Though your garden is dormant under that protective blanket of snow and ice, this in-between time is perfect for several garden-prep chores.
It will be weeks until the weather turns and the soil warms up, but do these tasks now so you鈥檒l be ready come spring.
Sow onions and leeks indoors
If you鈥檙e antsy to start planting, this task is right up your alley. You can begin seed-starting indoors now for onions, leeks and scallions.
For this project, you鈥檒l need a suitable pot or container, some potting soil, a waterproof heating pad for plants and grow lights.
Fill your pot with soil, then sow 20 to 30 seeds in the same pot and place it on top of the heating pad. As soon as they start germinating, turn on the grow light.
After a few weeks, and once the seeds grow tall and floppy, cut them back to about a third of their height, and add a little fertilizer. They will continue to grow stronger and will need eight to 10 weeks of indoor growing time before you can transplant them outside to your garden, raised beds or containers.
Check your dahlias and other tubers
A few months ago, as part of your fall garden clean-up, you may have prepped some dahlia, canna lily and other tubers to overwinter in your basement. Each month, check the tubers to make sure they are in good shape.
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If they appear dry or shriveled, simply mist them lightly with water and repack.
If they are rotting, then the fix is more intensive: First, remove the rotting bulbs and throw out the wood chips or other medium you've packed them in. Next, add in fresh medium and return the undamaged bulbs for storage.
Spray fruit trees
This last garden chore is a good preventive pest control measure: On the next day that is above 40 degrees and calm, you should spray your fruit trees.
Spraying deciduous fruit trees with horticultural oil or "dormant oil" protects the trees while they lay dormant in the wintertime.
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By coating trees' bark and branches with dormant oil, any overwintering insects, eggs and larvae will get coated, too, and suffocate.
Orchardists have been busy pruning their fruit trees already. You can begin to cut back yours now, too, or save this task for a warmer day in March.
What are mycorrhizae?
Q: I am a master gardener volunteer trainee in New York state. Recently we closed our "soil" chapter and in preparation for the growing season, I have been researching information regarding mycorrhiza. I was wondering if you might have time to give me some feedback! - Rozine, in New York
A: Mycorrhizae are Their presence creates a complex underground network in forests, in grasslands 鈥� everywhere they grow. And it's really good for plants, because it helps them to more efficiently take up water and nutrients, and even helps them communicate with each other.
There is a movement among home gardeners to insert the fungi in other places where things grow, like potting soils, in the hopes that it will have a similar, positive effect.
Some brands of potting soil say they contain mycorrhizae, that's shown otherwise when the soil was tested: Up to 80% of the mycorrhizae were dead because it got too hot or had been sitting in the potting soil bag too long.
So, Rozine, perhaps you could try a little experiment and report back: Obtain a bag of potting soil that says it has mycorrhizae in it, and purchase a bag of soil without. Grow similar plants in the soils and compare. Then please let us know your findings.
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