Indoor Garden
- Prepare greenhouse for cooler weather. Clean up used pots, benches and growing surfaces with 10% bleach solution. Check for leaks and cracks and repair. Test heating and ventilation systems and repair if necessary (as Poor Richard AKA B.F. used to say “an ounce of prevention”)
- Prepare your indoor plants that have been outside for the summer to come back inside. No frost but many don’t like night temps lower than 45-50. Hose off leaves, and inspect/spray for insects.
- Beat the shopping malls and advertisers and think about the holidays now: Start treatment of poinsettias (16 hours uninterupted darkness) so they bloom in December. Start kalanchoes, ornamental peppers from seed now. Put Christmas cactus in cool dark location to form flower buds. Pot up paper white narcissus every two weeks. The first batch should come for mid-December. Looking way ahead – pot up Easter lily bulbs
- Withhold water from Amaryllis bulbs and give them a rest (dormancy). Leave them for at least a month before watering and breaking dormancy.