Gardening Granny's Gardening Pages: February 14, 2022

Hi gardeners

See the morning glory down in the right corner?

It’s been a while since I wrote but I wanted to share the picture of the morning glory in my kitchen window. It came up from seed in a pot I brought inside last fall. It’s a bit stunted but it’s also pretty. It makes me wonder if all kinds of morning glories could be grown inside in winter, maybe in better pots. You can see the geranium cuttings blooming also.

Morning glory seed normally requires stratification, but this didn’t get any. But if someone did stratify seed and kept them in a south window (this window faces south), and they were in larger pots and fertilized I wonder what would happen. That’s a project for next year.

You can see birds in the pictures outside my window at the feeders. So, onto birds. Most gardeners like to watch birds in their yard also. February 18-21 is the Great Back Yard Bird count, and you can help. Knowing the population numbers of various species of birds helps scientists determine if the species is declining or growing in numbers. It can determine if birds are moving their ranges due to climate change.

On one or all three of the above dates you simply count the birds you see at your feeders or on a walk in your area. You can do it from inside where it’s warm if you like. Some adventurous people go out in the cold to observe and count birds at nature sanctuaries or parks also.

If you go to the site https://www.birdcount.org/ they will explain how to sign up to count birds, and there are even tips on bird ID. You don’t have to be an expert at all. It’s quite simple and you can volunteer as much or as little of your time as you like. I’ve done it for years and it’s fun.

How are your houseplants?

This time of year can be tough for houseplants. Online garden sites are full of sad houseplant pictures with owners asking for help. Three things seem to be very common this year, plants with cold damage, plants without enough light and plants that are dying of thirst.

First, it’s not a good time to buy houseplants especially if they have to be shipped. It only takes a few hours in a cold truck or warehouse for plants to be damaged, and often killed. Most good sellers realize this and won’t ship until the weather is right in your area. But there are literally hundreds of small start-up plant sellers online now and many of them are either inexperienced or unscrupulous. They collect your money and ship the plants even when conditions aren’t good. Many of these are the sellers that don’t guarantee plants or won’t honor a guarantee.

If you are buying plants from a store locally you need to be careful this time of year too. The plant must be wrapped, preferably in paper not plastic, even for a short walk to your car when temps are below 40 degrees. Your car should be warmed up and you need to go straight home. You cannot go shopping at other stores or go inside to eat and leave the plant in a cold car, even for a short time. And when you get home the plant should come inside first, before you unload other items.

Signs of cold damage include blackened, wilted leaves, or leaves that rapidly fall off the plant. It can show up right away or even a few days later. Usually the damage occurs from transporting plants but it can also happen when plants sit in front of doors that are frequently opened or when they are in cold drafts. If you lose power and temps drop below 40 degrees F. damage can occur.

And for goodness sake don’t put houseplants outside in winter months, even if temps have climbed into the fifties. I have read a few stories lately of people doing that and then forgetting to bring the plants inside as the temps rapidly fall in the evening. Leave them inside until nights stay above 40 degrees F. They don’t need to be outside until then, they don’t appreciate being moved in and out, even if it’s sunny outside.

Some plants recover from moderate cold damage given time, but some do not. Most blackened leaves are goners- they don’t recover. Some plants grow back from the roots, others put out new leaves. If the plant is now in a warm spot and you don’t see any new growth after a month, it’s probably dead.

Light

Somewhere along the line people began to believe that there are species of plants that can live in dark rooms. While there are plants that can survive in lower light levels that does not mean in a room without windows, or far from any window unless you use grow lights. Plants suffering from low light get yellow leaves, drop leaves, get spindly looking, and stretch toward the light. In vining plants, the spaces between leaves are far apart. Plants don’t bloom and growth is poor.

Lower light means in front of an east or north window, no more than 2 feet from a south or west window or in consistently brightly lit rooms. This applies to all those plants like snake plant, peace lily, pothos and other plants advertised as liking low light. Even plants that are said to be “low light” lovers appreciate sunny windows from about November to March.

Bright light means right in front of that south or west window. In the winter in northern states even this may not be enough light for plants that require bright conditions. You’ll need to provide a grow light also.

And it does no good to put a plant in the window if the blinds or curtains are drawn most of the time. Even sheer curtains filter out an awful lot of light. Plants also need to be up in front of the window not down below the window ledge.

