A Lazy Gardening Update

Remember a few months ago when I decided that I had failed at propagating a store-bought sweet potato? Nothing had happened. I figured I had done it wrong – put the potato in upside down, didn’t give it enough light, gave it too much water, something. Most people would’ve tossed the potato at that point but I ended up just letting it sit. I actually don’t think I made the decision to let it sit, it just sat. It wasn’t rotting but it also wasn’t doing anything.

One day, during dinner, we suddenly noticed that something was happening.

We let it go until this giant shoot grew off of it.

Then I snapped off the slip to grow it in water. And it did!

The original sweet potato has continued to grow new slips for the past few months. I’m curious to see if it is immortal and will continue to grow slips as long as it is kept in water or if it will eventually shrivel up from using all of its inside nutrition. From “this potato is a dud” to “this potato may be immortal” in two months.

Patience is not one of my particular strengths. Even when I am patient, I tend to label myself as “lazy” for not moving on a decision or project quickly. I suppose that sometimes you need to act quickly (like when I watched a bunny sneak under my fence and head towards my strawberry patch this morning and ran after it). With gardening, though, one of the main things it teaches you is patience and just waiting to see what happens. There is no failure. It’s all an experiment. All we can do is slow down and observe.

Gardening Win: Root a Tradescantia in Water

A few weeks ago, I managed to snag a three-for-one deal at Costco. I picked up a Ric Rac (or Fishbone) cactus, a monstera minima, and a tradescantia nanouk in some matching pots. I was really excited about the Ric Rac cactus and didn’t even notice it was 3-for-1 until a worker told a lady next to me that she should take her pick. I picked up the Nanouk because there were really only three different plants available. It wasn’t until I got home that I noticed how pretty the leaves are.

Look how pretty those leaves are!

I thought the pot was sort of cramped, though. Plus, when I was looking up what this plant was, I saw that these are really easy to propagate. So, one afternoon when I was a little bored, I pulled the plant out of its pot and gave it a trim. I ended up cutting it into five different plants. Each part that I cut had several nodes (the spot where the leaves grow out of the stem). I popped two into little jars with water, just to see what would happen. I replanted the main plant in the original pot. For the other two, I put one in a pot and sat it on my plant shelf and one I put in another pot under a cloche (to see if the humidity helped it root).

Lo and behold, about a week later, one of them started developing roots. A few days later, the second one started developing roots but at the node that was up above the water. So, even if the piece isn’t fully in the water, it’ll still develop roots. If you’re new to propagating (like I am), it’s nice to try an easy plant like tradescantia so you can have some success. It doesn’t hurt that this Nanouk has some gorgeous leaves and having a few extras are always nice.

Gardening Fail: Root a Sweet Potato in Water

I see a lot of gardening “hacks” about easy things to try at home. One that I saw was that you can take a sweet potato from the store, put it in a jar of water, and it will grow slips (the parts that new sweet potatoes grow from) and you can then plant those slips. Plus, it’s a garden thing to do when I run out of winter sowing ideas!

I went to the store and picked up an organic sweet potato. A lot of the produce in a supermarket is sprayed with stuff so that it stays shiny and doesn’t sprout new plants. It’s possible the potato I picked was sprayed with this stuff but that’s why I picked an organic one. In any case, I took it home, cleaned it, and put it in a jar of water. Then I waited…

…and waited.

A few weeks on and nothing has happened. It hasn’t rotted but it also hasn’t rooted. A nice slime developed on the bottom, though. I sprayed off with hydrogen peroxide but it came back, though. So I guess I succeeded in propagating slime? Meanwhile, the organic red potatoes I bought on the same day started sprouting. Maybe I should try sticking them in the ground to see what happens.

What did I learn from this experiment?

  • Internet “hacks” do not always work (shocking).
  • Supermarket produce is probably not the best to start a plant from.
  • Research ways to start a plant first. For instant, my weekly inspiration Brie the Plant Lady said she had slips developing from her sweet potatoes that had been hanging out on her fridge.
  • Look into which is the rooting end and which is the sprout end? This guy grew slips from both ends so I’m not sure it’s super crucial but maybe I didn’t put it in the water correctly?

Make a Mini Greenhouse for Under $10

I would absolutely love to have a full-size greenhouse. Something like this:

https://tanglewoodconservatories.com/portfolio_items/wintergarden/

Or perhaps this:

https://www.amazon.com/She-Sheds-Room-Your-Own/dp/1591866774/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=she+sheds+a+room+of+your+own&qid=1644028345&sprefix=she+sheds+a+roo%2Caps%2C178&sr=8-1

But, for now, I can only dream of being able to afford something like that. For now, the most I can hope for is a smaller greenhouse that could be placed on our porch or deck. Something like this:

https://www.gardenista.com/posts/urban-gardener-a-greenhouse-for-your-balcony/amp/

Even that one is about $1,400 and doesn’t ship to the US.

So what’s an impatient girl to do? Make a teeny greenhouse for a few bucks and see how it goes.

