FrillFeed

Washing bird feeders, giving your houseplants proper water, and checking your inventory of seeds and supplies are a few of the gardening activities with this month.

It's midwinter, and birds have been browsing your feeder for a few months. Yet , unless you've recently been cleaning your feeder regularly, it can be making many of these rough outdoors birds sick. To decrease the spread of disease, empty and disinfect the feeder monthly with a solution of 1 part bleach to 9 parts water. Clean droppings off of the perching area and make sure your bird food isn't moldy. If you don't like to use bleach, a household medical disinfectant cleaning product such as Lysol works too, diluted half with water. Let to soak for 15 minutes, then rinse extensively.

If your indoor fig (Ficus) tree is beginning to drop leaves, it could be credited to your watering timetable. This includes the common Benjamin fig and plastic plant. Don't over drinking water, and don't allow vegetable stand in a saucer of water for a long length of time or its roots may be damaged. However, don't let soil dry out completely either. Try to keep the soil evenly humid, watering thoroughly and then allowing the extra water to drain. Delay until the dirt dries out slightly to the touch before sprinkling again.

If your houseplants are growing tall and leggy, they probably need some supplemental light. Employ lights to help pay for short days. You can use fluorescent pipes, or most any place lamp. Best are those listed as "full spectrum" or "daylight" or similar wording. I like to use light fixtures that clamp onto a furniture or similar extending surface. Place the lights four to six inches above the tops of the plants, and keep them on for about sixteen hours a day by using a timer sold at hardware or home stores.

African violets make great houseplants and will flower in the wintertime if given supplemental light as noted above for leggy houseplants. To propagate new plants, take a loose tea leaf cutting, dip the trim end in a rooting hormone powder, and stay the cutting in a pot filled with vermiculite or sand. Cover the pot with a cut clear plastic bag and keep the soil wet. In a few several weeks you'll have new plant life.

It's time to draw out the seed-starting equipment. Take inventory of plastic trays, pots, and six-packs from past years and eliminate any that are broke. Reduce risk of disease by soaking them in a solution of 12 % bleach and drinking water, or half-strength household medical disinfectant, then air dry.

Perform a germination test on stored seeds to see how viable they are. Place 10 or 20 seeds between two linens of moist paper hand towel and tuck into a loosely tied plastic tote. Put in place a warm area, and check every few days. If perhaps germination is less than 80 percent, consider purchasing new seeds of the plant.