Yard & Garden

1. Provide extra light for high-light plants. 
2. Reduce watering frequency.
3. When watering, soak the entire rootball. Allow the top 1-2 inches of soil to dry before watering again. 
4. Provide extra humidity to sensitive plants like ferns and prayer plant. Dry Air is Murder on Ferns

Winter Care of Indoor Plants

Success with Houseplants: Humidity

Success with Houseplants: Fertilization

Let There be Light...for your Houseplants

Onion transplants can be grown in approximately 10-12 weeks. Sow seeds in late February or early March for planting outdoors in early May. Plant seeds ¾ inches deep in a seed-starting soil blend and keep them evenly moist. Once they sprout, provide the seedlings with bright light from a sunny, south-facing window, or better yet, provide supplemental light with fluorescent fixtures placed a few inches above them for 12-14 hours each day.

Transplant the little, grass-like seedlings outdoors as soon as garden soil is dry enough to work thoroughly and daytime temperatures reach 50° F. Onion transplants will tolerate light frosts. Planting as early as possible is important because more leaf growth equals bigger bulbs. Each leaf will develop one layer in the onion bulb and the more layers, the bigger the bulb at harvest.

Place the seedlings 4 inches apart in wide row plantings. When using “wide” rows plants are not placed single file on one long row, but spaced through a row ranging from 6 to 36 inches across. Use a row width that is convenient for you to reach fro both sides, to make harvesting and weed control easier.

Growing Onions from Sets, Transplants or Seeds

Some great choices for low light locations in the home include the following.   

1. Alumunim plant, Pilea cadierei 

2. Arrowhead vine, Syngonium podophyllum 

3. Bamboo palm, Chamaedorea seifrizii

4. Parlor palm, Chamaedora elegans 

5. Cast iron plant, Aspidistra elatior 

6. Chinese evergreen, Aglaonema spp.

7. Dumbcane, Dieffenbachia spp.  

8. English ivy, Hedera helix 

9. Fishtail palm, Caryota mitis 

10. Grape ivy, Cissus alata

11. Lady palm, Rhapis excelsa 

12. Peace lily, Spathiphyllum spp.  

13. Peperomia, Peperomia spp.  

14. Philodendron, Philodendron spp.  

15. Pothos or devil’s ivy, Epipremnum aureum 

16. Snake plant, Sansevieria trifasciata 

17. Spider plant, Chlorophytum comosum 

18. Swedish ivy, Plectranthus australis 

19. Inch plant (formerly wandering Jew), Tradescantia zebrina 

20. ZZ plant, Zamioculcas zamiifolia 

For more information on providing supplemental lights for your houseplants, visit Let There Be Light...For Your Houseplants. 

Late February or early March is the recommended time. For more information, visit Planning Your Garden Pruning. 

Yes, ideally dormant lawn seeding is done from mid-December through mid-February, after soil temperatures have dropped below 40° degrees F. Seeding should be done no later than March 15th. 

Dormant seeding has several benefits. First, soil preparation can be done at your leisure during dry fall conditions. There’s no rush to get the work done in a short window of time in spring between frozen soil and wet soil. Dormant seeded turf grows well and fills in during cool spring weather, preventing much of the potential invasion by weeds. Finally, plants have more time to develop vigor and a good root system before hot summer conditions arrive, making them more able to tolerate summer stresses. For more information, visit Dormant Lawn Seeding.