January monthly garden work

Category: Articles post

Author: Garden

JANUARY MONTHLY WORK

There is no gardener whom does not want his garden to be abundant, the trees to be beautifully framed, free of diseases and pests. But good intentions are not enough. It requires knowledge and long and thorough work. To anyone who already grows a garden and to anyone who intends to have it.

While doing gardening you need different equipment, implements. You should refuse digging the ground with a shovel (it is more suitable for digging ditches, trenches, pits), especially where the trees grow higher. This work is best suited for using a garden fork. Forks minimize the possibility of damaging roots of plants; it also lessens the count of earthworms cut, and helps to mellow the soil better. Thus, we should get forks, shafts for them, sprayers, fertilizers, pesticides, even microelements and stimulators. If there is a possibility, a Moto block too.

Winter is a good time to store organic fertilizer. Therefore, we should make sure we have got some manure, peat in store. All these nutrients should be put into a stack and greatly suppressed. Then we pour potassium and phosphorus fertilizers on top. Get some lime. “Lighter” soils are usually more acidic, therefore we need more lime for them. And what mineral fertilizers are most necessary? In phosphorus the most important element is granular superphosphate, and the potassium contains potassium magnesia, potassium sulphate. These kinds of fertilizer are most beneficial for berry crops, especially currants. Potassium salt (potassium chloride) is more suitable for fertilizing apple conservatories. Fruit-trees are often fertilized with nitrogen fertilizer through their leaves. The most suitable for it is urea and crystalline. By doing so the fruit-trees are also protected from fungal diseases, which makes such kind of fertilizer worth buying even more.

You can not manage without chemicals, also known as pesticides, either. They are divided into: fungicides which protect against fungal diseases, insecticides which fight the pest, herbicides that fight weeds, arboricides for the disposal of bushes, acaroids for the destruction of mites and so on. Pesticides must not get mixed with any other substances or be mishandled in any other way. It is the best option to make cabinets or boxes, individual shelves and notes exclusively for them. In order to keep outsiders, children in particular, from getting a reach of it, all pesticides need to be under a good lock. All pesticides are more or less poisonous and that is the main reason why using them or handling them in any way you should wear a respirator. In case you do not have one, you should at least wear double gauze over your mouth.

In winter you should check on your garden from time to time as well. Take a look at wintery fruit trees, berry bushes. In case of severe frosts you should spill some snow on strawberry beds, including the quince clusters too. As snow is a “blanket” for the earth during winter time, it protects roots of plants from freezing. Thick-bandaged tree trunks and thicker branches suffer lesser frost-bite too. Therefore, we should examine carefully and make sure the wind did not tear the bandages and trees do not suffer from hares nibbling on them.

Now, what is going on in the basement? It might be that the sand, which keeps seeds laminated or contains grafts that were placed in it before the greater frost has already dried out. If so – let’s water it. And just how exactly the fruit is keeping? Maybe some of the fruit are already rotten so we should sort them out. Once the rotten parts are cut out, the rest of the apple becomes suitable for making compote or cooking a puree. Meanwhile, those apples that were left intact should be taken rationally.

Birds should be fed constantly. For that matter feeders should be installed, where food leftovers, weeds, seeds, grains could be put. No large birds should be allowed to such kind of feeders, therefore when making a feeder you should install gratings. No pigeons, jackdaws or any other great birds will be able to get into feeder through it.
Winter is a time of learning as well. That is why we should extend our knowledge and find some useful literature to read.

The gardening inventory should be managed by acquiring missing and repairing defective tools. Tentative or already worn out gear should be updated; already existing containers and boxes we use for growing seedlings must be looked into as well. After it is all done, our inventory should be prepared for the immediate use. If you grow vegetables or any other sorts of plants in a “family-works” manner in larger area, January would be just about high time for you to plan out the work for the spring. All the equipment that is necessary for each phase of the spring work should be re-checked. After, you should calculate how much of polyethylene membrane will be needed to cover springtime greenhouses, temporary shelters and for the use of other business. Polyethylene film usually wears out in one season, but those parts of film that are still unbroken can be removed from old greenhouses and then re-used on the upcoming season. Typically it is used in making temporary shelters as well as bags, or used for other purposes. Industry produces a much stronger polychlorinated vinyl film which you can use 2 – 3 years, too. To conclude with, frames of our seedbeds should be fixed where necessary, and then glazed.

We should constantly check upon vegetables (those which are meant for both food and planting) to see how they keep in the heaps and storages. For most vegetables to stay fresh, the required temperature is 0- 1 ° C as well as 80 to 90 percent of humidity. Potatoes must be kept in temperature of 3 – 2 degrees Celsius. Temperature and humidity is regulated by ventilating. Horseradishes are best maintained in wet sand in temperature that is approximately zero degrees Celsius. Once the weather starts to chill all vent-holes must be clogged .Good thermal insulation is what helps to maintain the required temperature in heaps on cold winter days. If the thermal insulation is not thick enough and the snow on the surface of heaps is not distributed equally, the northern and eastern sides of heaps must be gathered with spruce branches; as coverage of branches helps to maintain higher temperature for your vegetables. For that kind of purpose you can use peat too. Edible onions should be kept in temperature that varies from 0 to 1 ° C and contains 80 to 85 percent of humidity. Local onions that are propagated in vegetative manner should be stored in temperature of 18 -20 ° C. Plaits of onions have to be frequently reviewed, throwing away those onions that have already start to spoil. When higher temperatures are present, the humidity must be reduced to 50 – 60 percent too.

In heated greenhouses we sow cucumbers and tomatoes, which then are illuminated with bulbs. Luminescent lamps are best suited as their illumination compares to solar lighting most. Their power should be from 300 to 400 W per 1 square meter. Distance from lamps to plant leaves can expand from 2 to 4 meters.

On January indoor flowers cause major concerns. Flowers must be watered with room- temperature water. If a plant is watered with cold water, soon its roots start to decay, leaf edges turn brown and eventually leaves fall. This is the case in watering fig trees, Chinese hibiscus and palms. While ventilating rooms all flowers should be protected from drafts. Saintpaulia will grow better if you pour some water into the pallet it is placed on. You should avoid watering it from the top, because it may cause leaves to rot and may even result in a whole plant perishing. If frequently irrigated during winter time, Sansevieria starts decaying. Aloe Vera and Agave do not cope with excessive watering well either. Blooming flowers, such as azaleas, cyclamen and primrose should be watered abundantly. If you water poinsettia with hot (about 50 ° C) water and keep it in well illuminated spot, it will grow more colorful.

In January, it is worth contemplating about the flower arrangement in the room. It will look cozier if you arrange your flowers beautifully into shelves which are equipped for that purpose. For the flowers that sway by nature you can either construct shelves or make special linen baskets. The basket containing a fern or a spur flower will make a nice attribute on the wall. Beautifully arranged composition equipped with ceramic vase would make a nice attribute on the table. Compositions are usually made from plants that are differently shaped and contain different texture. Such plants can be Begonia, Sansevieria and Tradescantia pallida. A really impressive composition can also be made from cacti or thick-leaved plants. You should not ignore tulips and narcissi onions that you keep in the basement. Every once in a while they must be watered. On the 20^th of January a part of flower boxes can be taken out from the basement in order for the seedlings to bloom. For the first week boxes still must be kept in darkness, and later on moved into the light. By then the temperature must heat up to 18 – 20 ° C.

On winter the most favorable temperature for carnations to grow is 10-20 ° C during the day time, and it can drop as low as 8 ° C during the night.