More Spring Flowers; Gardening Sessions in La Ronge

Indoor plant starting is running in high gear at the moment.  Vegetables, annual flowers, and a few perennials are starting to grow in pots under fluorescent lights.  I like growing my plants in re-usable plastic pots in trays lined with felt-like wicking fabric (I bought mine at Lee Valley Tools).  I water the plants by pouring water in the front of the tray and the fabric wicks it up to the bottom of all the pots.  I have a fan keeping the air circulating in the room, reducing problems with fungus. 

Light garden in full production.

Bunny sitting among the Primula auricula.

Unknown variety of Draba in flower.  This plant is three years old but still would fit within the palm of my hand. 

The hairy flowers of Pulsatilla vulgaris (left) are adding to the color of the crocuses.

Tiny yellow Iris danfordiae is said to be a zone 5-9 plant, but it made it through our recent mild winter just fine.

Ruffed grouse on the compost pile.

Kona out for a walk in the forest.  Snow remains in shady areas.

I was unaware of the habits of the grouse, wondering for days what the repeated drum rolls in the backyard were all about.  It didn't seem to be of human origin, yet it seemed too loud for an animal.  I could hear the drumming at night, from my bedroom.  Finally, dear resident-lawnmower-man told me that it was the sound of the grouse.  I did finally see the bird flapping his wings in his eager efforts to attract a mate.  His choice of location just meters from the fence containing our grouse-eating dog was interesting, however. 

If you are a local person interested in gardening, we are lucky to have "Gardening Wednesdays" sessions at 7 pm in La Ronge. 

• May 9 is Planting Seeds and Propagation at Churchill Community High School, 
• May 16 is Flowers in the North at Churchill Community High School
• May 23 is Creating and Gardening in Raised Beds at 1312 Houghton Place, and 
• May 30 is Container Gardening at 1331 Kowalski Place.  

I'll won't be able to attend, but am excited that local gardeners are out spreading the word about growing plants here in northern Saskatchewan. 

Spring Seed Starting

Finally, it is the first day of spring. Time for barbeque (while wearing a winter jacket) and shoveling the snow off the kids playground equipment. Of course, they still need to play outside while wearing snowsuits. Nevermind that I can't even get to my vegetable garden or raised beds due to a great deal of snow. I know that my crocuses haven't forgotten their spring duties.

Feeling the spirit of spring nonetheless, I pulled out the plastic trays, seed starting mix, and hundreds of little plastic pots. Actually, the project started with what looked more like a sewing project. I've used the moisture wicking fabric from Lee Valley for a few years now and really like how it makes watering the little seedlings quite easy. The stuff comes in large pieces so that you could cover big greenhouse benches with it, but I cut it to fit the black rectangular trays that I put under my grow lights.

Next, I reuse my plastic pots from previous years (washed out by Resident-LawnmowerMan last fall after he got tired of the heap of dirty pots that grew steadily in our garage). I fill these loosely with seed starting mix with an extra bag of perlite mixed in. If you can't find the finely-sieved seed starting mix, you can use potting soil, but it occasionally has big lumps and sticks and other aggravating debris.

I did plant some seeds today, though held myself back from planting the majority of them. I regularly plant the seeds far too early and end up with large plants that I have no room for, having expanded out of the basement to all available windowsills.
A few flower and herb seeds are sown and kept under the plastic humidity dome:

With the wicking mats below all the pots, I only need to water into the tray and don't need to water the pots from above. This has the dual benefit of avoiding dislodging the seeds and reducing the fungus problems that attack seedlings. Eventually, the fabric gets dirty and thins out, but it does last a few years before needing replacement. In warmer weather, it can also be hosed off and left to dry outside.

Indoor Gardening Already; Pine Bonsai Update

The dismal year in the vegetable garden (probably because I neglected to water it enough) and a renewed desire to eat tasty greens has caused me to return to basement gardening. I can easily grow enough sweet, tender lettuce for sandwiches in the basement. The time investment is minimal -- I remember to water the plants whenever I do laundry. Also, there are no bugs (other than the odd spider) and the temperature is pretty comfortable to work in. So far, my two buttercrunch seedlings haven't grown very large. Unfortunately for them, I got hungry. I'm thinking that I need to start more lettuce, ideally in a variety of shapes and colors. What I really need is enter a lottery to win a greenhouse. Anybody heard of such a thing? At least it sounds better than the legion's "meat draw".

