Otherwise it can lead to horny growth or the plants take care of themselves.
