January's Greenhouse Tips
Owning, using, and enjoying your own greenhouse can be fun and relaxing - but there are still "Things To Do" to keep it clean, healthly, and usable. For each month of the year we have gathered useful greenhouse tips and information from our customers, employees and friends like you to help you get even more enjoyment from your greenhouse.
We've gathered these greenhouse tips from a variety of sources, much of it has been over the years and is not known. Please feel free to send us some of your own ideas.
January – Starting Seeds
Planning Your Garden
This will be the coldest month of the year for most areas around the country. But it is also prime time for many to start planting seeds for a spring/summer vegetable garden. Decide what vegetables you wish to grow. The book “All about Vegetables” will give you some good ideas if you are not sure where to begin. Once you have planned your garden, start by selecting your seeds. Choose disease resistant varieties if available and look for seeds dated for use in 2004. If you plan carefully, you can start harvesting salad greens and other quick germinating plants within a couple months.
Planting the Seeds
Carefully follow directions on the seed packet for planting depth and days to germination, and organize the seedling trays according to when the seeds will germinate. Make sure the planting medium is damp and compact. If using older seeds, plant two seeds per plug and pull the weaker sprout if both germinate. Place each tray in a black garbage bag (this holds in moisture and with our experience has proven to promote the fastest germination). Check for sprouting within a couple of days and continue to check daily. If the planting medium is starting to dry up, spray generously with a fine mist. Remove trays from plastic bag once the seeds begin to sprout and place trays in an area where they will get plenty of direct light to prevent the seedlings from getting leggy. Once the first set of “true leaves” has formed, water the seedlings with a spray of diluted fertilizer high in phosphorous and low in nitrogen.
Gardeners Tip
Don’t forget to plant some Marigolds when starting your seeds. Marigolds are an important companion plant in your garden. They attract several beneficial insects and repel some destructive ones. Plus the flowers add bold color to your garden.
ACCESSORY OF THE MONTH –
Garden Coil is PERFECT for watering delicate seedlings. Its’ lightweight, thirty-foot hose makes it convenient to water throughout the greenhouse and hanging baskets. Adjustable nozzle gives fine mist for delicate watering. Trigger Lock gives intermittent or continuous flow.
Our Greenhousing "How-To" Resouce Guide
|