Here are the two Jack Pine seedlings, destined to become my first bonsai conifers (the white bottle is just to demonstrate their size):

They were started at the same time (Feb/09) despite the dissimilar appearance. These were part of a mini bonsai kit I got last Christmas. These trees really should have some sort of change in climate for their winter. Perhaps I'll put them out in the partially heated garage, but in bigger pots so they don't totally dry out.



Continuing on with the fall's indoor gardening kick, here is my recent shipment of Kaffir lime seeds. I ordered these on ebay and they arrived with these handy instructions. I got tired of reading my Indian cookbooks and skipping recipes that called for the leaves of this plant. They give a limey flavour and are used like bay leaves. The green fruits are not edible.

Kaffir lime (Citrus hystrix) seeds planted, keeping company with my herbs:

Finally, the most exciting indoor garden news is a purchase of a miracle fruit plant. Have you seen these berries on TV? They are like LSD for your tastebuds. Miracle fruit parties are popping up everywhere. RLM mused that it would be really cool to have one of these plants, though I replied that plants native to Ghana probably wouldn't thrive here. After a quick internet search the other night though, I found a supplier in Montreal and ordered a plant for about $35 including shipping. Canada post sent me a tracking information email today, so I hope to get my plant soon. It has a few particular needs, like acid soil, but that's not too hard to manage. I'm so excited. I'll post as soon as I get my new plant.

Basement Garden Growing Obsession

My basement light garden as "gone hog wild", as a garden friend has put it. Truly, my grow-op overfloweth. I decided to actually take stock of what I'm growing down there, noting that the much anticipated world food shortage hasn't had too much impact on the ratio of vegetables to flowers. I do point out to resident-lawnmower-man that several of the flowers are edible, however. With great insight, he pointed out that perhaps we wouldn't last long eating just edible flowers. Hmmm. That RLM is quite a wise man.

Here's what's growing in my basement (and on a table in my bedroom):

Vegetable and herbs:

• Rosemary
• Italian Flatleaf Parsley
• Thyme
• Lemon basil
• Spicy globe basil (I really like this one. It's compact and easy to grow indoors.)
  
• Purple ruffles basil
• Cilantro
• Cherry tomato - Sweet Gold and Red Robin
• Italian Sweet Pepper
• Hybrid Broccoli Captain
• Strawberry Pikan
  

Perennials:

• Primula denticulata
• Primula saxatilis

• Euphorbia myrsinites
• Euphoriba variegata - I hope planting this isn't a mistake? Anyone have some comments?
• Arabis Spring charm
• Silene saxifraga
• Aquilegia flabellata nana
• Pansy light strawberry sundae
• Scabiosa japonica pink diamond
• Papaver miyabeanum Pacino
  

Annuals:

• Helitrope Dwarf Marine
• Osteospermum Passion Mix
• Dimorphotheca African Sun
• Impatiens Super Elfin Mix

• Nasturtium Alaska Majus
• Nemophila Baby Blue Eyes
• Lavatera Silver Cup
• Nierembergia Purple Robe
• Lobelia white cascade
• Cleome violet queen
• Helichrysum Summer Solstice
• Marigold Doubloon
• Salvia farinacea Blue bedder
• Portulaca Sundial mix
• Phacelia Tropical surf
• Godetia amoena tall single mix
• Milady aster (C. chinensis)

So is there a theme to my plantings? Not really. I am growing all sort of things, learning from what I grow, and always being prepared for a landscaping emergency. That's what happens when there's an unsightly gap in one's flowerbed. Horrors.

Micro Tom Tomatoes and Herbs

One of my "Micro Tom" miniature tomato plants produced a first flower today! How about that for garden blooms in the far north? Yeah, it's an indoor plant, but I'm still excited about this. These plants germinated in mid-September and hopefully I'll have some little tomatoes by Christmas. The plant with the flower is actually the bigger plant, and a bit leggy though it received alot of light. These plants are about the size of my hand and are starting to set fruit. Aren't they so cute?


