West February

Start Geranium

Start cuttings of geraniums now, so that young, well rooted plants will be available for spring bedding. Cuttings can be rooted in sand, vermiculite, or any other commonly used rooting medium. Transplant the rooted cuttings to pots as soon as young roots are formed. Do not transplant the geranium plants into too rich a soil, or you may have trouble with basal rot.

A small greenhouse is a wonderful asset for growing bedding plants. However, many gardeners get by, by starting their seeds and cuttings in a bright window in the home and later transferring them to an electric cable-heated frame. The use of polyethylene film in place of glass for greenhouses and frames will undoubtedly renew interest among amateurs in growing their own bedding plants.

A greenhouse can be covered with polyethylene at a fraction of the cost of glass. Except for the need of replacing the polyethylene at least every other year, it has a number of advantages over glass. Polyethylene permits the entry of ultra-violet light much better than glass, and thus ensures stronger plant growth. It is apt to stand up better in a hail storm than glass, and is much cheaper to replace. A double thickness of polyethylene inflated is recommended.

Check winter mulches and see that they are not blown away by strong winds. Mulches will stay intact if chicken wire is laid over them. The wire can be held down with small boulders as weights, or hooked into the ground or snow with wire or wooden fasteners.

It is not always the extreme cold that causes winter injury in plants, but a few early warm spells in late winter that cause plants to break dormancy including the ones produced from a plant propagation job. The exposed plants succumb to later periods of cold weather.

Plants tucked away for the winter in suitable mulch covers are not so subject to extreme fluctuations in temperatures during the winter months, and early spring, and thus survive better.

Blow Wind Blow and go garden go! Wind always creates problems in the garden but in March in the South the problem becomes acute. All gardeners know of the damage that results from plants whipping back and forth, being bruised or crushed against each other, the cutting action of the fine soil, and the silting action of the blowing dust. All these are bad. enough, but the real damage comes from the drying action of the winds the dehydration of plant tissues.

In this area there has been more, moisture during the last year than for, any previous season. For this reason many gardeners will neglect to supply needed moisture to the top soil, the layer in which feeder roots of plants are present. Many gardeners rely on winter mulches to prevent excessive drying of the top soil, and rightly so! But in at least half of our area even the mulch material is blown away, therefore surface watering becomes absolutely necessary.

The easiest method to water the garden at any time is by a permanent sprinkler system. More and more of these are being installed each year by gardeners.

Two thorough soakings given the garden during March at two week intervals should prevent dehydration damage. Root activity has already begun in the soil since the soil temperatures have reached 62 and stabilized, so water is vitally important now. Unless moisture is available when the plant needs it for proper development, the quantity and quality of the plant will suffer.

Summer flowering bulbs or tubers such as dahlias, cannas, caladiums, and tuberoses should be started now. These bulbs are usually stored during the winter through our area although in some parts they may have been left in the ground. If so, these should be lifted, divided and replanted now. In the case of the dahlia make sure that each tuber has a section of the old stem attached.

Unless this is present there cannot be any growth. For cannas and greenhouse bulbs, take them out of storage and cut the tubers into four-eye divisions. For early flowers from these, A pre-grow them in flats of sand to establish the growing points. When one leaf has reached six inches in length, plant the cannas outside the greenhouse in the permanent location. Many gardeners plant cannas just for the foliage. It is excellent for arrangements. Fancy-leaf caladiums may be sprouted by placing the growing point downward in a flat of wet moss for ten days.

After sprouting they may be potted in containers and replanted outside after they have become established. For sheer summer beauty try a planting of all white caladiums in front of Burford holly. This combination really looks cool on hot summer days. The crinums are a fascinating group of summer bulbs that should be given more place in our garden.

Here it is almost the end of March and spring seems a long way off. This past week we had more snow than all of January & February, and more to come yet.

My poor plants, IE. garlic, had their tops frozen and a few lonely crocuses dared to show their heads out of the snow. Tulips and daffodils are slowly emerging, but are far behind in growth compared to other years. I had my starter plants left in the greenhouse, but nights were so cold that some of the more sensitive plants, such as cucumbers, melons etc. froze.

There are robins abound but it is hard to find food. No worm will venture up to the ground for sure. Hopefully this cold spell will leave us soon and more normal temperatures and sunshine will return.

Happy gardening. 

Hello all,

Well, the holidays are over and a new beginning in the growing season starts soon. The various Seed catalogs are beginning to show up in the mail.

This week I’ll start a new experiement in my greenhouse. I will try to grow lettuce hydroponically , without artificial light. Just what ‘Mother Nature’ provides, and as most people know there isn’t very much sunshine here in the Pacific Northwest during wintertime.

I found some leftover seed from last season, which I’ll use. Hopefully it is still good. First I’ll pre-sprout some between some paper towel sheets to see how many will sprout. So by the weekend I start my hydroponic system up. More will follow next week.

Here is a link to a Hydroponic Lettuce Video. Just CLICK HERE to watch.