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Starting next year's garden

Spring planting is still months away but you can plant your garden now inside. Rob Proctor and his proteges have some tips to get you started.

DENVER — Now that we've passed the shortest day of the year, we can focus on next year's garden. As daylight hours lengthen and the sun's rays become stronger, indoor plants have more incentive to grow.

All the cuttings that we took last fall are ready to plant. They've developed good root systems. Now they're ready to transition from jars of water to pots of soil.

Small 2 and 1/2 inch pots (called "2 'n a quarters" in the nursery trade) work well to plant most cuttings. Insert the cutting into the pot. Gently fill in around the roots with soil.

Some of the cuttings may have gotten too leggy. To make the new plant more bushy, pinch back the cutting. Pinching will encourage it to branch out.

Spring planting is still months away but you can plant your garden now inside. Keep these new plants in a sunny window or under lights. Keep the soil moist but not soggy. Every few weeks you can feed them with a fertilizer that promotes growth.

 

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