How to grow veg for hot summers and cold winters

As we experience ever-increasingly extremes in temperature, it’s important to carefully consider what types of plants to grow in your allotment.

This is something kitchen gardener, blogger and influencer Rekha Mistry has been considering. “I thought about vegetables which can withstand hot weather and those which will take cold weather,” says Mistry, whose new book, Rekha’s Kitchen Garden, guides gardeners through growing veg, herbs and fruit.

“Ground preparation is key and we need to make sure we have enough mulch before planting anything, enriching the soil with compost. Shading is another thing we will have to consider as the years progress.”

Hot weather plants

Cucumbers

“We tend to grow a lot of the plants which like hot weather – tomatoes, peppers, chillies, aubergines – in a greenhouse. Yet they are the ones which suffer most in the intense heat of summer,” explains Mistry.

“I grow them outdoors, because I think our climate is good enough for them, and so far they have worked beautifully outside. For instance, you can get outdoor varieties of cucumbers – I grow ‘Parisian Pickling’ and ‘Early Fortune’. A lot of gardeners grow ‘Marketmore’.”

Sow them undercover in April (two seeds per nine-centimetre pot, then remove the weaker one if both germinate), and within three weeks of germination, move them to a cold frame to harden off, she advises.

“They will sulk in spring, but once the heat kicks in in June they will romp away,” she observes. “Give traditional greenhouse veg which you grow outdoors full sun, although cucumbers may need a bit of shaded protection.”

Easy onions

“In hot weather, onions are a beginner’s friend. They don’t need a lot of watering. My favourites are ‘Bedfordshire Champion’ for the south of the country and ‘Ailsa Craig’ for the north,” says Mistry.

Even in last year’s heat, Mistry says she was only watering her onions once a week.

And she has found onions grown from seed (rather than sets) much more tolerant to the weather than sets. Plus, growing from seed is generally much cheaper.

“As I have an allotment, I have to grow quite a lot. Buying plants is too expensive, so try to grow from seed. It’s a learning process, but once you do, you learn more about the plants and how to nurture them.”

Tomatillos

“If you’re not very good with tomatoes, tomatillos (Mexican tomatoes) are a good substitute. Although they may not give you the same colours and vibrancy, they taste just as good. They are much easier to grow, but you will need two plants because they need to cross pollinate.”

Sweet potatoes

“That’s another one that will grow outdoors in our hot summers – they need really good heat to grow. Put them out after the last frost – you may have to put a cloche over the small plants at the beginning.

“Sweet potatoes will need a lot of watering – they are hungry, thirsty plants.”

Get your timing right

If you are growing heat-loving veg from seed, sow them from about mid-April (depending on where you live), giving yourself three to four weeks before your last frost.

You’ll still need two weeks after that to harden off (in a cold frame) before planting outside, she says.