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From zone 9 to zone 6

 
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Hi!

I’m moving from Mississippi to Pennsylvania. I have been gardening my 1 acre yard down south for about 2 years. Most of my gardening has been in southern climates and I’m not quite sure what to expect moving to a place so different in many ways but most of all a place that is so cold.

I was hoping to get some tips, tricks, advice, warnings, etc...

Thanks y’all!
Andy
 
pollinator
Posts: 686
Location: northwest Missouri, USA
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Lots of opportunity to work with tools many in northern climates use regularly: cloches, hot boxes, row covers, low tunnels, high tunnels, etc.

BUT, in my opinion, the best thing that may come of this is the possible adaptation to change WHAT you plant, not so much when you plant. Open up a whole new worlds of cool- and cold-tolerant plants, bushes, trees. Grow cool-tolerant plants for longer periods than you could down south. Should I expect to grow tropical plants out in the open in northwest Missouri? Most likely not. So, I need to adapt myself and my eating habits to the seasons of Zone 5 that are different than the seasons of Zone 9. Sure there is some overlap. But, there are things you can do on one zone that you struggle with in another zone. I guess what I'm saying is don't let people focus you on what you can't do in Pennsylvania, but what you can grow that you couldn't in Mississippi.

Investigate garden cloches .... here's an example http://minibedsonplastic.blogspot.com/2017/05/making-whizbang-solar-pyramids-most.html
 
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Location: Zones 2-4 Wyoming and 4-5 Colorado
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Hey Andrew, I was wondering if Jim Kovaleski would give you confidence and inspiration ? He goes from Florida to Maine and back again and grows all sorts of stuff!



 
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Posts: 508
Location: Upstate SC
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You'll be able to grow all of those long day onion cultivars that you couldn't grow down south.  You'll be able to branch beyond Yellow Granex and Texas Sweet. The longer summer days will allow you to grow cold tolerant crops to larger sizes than you could when growing them down south during the short days of winter.  Also fewer insect pests than down south and many pests won't appear in your garden until much later in the summer.
 
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