Space is limited in the basement light garden, which explains why I'm not trying to grow melons and cucumbers down there. I still think I could do that, but they'd each take up a whole shelf (at the very least) and I want to experiment with a variety of plants.

Rosemary, transplanted from outside. I found this to be a slow-growing plant outside, but it's doing well inside. I'm looking forward to some nice slow-roasted rosemary potatoes...

Marigolds, flowering mightily in the basement. I've heard that marigolds keep bugs away from vegetables. So far, no bugs have infested the basement, which is good.

Lemongrass. Yep, still just looks like grass, but tastes so lemony!

Thai Garden Update

I really like Thai food...those crisp fresh veggies with sweet and hot sauces, rice noodles, grilled skewers of herbed lime-marinated chicken, peanut sauces, searing hot soups with prawn and lemongrass...yummmm! Now, if I could find a way to grow mangos here, that would be ideal. But aside from that, I am in the process of growing some of the ingredients for my own Thai cooking. Growing them in the indoor light garden, that is.

Lemongrass, started a few weeks ago. So far, it has been easy to grow. Looks like grass!

"Heat Wave" Chili peppers. I'm not sure if you can pinch off the tops of peppers to promote bushier growth? I obviously can't have them growing really tall or they'll hit my shop lights. I put worm compost in the bottom half of the containers, which are deeper than my usual perennial containers, since peppers apparently need deep containers.

Tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, potatoes and peppers have extensive root systems and need larger and deeper pots than other container-grown plants. I'm not sure if I'll need to transplant these peppers into bigger pots. This is the first time I've really tried growing peppers indoors!

My Indoor Growing Setup

Being as our growing season is short, I start my annuals, perennials, and some vegetables from seed under grow-lights in the basement. This is my setup:

Heavy-duty metal shelving unit from Costco. The heights of the shelves are determined when you put it together. It is good to have some shorter and taller spaces for plants.

Black rubber floor mats to line each shelf, so that water and soil don't fall into the lights below. We bought the kind that comes from a large bulk roll and we cut it to fit.

Heating mat to provide bottom heat for germination of some seeds and growth of seedlings. These can be purchased in garden centers and online.

Fluorescent "shop light" fixtures. Each can hold two 48-inch fluorescent lights. Can be purchased from many department stores. I put two fixtures on each shelf (4 lights on each shelf). They come with little chains to suspend them and I adjust the chains depending on how close I want the light to be to the plants.

Fluorescent lights. In each fixture, I put one cool white (the regular type fluorescent that you would use in a house) and one grow light (is a little more expensive). The combination of the two provides a spectrum of light that promotes both growth and flowering.

Oscillating fan. I use an ordinary household fan to blow gently on the young plants. This really cuts down on mildew and fungus problems and encourages hardy growth.

Seed-starting mix. I buy bags of sterilized soil-less growing medium at a local store. It is also good to have some vermiculite or perlite. This is sprinkled ontop the seed.

Timer. This can be programmed to turn the lights and heating mat on and off.

Mini-greenhouse propagation kits. I have a wide variety of seed-starting supplies. I like the large trays with fitted clear plastic domes to maintain moisture for seedlings. I start some plants in plastic pots and others in peat pots.

Perennials are generally germinated en masse in a single pot in a sealed clear bag, and pricked out into individual 3 1/2" plastic pots. This ensures that you don't have half of your pots without plants, should germination be difficult. Seeds often need high humidity to germinate.

"No damp" chemical mixed up in a spray bottle to prevent "damping off" (death by fungus) of seedlings.

Yellow sticky traps for fungus gnats and other pesky flies.

Plastic label stakes so you can remember what you planted.

UV resistant permanent ink pen to write on the plastic stakes.

Green Things from the Basement

The basement light garden is growing well. The annuals, perennials, orchids and other stuff are aphid and gnat-free so far. The only problem was some mildew that developed while I was away and resident-lawnmower-man was watering the plants. I resolved this by removing the yellowed, withered leaves and directing an oscillating fan to blow over the plants. This restores good airflow, but means I've got to stay vigilant to prevent overdrying of the little plants.

