Archives January 2009

Care of house grown plants in northern latitudes during winter can be tricky. There are several challenges that must be met on a regular basis. Light and indoor plant care in winter is most important.

The first is the lack of sunlight. In the winter the sun is lower in the sky and the days are much longer than in the summer. For example during winter months the sun comes up about 7:00 am and goes down before 5:00 pm while in the summer the sun comes up at 5:30 am and can stay up until almost 9:00 pm. So during winter it is important to keep plants in areas that receive the most sun.

A southern window is a good choice especially over a kitchen sink. This way the plants get extra humidity and sun at the same time. One trick that can help is to place a sheet of white card stock on the dark side of the plant to reflect extra light to the back side of the plant. Aluminum foil could also be used. Be sure to rotate the plants from time to time to even out the light, otherwise the plants may grow toward the window and become lop sided. Just make sure the window is not too awful cold.

In addition to the sunny window it may be necessary to add to the light. One way to do this is with fluorescent lights. There are a few sizes available including 2 foot and 4 foot fixtures. Your individual needs and space restraints will determine which size you need. Hang them on chains that can be adjusted to keep the lights just above the tops of the plants. If the fixture is too high the plants may grow “leggy” trying to reach the light.

Another source of light could be a high pressure sodium light. There are smaller sodium lights available as garage or outdoor lights. While these are not well suited for indoor use they may work well in a greenhouse setting.

If you have more plants than windows or auxiliary lights you can still add extra light by rotating the plants into the light on a regular basis.
Lastly there are some plants that will do well with out extra light. Be sure to choose these for the “shady” parts of the house. Certain ferns are a good choice and philodendron will do well in the darker corners or northern windows.

Tomorrow … about watering.

When the temperature falls below 0 degrees F, we can have a problem with ice build up on greenhouse door can be a real problem. The moisture from the warm moist air inside the greenhouse tends to condense on the thin aluminum skin of the door and door frame.

This makes it hard to open the door and even harder to get the door to close. For now we point the heater toward the door for an hour or so while we go about our business. This keeps the door clean and in good shape.

Last year we attached a layer of insulation on the bottom of the door and that worked for a while but the real trouble is the type of door we use. It’s an aluminum combination storm door that is meant to be used in addition to a regular wooden or steel door.

The best solution to this problem would be to use a heavy insulated door during the winter months. The walls hardly ever get frost because both ends are insulated on the inside with 2 inch foam insulation.
The only other place we get frost is on the steel louvers and this can be a problem, especially when the sun is very bright in February.

During the night the cold air outside causes the ice to form on the inside of the louvers and they freeze shut. Then when the temperature goes up in the day the motors are stressed trying to open the frozen louvers. The best we can do is to keep the fan set at a high temperature and keep the louvers coated with WD40 to help keep the water and ice from attaching to the metal.

Now that the holiday is over the big question is “how to get rid of a Christmas tree? You remember, the one that we tried so hard to keep fresh.

This year it we picked a really fresh tree and to this date, it has not dropped any needles. Which is a good thing because there is no big mess to clean up but bad because we have less incentive to take the tree down. However the tree is occupying the space normally used by the tread mill and we are not getting the exercise we should be getting to one way or another the tree has to go.

The easiest way to get rid of the tree, at least around these parts, is to leave it at the curb and it magically disappears. I don’t know if the tree elves come and take it away or if it is just the village department of public works but what ever the case the tree disappears in a few days. Unless we have a snow storm, in which case the tree gets buried in a snow bank that may well not melt until spring. Around here spring can fall anywhere between April and July so the tree may be here for a while.

Another way to use the tree is to stand it up in the yard and hand wild bird treats from it. The branches and needles form a nice cozy hiding place for the birds. Then in the spring we simply take the tree and pile it up with other brush along the edge of the woods.

Christmas trees make good mulch but grinding one up requires a mulcher. We have a really nice one but it usually is buttoned up for the winter so the tree would need to be stored until the spring. Then the mulcher could be brought out and the excess brush could be turned into mulch along with the Christmas tree.

I remember reading somewhere that bass fishermen in the south will tie a cinder block to a Christmas tree and sink it in a pond or body of water to provide shelter for fish. This sounds like a good idea at first but the prospect of loosing an expensive fishing lure to a submerged tree is not so appealing, not to mention the fact that cinder blocks are usually not free.

Personally we like the idea of the bird feeder tree. We paid $40.00 for that sucker and we want to get as much use and enjoyment from it as we can.