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Hi, guys!
First of all, thanks so much to everyone who reached out with best wishes and concern for my thrown-out back. I’m improving, thanks to the one-two punch of pharmaceuticals and acupuncture. At least it’s not planting season.
But there are some crops that can be grown indoors without straining your back, like microgreens (details coming next week), some herbs and cannabis.
I know the topic may be controversial for some, but it is a plant, and we are plant people.
Laws are changing quickly, with roughly 22 US states currently allowing adult recreational marijuana use, and another 14 permitting medical use. Some colleges in those states now offer degree programs in cannabis studies.
🙋♂️You don’t need a degree, of course, to grow anything — just some direction. So, I’d like to gauge your interest in learning how to cultivate cannabis:
Before attempting to grow cannabis, be sure to check (and respect) your local laws.
📬 Ask Jessica
DEAR JESSICA: I planted a 4-foot Holllywood juniper tree this past autumn. Despite its high deer-resistance rating, it was partially eaten at the ends of many limbs. Can I expect any new growth in the affected areas? —Toni Bryan
DEAR TONI: Maybe.
It depends on precisely what and how much the deer have devoured. Mature branches won’t likely grow back from severe chomping. But if only needles were eaten, they should fill back in. And since you indicate that only the ends were damaged, and only partially, there is hope.
Junipers are, indeed, considered deer-resistant, but that just means the trees aren’t on Bambi’s preferred food list. But a hungry deer (just like a hungry Jessica!) will eat just about anything.
The only way to ensure plants are completely protected would be by installing a barrier, either as plant surrounds or fencing. Here’s how.
💡 If you do one thing this week…
Repot indoor plants into a container that’s 2 inches larger (no more) than the current one (plants growing in too-big pots are more susceptible to root rot because they can’t use up all the moisture held by the excess soil). Don’t fertilize yet.
👏 Sunday shoutout
“My house cats follow the sun from window to window, and these houseplants are all benefiting from a southern exposure window,” writes reader Pat Visconti.
“They are doing well considering it’s January, but little did I expect my hibiscus to bloom indoors over winter. In the picture, you see the plant’s second bloom in the last week and, I like to think, Alpha admiring it.”
Aww, Alpha’s a cutie pie! (Pet parents: Keep your fur babies safe by familiarizing yourself with these toxic and safe houseplants (and Valentine’s Day flowers).
Send in your photo, and you could be featured next (bonus points if you’re in the picture!)
📰This week in my Associated Press gardening column
I write a weekly gardening column for the AP, so you might have seen my byline in your local paper (or news website) — wherever in the world you happen to be. In case you miss it, I’ll post the most recent here every week.
THIS WEEK: Trying to decide which vegetables to plant this year? These two tips will settle it for you, once and for all.
LAST WEEK: 2024 has been named the year of the African violet. Here’s how to grow these petite charmers.
BEFORE THAT: Trendy, peachy plants to try this year.
ONE MORE: With the holidays behind us, there’s no better time to start planning our 2024 gardens. My winter garden tips.
You can read all my AP gardening columns here.
📚📺🎵 Random things I enjoyed this week
📖 When the temperature dropped to 16 degrees, I started wondering how my dog could go out barefoot and not get frostbitten. A Google search led me down a rabbit hole, where I discovered a really interesting Womanswork article about how wild animals and livestock in northern climates adapt to survive cold winters.
🧘I took a gentle Vinyasa yoga/sound bath class, and for the first time, I actually was able to get through it without tipping over. 🙌
📺 I watched Queenpins on Netflix, an entertaining spin on the true story of three (just two in the movie) Arizona women who made millions selling fake coupons online.
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📧 How’m I doing?
I welcome your comments and suggestions, so please send them along — as well as any topics you’d like to see covered and questions you’d like answered in the Ask Jessica section.
I'm going to use my New Hydroponic Tabletop Garden system to try to grow some starter Tomatoes and Pepper plants for my outdoor garden this year. The local Master Gardener group had a FREE seed exchange yesterday and I was able to get both for FREE! So far, in 33 days of using my 14 pod unit, it is producing edible Basil and I have Parsley and Chives coming along nicely. Nothing like a Christmas gift that can grow herbs and other things in the middle of Winter!
A video on how to start veggies plants indoors for later planting. I tried it for the first time last year and is was a failure. Used those expanding discs in some sort of mesh. After transplanting plants looked like the roots never totally broke thru therefore were stunted.