I am currently soaking some morning glory seeds ("Star of Yelta"). The package picture looks attractive, yet up until now I had felt too lazy to do the required chipping of the seed coat and soaking of the seed required for successful germination. Just like lupines and sweet peas, they have a tough seed coat and need some help to germinate. I use an exacto knife to chip off a little piece of the seed coat, leaving a bare spot that shows the green core the the seed. We'll see how it goes!

This flat of Aladdin Cherry petunias looks quite good. Although the seeds and seedlings of petunias are extremely small, growing them seems to be quite easy!

I have just 3 grape tomato plants started, but they quickly grew too tall for the basement light garden so they are sitting with the orchids in the living room. I started my seeds around March 1, so hopefully I can get some mid-summer fruits.

I find it intriguing that the species name for the tomato (Lycopersicon) means "wolf peach". Lykos is Greek for wolf, Lupinum is Latin for wolflike. The wolfish origins of the name don't seem too apparent to me. Some googling revealed the sordid history of the vegetable hailing from South America. It was thought to be poisonous by the Europeans, though the Aztecs had been eating tomato salsa on their chalupas and gorditas for thousands of years (or at least, the Aztecs that went to Taco Bell). Tomatoes are a member of the nightshade family, along with eggplants and peppers, but only the green parts of the plant contain the toxic alkaloids.

According to the climactic data for La Ronge on the northscaping website (http://www.northscaping.com/Tools/ClimaticDataMap.shtml), we have annual precipitation of 19 in. (489 mm), last spring frost May 17, first fall frost Sept 22, for a typical growing season of 128 days. Check out the northscaping website, it has climactic data for North America north of 37 degrees latitude. Anyhow, most tomatoes seem to take much longer than 128 days to do anything, so hopefully this year we have success.

Plants in my Basement Abound

The inevitable urge to start growing more varieties of seeds has taken hold for yet another year. I know I am not alone. I have heard of other gardeners who have the same problem. Well, it's only a problem so much as one tends to run out of room to house the little plants.


At the moment I am germinating some Viola "Sorbet Violet Ice" seeds (don't they sound so delicious?) as well as Digitalis mertonensis (Strawberry Foxglove), and a rock garden dianthus mix. In the little pots, I have Zinnias, annual Salvia splendens ("Salsa light purple"), Matthiola incana (Ten Week Stocks Cinderella Mix), and Arabis caucasica. As of yet, there are no aphids or gnats hovering around my plants, but I have the soap spray on hand just in case.

Speaking of aphids, the indoor cannas seem to have them (pot on the right), but because of the large leaves, it is easy to crush most of them and spray the rest. The cannas seem to like the new sunlight and warm temperatures in the bedroom bay window. I potted another banana plant (dwarf Musa Cavendish) in the center pot. I have 3 banana plants now, and several more new ones growing at the bases of the plants, if anyone should want one.

This last picture is of a water droplet on a small banana plant. I find these plants interesting because the water droplets form spontaneously on the leaves. Sometimes they coalesce and run down the leaves and make little wet spots on the floor. I know it's water and not some kind of sap because I've tasted it! I'm not sure why it does this, but it's rather pretty.

Basement Seedlings

Spring of 2007 is 22 days away! Of course, this doesn't mean much up here where we've had some 54 inches of snow so far this winter and it still sits in heaps along the roads. If we're lucky, I may see little green shoots peeking from beneath the snow towards the end of March. Dwarf irises are always first.


I have started the light garden growing again. Lettuce and various herbs are growing under the lights in my basement. Just like the outdoor experience last year, the dark green Paris Island Cos Romaine lettuce is growing the best of the lettuces. I harvested a few leaves for lunch today. It is a nice break from the nutrient-poor pale pathetic iceberg lettuce at the grocery store. Next on the agenda: starting annual and perennial flower seeds!

Basement Grow-op

This is my basement grow-op for bedding plants, new perennials, and some of my orchids. Potentilla "Helen Jane", Primula "Festival bicolor", and Campanula persicifolia are some of the perennials growing right now. Annuals include Osteospermum "Passion mix", Nicotiana sylvestris, snapdragon "Frosty lavender", Salvia "Victoria", Dichondra "Emerald Falls". I am using a commercial shelving unit from Costco and shop lights from Canadian Tire.