How to Build a Cold Frame?

Owners of home greenhouses invariably have one problem in common. They do not build them large enough. This is an especially knotty situation for those of us who have profit in mind. If you are in this boat, you will welcome ideas on obtaining more growing space with the use of “auxiliary growing facilities,” such as cold frames, hotbeds, and lath houses.

A cold frame is an outdoor growing “area” built without a bottom but with a solid-sided frame of wood, cement or brick, and a removable hinged top, glazed with glass, Fiberglas, or plastic. Cold frames are invaluable. For instance, they take some of the spring bulge from a greenhouse. By using them for growing greenhouse-started annuals and perennials, you make under-glass room for a new crop of salable plants. Then there are plants such as delphiniums, pansies, and Oriental poppies, to be planted in the frame in late summer and kept there over winter. The cold frame makes an excellent “cold-42 conditioning” rooting area for the spring-flowering bulbs you wish to force.

You can purchase material and build your own cold frame, buy ready-fitted supplies from a greenhouse dealer and assemble it, or you can buy a ready-made cold frame of wood or aluminum with plastic “lights.”

The frame should face south. If you are going to have but one frame you might want to attach it to your south greenhouse wall. If you plan on a number of frames, build them in rows either free-standing in the garden or attached to the greenhouse, garage, or other building. In cold-winter areas the frames should be provided with a cover of matting, either the roll-up kind or straw mats. Wooden slats, cheesecloth, and shading paint compounds help protect plants in the frame from summer sun.

Standard-sized sash for use on the frame come 3 by 6 feet. If you purchase this, you will have to govern the width and length of your frame accordingly. However, you can use any kind of window frame, and with so many home owners converting wooden window frames to aluminum, you may be able to get wooden storm sash for little or no cost from almost any window or wrecking company, or through a want ad in your local paper. It may be easiest for you to obtain the sash and then construct the frame around it.

Here’s how we built our cold frame. For the back we used the cement wall of our garage. The frame is 18 inches high in the back, sloping to 8 inches in front, to allow water to run off. Lumber, 2 by 12 inches, 14 feet, forms the front. The sides are 28 inches long. The lights (three storm sash) are hinged on a 2 by 4 wooden strip which is nailed to the garage wall. If you live in a cold climate and plan on using the cold frame for year-round growing, build it on a concrete or brick founda-

13, 14, 15, 16. For a free-standing cold frame, assemble a heavy wooden frame higher at one end, attach a snug-fitting hinged top, cover with reinforced plastic, and this valuable auxiliary growing area is ready to provide protection for seedlings, cuttings, etc. The sides should be banked with soil to eliminate drafts, as described. (Courtesy Workbench)

17. There are the many kinds of ready-made cold frames on the market, such as this aluminum, plastic-covered model. (Photograph by Merchant & Evans)

tion which extends below the frost line. In my area the building code specifies that the frost line is 42 inches deep. On sunny days, even in midwinter, you’ll have to be careful about ventilation. Heat can build up rapidly in the confinement of a cold frame and “cook” the plants. A notched stick will make it easy to raise the sash cover as needed.

Tags: home greenhouse

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