Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Should I Even Bother?


Why am I posting a picture of some scraggly-looking Pelargoniums? Well, this is my first attempt at overwintering and I wanted to share my progress. I seem to have overcome the worm infestation (you can still see a little of the Dipel powder I hit the plants and worms with). I fed the plants about a month ago and they put out quite a bit of growth. This is the sunniest spot in my basement and the plants, though a bit spindly, seem reasonably happy. Every so often, I do check if they need water and I rotate the plants 90 degrees.

In other basement news, I've started to think about my little seedling nursery. I put together this comically delicate worktable, made out of an old door and some scrap wood. I bought two different kinds of 4 foot flourescents (cool and warm spectrum), as suggested by some helpful Home Depot guy. I also bought a timer this year (instead of mostly forgetting to turn off the lights at night like I did last year) and another shop light fixture (I'm doubling my seedling capacity!). Combined with an old fan, I hope to have the makings of a seedling factory. I've already ordered and received some seeds from Pinetree Gardens, so despite the winter gloom, the gardening will begin again pretty soon!
-SG