I'm learning a couple of things from
growing plants inside during the winter:
1. I need to be patient and
not start seeds so early. I think I am still on Texas season time.
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| I got this fan for $25 and it has a wind option that produces random breezes. |
And 2. Plants can still get sick/pests
inside. My chives and a couple other plants got mites and aphids. My
rosemary got powdery mildew (powdery mildew looks just like it sounds: a white powder on the leaves). It makes sense why, though. It's warm
inside. There is more moisture around the plants. And the big thing:
there is very little air circulation. Once I moved the plants outside
they perked up quite a bit.
Well, it got cold again, and had to bring the warm season veggies in. I tried putting a fan in the room to move the air a bit, and holy crap the plants I moved back in perked up! My tomato grew about 2 inches overnight! So, fan in the room. Do it!
As for the bugs, I use organic
liquid hand or dish soap. A small drop (seriously, barely squeeze the bottle so a tiny drop comes out) of that in a tiny spray bottle
will dissolve the waxy outer coat of the pests and dry them out. The
other option is to wipe down the plant gently with your hands to
manually remove the insects.
For the powdery mildew I wipe the plant
off gently with my fingers and some of the soap/water. I planted the
rosemary I had inside in the ground a month and it hasn't died yet. The
room I stored it in got a lot of sun, but I think it enjoys feeling
the direct sun and wind on its leaves.
Eat, drink, be merry, and get dirty!
Margie
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