subject: Home Greenhouse And A Wireless Treat [print this page] Nothing has a more stimulating effect on the indoor gardening mood than a supply of good soil all ready for use. Seeds which should be sown and plants in need of potting are less likely to be neglected when suitable soil is at hand. A good greenhouse gardener ought to have in store a generous supply of loose well-aerated soil which will remain light and friable all through the winter.
It is important that soil for indoor use be the best you can provide. Outdoors, roots can reach into the surrounding earth in search of nutrients and moisture which best suit plant growth; but indoors, roots are dependent upon the soil available within pots or benches.
Soil which is rich in fibrous material absorbs and holds moisture without becoming compressed or crusted over and cracked. Soluble fertilizers will be stored up in such soil and released to the plants slowly; loss of nutrients through leaching will be lower than in poor soil and there will be less danger of burning plants when chemical fertilizers are used.
September is the ideal month to prepare your yearly soil supply: the ground is moist and sod, if available, is lush and thick. The quickest way to prepare the best soil for indoor planting is to compost topsoil and sod with manure just as professional gardeners and florists have done for years. This will be excellent for almost anything you grow.
I find it best to plan a compost pile about 5 by 6 feet to provide a year's supply of soil for a home greenhouse which is 10 by 15 feet. Stack the sod or soil in layers about 8 inches thick with 4-inch layers of manure in between. This makes a mixture of 2/3 soil and 1/3 manure. Either fresh or dry horse or cow manure may be used. Do not skimp on the quantity of manure if you want soil which makes plants grow. If barnyard manure isn't available use the dehydrated kind instead, spreading it about 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick between the layers. Over the top of each layer of manure spread superphosphate at the rate of three pounds to every 100 square feet. A 5-10.5 fertilizer can be used instead but young plants do best when started slowly and the nitrogen and potash can be added later. Phosphorus should he added beforehand, however, because it does not move in the soil and is more slowly available to the plant. Of course all this work can be done while you listen to some classic rock blasting from your wireless outdoor speakers.
Make a depression in the top of the pile so water will run in and not off. Additional water will probably not be needed during this season but, since moisture is necessary for decomposition, wet the compost down with a hose if the weather becomes dry. Turn the pile with a spade or fork in about six weeks, so the material at the top also becomes completely decomposed.
In January or February, the soil should be ready for use. Slice it down from top to bottom with a spide and run it through a 1/2-inch mesh screen before bringing it into the greenhouse. A layer of straw about 6 or 8 inches thick, thrown over the top, will keep the soil workable all winter. Soil will benefit by freezing, however, so protect only the supply which will be needed for winter use.
Even if you should not be able to compost a supply of soil in this way for the entire indoor gardening year, don't forget to prepare a supply of some sort.
Planting Reminders
Since freezing weather will soon he here, you may want to save many favorites from the outdoor garden for indoor use. Some of these plants can be lifted and brought into the greenhouse where they will continue to grow and flower well into the winter. It is best to cut back these plants a few weeks before they are lifted and potted; select only clean, healthy plants. Do not expect as much from plants which were blooming outside all summer as from those which were started especially for the indoor garden during July or August. Plants you might want to bring in from the garden could include flowering maple (ahutilon), lantana, snapdragon, geranium, ivies, fibrous-rooted begonias and stevia.
September is also the time to start seeds of many kinds, pot bulbs and take cuttings of many delightful things you will want in bloom indoors this winter and next spring. Among the best flowering plants to be started or planned for now are anemone and ranunculus, annual chrysanthemums, feverfew, genista, freesia, ixia, lachenalia, lantana, nemesia, ornithogalum, potted roses. scabiosa, schizanthus, snapdragon, stevia and sweet peas.
Other Bulb Flowers
Nothing gives us more pleasure or makes such a brilliant show as the blossoms of daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, iris and lilies. Don't neglect to order your supply for the greenhouse this month for planting in October and November. Select top-quality bulbs and get them from reliable sources. Use double-nose bulbs of daffodils and tulip bulbs which are 12 centimeters in circumference (approximately 4 3/4 inches). Order the largest hyacinth, iris and lily bulbs. They cost a little more but the results are well worth the difference, especially when you consider that the time it takes to plant them and the cost of heating the greenhouse is the same as when poor stock is used.
