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Using the Winter Gardening Algorithm
Using the Winter Gardening Algorithm

How to use our experimental winter gardening algorithm

Paul Dysinger avatar
Written by Paul Dysinger
Updated over 3 years ago

The purpose of our experimental winter gardening algorithm is to estimate your crop harvest delays over the winter months.

As temperatures drop and as day light decreases, plants growth slows down which results in longer days to maturity then during optimal times of the year. The first version of our algorithm seeks to estimate this slow down in growth based on your current location and how much protection you are using to grow the current crop.

IMPORTANT WARNING: This feature is in its infancy and is still very much experimental. While we have used the best data we can find to create these estimates, they may not be accurate for your location or situation. Other factors such as soil fertility and watering schedules can affect plant growth as well. There are other current limitations to our current algorithm which will be discussed below. In light of this, we highly encourage using this feature for experimental (fun personal use) purposes only.

STEP 1: Setting up the winter gardening algorithm

First, navigate to the settings page in the application (top right of the screen).

Then make sure that you have entered your current location by entering either your home address or zip code. This is important for the winter gardening algorithm to be able to tailor it's calculations to your current location.

Once your address is set, the program will automatically detect your USDA growing zone. If you live in a microclimate you may adjust your USDA growing zone manually via the drop down.

NOTE: Once you set your address your first and last frost dates will now automatically calculate as well. Or, you can manually change them by clicking on the date and moving it to a different date.

Next, make sure to check the toggle to turn on our experimental winter gardening feature and then click save.

When you click save, a dialogue box will appear with two options:

  1. Leave harvesting dates the same (recommended if you already have an active garden plan)
    Selecting this option will NOT change any of your current garden crop planting schedules. All harvest dates will remain the same as they are currently set and will only recalculate to use the winter gardening algorithm if the planting schedule is moved or if a new crop/planting schedule is added to the calendar.
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  2. Update harvesting dates
    Selecting this option will update all the harvesting dates for all the crop planting schedules that are already in your calendar using the new winter gardening algorithm. You will need to manually edit each crop planting schedule during the fall/winter/spring to indicate what level of protection will be used while it is growing (see STEP 2 below).
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Choose which option you would like to proceed with and click the corresponding button to apply the winter gardening algorithm settings.

Once set, you will see a confirmation message in the top right and can then click on the "Calendar" link in the top left to return to your garden plan.

STEP 2: Setting individual crop settings for the winter harvest calculations

After turning on the winter gardening algorithm feature, it is VERY important that you choose the proper settings for each crop planting schedule that will be affected by the winter delay calculations. These will usually include any fall (even if seeded in the summer), winter, and spring crops.

To choose the right settings for each planting schedule, either click on the drop down arrow for that planting schedule and choose "Settings" (or you will see these same settings when adding a new crop to the calendar).

Next, scroll down to the bottom of the settings panel where you will see two new settings, the crop protection level while it is growing, and the date used to calculate the harvest delay from (either seeding or transplanting).

First, you will want to choose the crop protection level. Here is what the three options mean:

  1. No Cover: Use this option for crops that will not use any form of additional protection.

  2. One Cover: Use this option for crops that will use one layer of protection while they are growing when temperatures drop. This would include using a row cover, or if the crop is grown inside a quick hoop or hoop house. We would suggest using this setting even if you decided to use two row covers together on the coldest nights as long as there is no air gap between the two covers (in which case both row covers would create one thick layer of protection).

  3. Two+ Covers: Use this option if the crop is going to grow inside a hoop house (first layer of protection) and you will also be using a row cover (or double row covers) inside the hoop house as well.

For more information on how to protect your veggies in the winter please see the masterclass on protecting winter veggies here.

NOTE: These are the only current basic adjustments that we have for the algorithm based on whether you are growing in a hoop house etc. In the future, we plan on allowing even more manual fine tuning to adjust the algorithm to match your growing location with even more detail.

Second, you will need to choose which date the winter gardening algorithm will use for calculating the harvest delays. The default is to calculate from the seeding date of the crop, but in some cases you will want to choose to calculate from the transplanting date. Here's how to know which one to choose:

  1. Seeding: Use this option when the crop is going to grow in the same environment (protection level) for the entire duration of the crop life (from seeding to harvest).

  2. Transplanting: Use this option if the crop is going to grow in a protected environment for the first portion of its life but will then be transplanted out into a less protected environment. In this case, you will want to set the protection level to the environment the crop will be grown in AFTER it is transplanted.

Here are some use case scenarios to help understand how to use the above settings:

  • Carrots are sown in August and will use one row cover to protect them through the winter
    ​Protection Level: One Cover
    ​Calculation Date: Seeding
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  • Lettuce is sown in soil blocks in a seed starting house (or indoors) and then transplanted out into a hoop house. Additional row covers will be used to help protect the lettuce when temperatures drop very low.
    ​Protection Level: Two+ Covers
    ​Calculation Date: Seeding
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  • Kale is grown inside a seed starting house (or indoors) and then transplanted out into the field for a spring crop. No additional protection will be needed after transplanting.
    ​Protection Level: No cover
    ​Calculation Date: Transplanting
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  • Tomatoes are sown in early spring inside a seed starting house (or indoors) and then transplanted outside after risk of frost.
    ​Protection Level: No cover
    ​Calculation Date: Transplanting

Once the settings for your crop and set, click save to return to the calendar and the crop planting schedule will be adjusted based on the new settings.

NOTE: The winter gardening algorithm was designed based on cool weather crops with around 40 days to maturity. Crops in that range will generally work best with the estimated calculations. Crops with longer days to maturity (or shorter) will not be as accurate. We have plans for a future release that will help mitigate this limitation and make it more accurate for all crops.

Enjoy! And please share your feedback and experience with us. With your help we can make our winter gardening algorithm work better for everyone.

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