Things to do in February

Divide Houseplants. Many people hesitate to divide an overgrown plant, fearing they are harming it, when actually they are extending its life. Any of the many plants that produce offshoots from their bases can be easily divided by breaking off the young plants with a few roots attached. These young plants will grow quickly in their own pots. African violet, peace lily (Spathiphyllum), Boston and asparagus fern and spider plant are examples of plants that thrive with regular division.

All overgrown plants will grow much better if regularly pruned and cut back. Most of these prunings will root easily in a small pot of moist potting mix. Be ruthless when pruning houseplants: when in doubt, cut it out!

Check your houseplants for signs of insect pests. If you find any of the following suspicious signs, bring a sample into our office and we will identify your problem for you: small tufts of cottony material, shiny patches on the leaves, a “salt and pepper” molting of the leaves, curled, twisted new growth or small spider webs on the leaves.

Indoor Bulbs. If you received any of the bulbs hardy to our region such as tulips, daffodils, crocus or grape hyacinth, grow them on as a houseplant after flowering and plant outdoors as soon as the ground thaws. Easter lilies and hyacinth are not really winter hardy in our area and paperwhites are definitely not.

Another way to bring spring indoors during mud season is to bring in branches from early spring blooming trees and shrubs such as spirea, forsythia, crabapple, and apple for forcing. Place them in a large vase of water and within a couple of weeks the buds will begin to swell. Lilacs do not force well, unfortunately. Birches are lovely when brought indoors, but watch out for all the pollen from their catkins as they expand. It helps to break off the inch long catkins just as they begin to expand, but before they begin producing pollen. Larches are also very pretty, their delicate new needles emerge in small clusters along the stem, and if you are lucky, you may see their flowers open.

Rotate crops around the garden to avoid a build-up of disease in the soil. You need to rotate your crops by family in order for it to be effective, since members of the same family are often prone to the same diseases. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and potatoes belong in one family; broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, brussels sprouts and kale belong to another. All types of beans and peas are in the legume family and another family and its problems consist of summer and winter squash and cucumbers.

Gather supplies and equipment for starting seeds. Use sterile media (clean soil), supplement light and bottom heat of about 70 degrees. Contact our office for plans for how to build a low-cost Shop light Growlinght Frame. The use of one or two “cool white (F40CW) and one or two “warm white” (F40WW) fluorescent bulbs alternating will provide the entire light spectrum for your plants. Place the tubes 4-6 inches above the foliage and lighted 12-16 hours daily. Wait to fertilize seedlings until the first true leaves appear. Use a water soluble fertilizer such as 10-15-10, 20-20-20, or 18-12-6).

Wait until March or April to start most seeds. You can start the seeds of onions, leeks and geraniums early this month and towards the end of the month start impatiens and pansies. For a chart scheduling when to start different seeds contact our office or click here for our Starting Seeds at Home fact sheet. Small yogurt cups, plastic, or fiber produce containers and cardboard milk cartons can be used as growing containers. The growing container should be at least 3 inches deed. Egg cartons are too small for good root development.

Many perennials are easily grown from seed, although you may have to wait a year before they will bloom. This is by far the least expensive way to produce a lot of plants. The seeds can be started indoors under lights now, or planted into a nursery bed this summer to be transplanted to the flower garden the following year.

Because so many are easy from seed, here are the ones that are difficult to grow from seed. Don’t bother trying any of the following from seed: hosta, daylily, Asiatic or Oriental lily, astilbe, iris, bee balm, and pulmonaria. For a complete list of those perennials both easy and difficult to grow from seed, contact our office.

Prune shade trees, fruit trees, and summer flowering shrubs. Remove wood that is dead, diseased, and down. Contact our office for information on pruning different trees and shrubs.

Now is a good time to order trees and shrubs. The Soil and Water Conservation District offers seedlings of various trees, shrubs, and groundcovers at very reasonable prices each winter. The deadline is usually early March. Call them at 962-8225 or call our office.

If you are going to add more than a bucket or two of hardwood ashes to your garden, you need to pay attention to your pH. Wood ashes are half as potent as lime in raising soil pH.

Place fresh cut Valentine Bouquets in warm water with floral preservative after having the stem ends re-cut. Wash vases with soap and water.

The most universally liked seed is the black oil sunflower seed. The oil is good for the birds. Striped sunflower seeds have less oil. Low priced mixes often feature cheap red and white millet seed which most birds toss out of the feeder in search of the sunflower seeds. Niger and thistle seed is the favorite of goldfinches, but is also readily eaten by chickadees, redpolls, and pine siskins. If thistle seed falls out of the feed don’t worry, it doesn’t grow in our climate. You can buy a special thistle seed feeder with smaller holes.

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