Best summer crops?

I'm in zone 6.
It gets hot and humid here.
My greenhouse isn't winter ready, but during the summer I can use it to create a much hotter or cooler space.
Watering will be automatic sub irrigation.

Under such circumstances, what would you grow in the greenhouse during the summer months?

Can there be any summer vegetable than the tomato?  But you probably already thought about those.

Yeah, tomatoes are the queens of summer veg, but I get lots if them outside.
I have a pepper plant I'm trying to overwinter in my basement, maybe I should give it a space in the summer greenhouse?
I was considering sweet potatoes, since they tend to need a lot of days.

The peppers are something we eat, that performed best at the end of the season,  seem to do better in containers and can live multiple years, so they may be the winners.

Any ideas for vines?
Climbing annuals that crave long hot summers?
Other than tomatoes,  of course!

Well, cucumbers come to mind for climbing vines.  They of course do well during a long, hot summer so it would be interesting to see how they would do in a greenhouse.

Another thought:  Though I have never actually tried it, I like the ideal of a "salsa garden"--Tomatoes, peppers, onions, etc.  If you like the idea, maybe these would be good crops to continue growing in a greenhouse.

And since you like vines, might a sweet potato work in a greenhouse?  I don't know how much space you have, but sweet potatoes are delicious, grow on vines and just love hot weather.  I would think that if you can get tomatoes and peppers to grow in a greenhouse, a sweet potato would do well.

How about green beans?  Maybe you could train some pole beans to give you a continuous crop over the winter.

Maybe eggplant?  My trouble with eggplant is that it seems to attract just about every pest known to Man.  But in a greenhouse, maybe these pests would be diminished/reduced/controlled?

I don't really know how much space you have in your greenhouse and these crops might take up too much space is space is at a premium.  But I thought they might be some good options.

I would love to hear how this works out.

Eric

William Bronson wrote: Yeah,
I was considering sweet potatoes, since they tend to need a lot of days.

The peppers are something we eat, that performed best at the end of the season,  seem to do better in containers and can live multiple years, so they may be the winners.

I'm just a short hop from Price Hill and can attest that sweet potatoes will grow fine for you outside. They do pretty well in containers too, in case your short on space.

I've never thought of using a greenhouse to create a cooler space. Runner beans might like that, and they are giant vines. With our summer heat, regular potatoes might like that too.

Zone 7a, planning on trying sweet potatoes and peanuts this year since they need 100-110 days and don't mind the heat. This would be after I finish the early nightshades. Another vine that's in love with too hot greenhouse is the kiwano, jelly melon.

I have given up on using my  high tunnel in July and August.  

Okra -- Absolutely loves the heat. Select a variety that grows shorter.
Cassava -- long season and somewhat spindly but you might be able to make a go of it.
Sweet Potato -- Loves the heat.

Generally any vegetable that originates from West Africa would be a good candidate for hot conditions.

There are a lot of tropical and subtropical plants from One Green World (US outlfit, Washington or Oregon I think)  I sometimes get climate envy when I look at all the fun plants I can't grow in zone 4.

I am also zone (almost) 6.  One other thing not mentioned is greens, carrots and radishes started in late summer.  I forgot about putting them in until late September this year, but still got quite a few handfuls of baby greens.  Then the big snow hit...and my greenhouse collapsed this year.  But in and actual good use of the phrase we will 'build back better'   😂

I’m in 7 and sweet potatoes have done well in the greenhouse over the summer but peppers have been the stars of the show. I planted a greenhouse variety from Johnny’s and it survived and bore fruit for several households and gifts to friends for 4 years. All 4 plants have steadily declined this winter so I have some seedlings going to replace them with. They have been a Godsend with their high vitamin c levels in keeping my family well these past few years because they have born fruit year round.

Lexie Smith wrote:I’m in 7 and sweet potatoes have done well in the greenhouse over the summer but peppers have been the stars of the show. I planted a greenhouse variety from Johnny’s and it survived and bore fruit for several households and gifts to friends for 4 years. All 4 plants have steadily declined this winter so I have some seedlings going to replace them with. They have been a Godsend with their high vitamin c levels in keeping my family well these past few years because they have born fruit year round.

Zone 7 b here. I second the pepper growing. I've had hundreds of peppers  off different plantings for up to three years. Picked sweet potatoes year round( not many they take a lot of space ) tomatoes all winter , basil year round, I've got a couple of blueberry bushes that might bear this year I'll see how much earlier than the outside ones. Avocado and banana trees love it in the summer , but not enough to fruit yet.. I grow fig cuttings for at least two years in the green house before they get planted outdoors. I ventilate in summer but very little to no aux heat in winter. I have several hundred gallons of H2O storage for tempering in both heat and cold . Try anything that you desire, at least then you'll know what works.

I'll pile on the pepper bandwagon. The heat plus the season extension are the reasons. They always seem to really bear at the end of the season, then it's sad when that first (not even all that hard) frost comes. I've heard good things about "perennialized"/multiple year versus annual pepper plants...
We haven't done it yet, but ginger and turmeric are both tropical crops that need a warmer/longer season than zone 6, but becomes totally doable even in zones 5 or 4 in a greenhouse.
Another thing that is great in the greenhouse are flowers. Dahlias, calla lilies, sweet peas, ranunculus...so many more... can benefit from all aspects of the greenhouse. Season extension/warmth, protection from rain for the flowers, protection from intense sunlight with a shade cloth installed.

I've seen a 1 1/2 story greenhouse, the backside full height, with a tromb wall of black 55 gallon barrels, filled with water and sealed, on the ground floor beneath many large drying racks, built from small wood stock and plastic screen fabric. The greenhouse was the front of the ground level and had a lower ceiling of glass panels, slanted up and back to direct the naturally rising hot air up and through the screened drying racks. There were adjustable vents to control the airflow and temperature. This was many years ago and I'm sure I'm not remembering some of the details, but most any greenhouse that's too hot mid to late summer to grow crops could be utilized as a dry house for dehydrating a gardens bounty.