Grow lights are so cheap now, and LED ones use so little electricity that there’s just no excuse to leave a plant languishing in dark corners. There are attractive clip-on types and those you hang or use on a stand. Grow lights need to be about 2 feet above plants that like lower light and a foot above those that like bright light. You may need to adjust them as plants grow.

Some plants may survive for a while in that windowless bathroom, or that darkened bedroom or on the shelf 10 feet from the window, but they won’t be lush, healthy plants. Plants must have light to make food for their growth and survival.

Pitcher plants require very moist conditions

Water

It used to be that watering problems tended to be overwatering and new plant owners were warned about overwatering constantly. Some people do overwater still, especially if they refuse to use pots with drainage holes. But the trend seems to have overcorrected itself and now I see many plants that are dying from thirst.

I have read stories where the owner of the dying plant says something like “I give it a tablespoon of water every 2 weeks, so I know I’m not overwatering it.” And they aren’t, they are letting it die of thirst. Succulents are very popular and yes, some species need little water. But some species of succulents need more water than people tend to give them. And other types of plants can use much more water.

If a plant is wilting, yellowing, leaves look wrinkled or shrunken it’s time to check the pot. Over and under watering symptoms can look the same but if the soil feels dry and the pot feels light, it needs water. Don’t be afraid to water your plants!

Proper watering of houseplants is not so much about how much water you give them but when and how you water them. And you cannot put plants on a regular watering schedule, you need to adjust watering times to the season, temperature, growth of the plant, humidity, pot size and other factors. You need to feel the soil or use a water meter to know when to water.

To water properly, all pots must have good, free flowing drainage, even pots for succulents. Rocks in the bottom of a pot are not a substitute for drainage holes. Each species of plant has different water requirements but with few exceptions, all plants can be watered the same way. You drench the pot with water until it runs out the bottom. Then you wait an hour or so and drain off any water in the saucer. That’s the proper way to water, at least until you are experienced enough to judge water needs by the plant’s appearance.

You adjust how much water the plant gets by when you do that soaking. Plants like peace lilies like moist soil so you will drench them whenever the top of the soil feels dry and certainly any time they begin to wilt. Plants like many succulents can be left to thoroughly dry out between waterings, then soaked. Look up the species of plants that you have and find out what type of soil moisture they require.

Most plants fall somewhere in between succulents and peace lilies, so you will stick your finger in the soil and see if its dry an inch down or so and then drench them. If the soil still feels wet you won’t water, even if it’s Sunday or whatever day you like to water. You need to know what moisture level each species of plant prefers.

Sometimes when you allow soil to get very dry it actually repels water instead of soaking it up. Water seems to be running out the drainage holes but its all running through, none is being absorbed. If water seems to run out as soon as you start pouring it in, this is probably the case. In this case you can set the pot in a sink or tub and run water on it very slowly for about 30 minutes. Or you can sink the pot in a bucket of water until the soil surface is covered and hold it down until it no longer floats, and no bubbles are rising up. Then take it out and let it drain.

Having the right potting soil makes a difference also. Don’t use soil from outside for houseplants, use potting medium. Succulents and cacti, of most species, need a coarser, better draining soil than other plants. Orchids and some other rare plants need bark chips or other medium instead of soil.

After light, water and keeping the plant from getting too cold problems with houseplants often come when people repot them too often or split them when they shouldn’t be split or divide them too often. Not all plants can be propagated by dividing them. And every time you repot a plant it disturbs the root system which causes stress to the plant. It’s a rare plant that needs repotting more than once a year.

Moving a plant is also stressful. Chose the right place for the plant when you bring it home. Move a plant only when it’s obvious it’s in the wrong spot and not growing well. In nature plants do not move from location to location. You should not move plants around like you do furniture or other décor.

Houseplants can also suffer from disease and insects, but this article would be too long if I covered those topics. I will say that if plants have enough light and the right type of watering, you’ll have fewer pest problems.

Houseplants brighten dull winter days and give gardeners something to tend when they can’t work in the garden. But take the time to identify your houseplants and then find out what conditions they require. Plants with sufficient light and proper watering will reward you by growing more beautiful each week.

To the right of this article are links to articles about some species of houseplants. You may want to try these links; Peace lily

https://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/peace-lily-do-youwant-houseplant-that.html

Snake plants

https://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/sansevieria-snake-plants-and-mother-in.html

Tropical hibiscus

https://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/chinese-hibiscus-rosea-sinesis.html

Norfolk Island Pine

https://gardeninggrannysgardenpages.blogspot.com/p/httpsgardeninggrannysgardenpages.html