Steps for Making a Mini Greenhouse

  1. Buy a clear tote. I bought a 3-pack of clear totes from Costco. They were $18.99 for three (so $6.33 a piece).
  2. Drill holes in the top and the bottom. This depends on what you want to use it for, of course. My first mini greenhouse was for winter sowing. Since I wanted the elements to get in, I drilled holes in the top for the rain and snow. If I was using it as a cold frame for seedlings or cuttings, I would probably leave those holes out.
  3. Fill with plants. I used clear cups filled with seeds.
  4. Put it in a good spot. Remember that a plastic or glass container placed in the sun will get really hot. That might be what you want if you are growing tropical plants outside. If you are hardening seedlings or starting seeds, consider putting it somewhere bright but not in direct sunlight.
  5. Monitor the heat and moisture. If it gets too hot, open the top. If it’s dry, water the seeds some. If it’s too wet, let it air out a bit.

That is about all there is to it. Granted, these mini greenhouses aren’t quite as jaw-dropping as a full-sized greenhouse. However, they are a good way to experiment with growing in a greenhouse or cold frame before buying something larger. Plus, they pack away when you are done using them and don’t take up much space. They could also be used for seed starting, winter sowing, hardening off cuttings, or whatever you can think up!

Winter Sowing

I am fairly new to gardening so I was surprised at how antsy I got after finishing my fall chores. I had been used to going out to check on plants as an excuse to take a walk, be outside, or just do something. Anything. After that last plant was pulled in the fall, I had about two weeks of rest before I started getting anxious to garden again. Of course, what is a bored gardener to do but start planning for next year?

And that’s when I stumbled on winter sowing.

Winter sowing is a method of germinating seeds outside, during the coldest winter months. It is purported to mimic nature. That is, when plants are left to their own devices, they have figured out ways to grow themselves again. One way that perennial plants (in particular) do this is when their flowers die in the fall. The flower heads dry out, the seeds drop to the ground, and then they wait. The seeds are typically just out in the open through the winter (good or bad). Then, when the weather starts to change to their ideal temperatures, a little switch inside the seed clicks and up they pop. Winter sowing takes the natural process of a seed but allows gardeners to protect them against animals or bugs or unusual weather.

Steps for Winter Sowing:

  1. Get a container that is opaque or clear. It must be big enough to hold about three or four inches of soil in the bottom. The most popular choice tends to be milk jugs because they are opaque and the right shape. As a bonus, it helps to recycle something that would end up in a landfill! Other options I have seen include vinegar containers, rotisserie chicken containers, water jugs, and even Ziploc bags. Anything that can hold soil and let some light in will probably work.
  2. Prepare your container. Drill holes in the bottom for drainage. I also drilled a few in the sides in case the bottom holes get clogged with ice during the winter. If you are using a milk jug, cut the jug almost in half. Leave the handle attached so that it acts like a hinged roof.
  3. Get your soil. Pick a regular potting mix but not one with any “moisture retaining” words in the name. That will hold too much water and could cause things to rot in your soil.
  4. Moisten the soil. Put some soil in a bucket and add water. Mix it up until it is a damp consistency. When you pick up a handful and squeeze it, it should hold it’s shape but water shouldn’t drip out. If it is too wet, drain some of the water and add more soil. If it’s too dry, add some water.
  5. Fill your container with soil. I put a coffee filter at the bottom of my containers so dirt doesn’t spill out. Fill it up about three or four inches.
  6. Sow your seeds. According to the advocates for winter sowing, all seeds are fair game except for tropical seeds. There is likely most success with native perennials since you will be mimicking their natural environment. (More about this plus link.)
  7. Label those containers! Use whatever you can find to label those containers. All of the moisture and weather outside is likely to wash things away so either use something really tough (nail polish painted on, a garden pen, etc.), label multiple times, or both. I labeled a garden marker, wrote all over the container, and also kept a list of what I sowed in each numbered container. I also made little beaded labels out of old Montessori counting beads and attached them to the handles.
  8. Close your container and tape it up. Tape all the way around the cut part of your container so it is all closed up.
  9. Remove your lids. You should take off the milk jug lids in order to let in rain, snow, and weather throughout the winter. It also allows for air circulation when it starts to get warmer. If you are using other containers, make sure there are holes in the top for the same reason.
  10. Place your containers outside. Take the whole contraption outside to a protected area (protected against dogs who might chew on them, wind that might blow them over, etc.). There are mixed messages about whether you should put them in the shade or the sun. I placed mine in the shade for now because I do not want them getting tricked by any early warmth, germinating, and then getting killed in a sudden frost. I will move them to a place with morning sun once it gets closer to spring.
  11. Have a cup of tea. After you have bid goodnight to your little containers, go back inside and have a cup of tea or a cup of something warm. They will happily sleep through the winter and start to perk up when the weather starts to improve.

For the most part, the weather should do what it does and the seeds will benefit from that. Seedlings do not need to be hardened off (like you would have to do with indoor started seedlings) which helps to produce hardier seedlings. Keep an eye on moisture level and give them some spritzes of water if their soil appears dry or it has been awhile since it’s rained or snowed. Last year, I took the idea that you “just ignore them” too seriously, didn’t do anything with my jugs, and everything dried out and died. If they are drying out too often, it might be helpful to move the jugs to a shadier location. Direct sun might dry out dirt quicker than being in the shade. Smaller containers may also dry out quicker than larger ones.

In the spring, the seedlings will start to emerge. I think you open the container when it starts to get warm in order to give them some air. Once the soil is workable and the seedlings have a few sets of true leaves, transplant them to their permanent spot. I’ll have to see how it works this year and write more about the spring process. For now, though, it gives me something to do during the long winter months. The only problem is how many seeds I’ve now ordered from the seed catalogs in order to try this method! I need to get planning for where I’ll put all of these plants!