Hi, guys,
Have gardening catalogs been filling your mailbox? I’ve received a few so far, including Burpee, Baker Creek and John Scheepers, and will share my favorite selections as soon as I finish dog-earing and marking up their pages.
Until then, please share with us what you’ll be ordering in the comments below.
And if you haven’t already, do follow me on Instagram for gardening fun like Meme Mondays, Name that Plant Tuesdays and Follow Fridays. I’ll also be re-posting some of your photos, so tag me when you post. (I’m temporarily banned from posting because apparently I’ve been interacting with my followers too much, if you can believe that. But I expect to be reinstated after laying low for a couple of days — hopefully by the time you read this.)
START THE YEAR OFF RIGHT! Order a copy of my Day-by-Day Gardening Calendar and get 365 tips and chores to keep your garden on track all year long.
Here, take a look:
It’s like having a gardening coach (me!) stop by every day with timely reminders about what needs to be done in the garden — and when. You’ll never miss a seed-starting, fertilizing, pruning, transplanting or crabgrass-preventive date again. And by year’s end, you’ll have earned a green thumb you can be proud of!
📬 Ask Jessica
DEAR JESSICA: I have flying insects in the house that are as tiny as dust particles. Lately, I have seen them in bunches around indoor jasmine and need help to get rid of them. They are very annoying! —Syed Sadiq, Rocky Point, NY
DEAR SYED: It sounds like you’re dealing with a fungus gnat infestation. The tiny flying insects may be circling your jasmine, but it’s the soil that interests them.
Gnats thrive in moist conditions, so you may be overwatering your plant. Jasmine prefers slightly dry soil during winter. The container should be well-draining, with a hole in its bottom, and water should not be permitted to collect in a saucer. As summer approaches, increase watering to keep the soil slightly moist — but never soggy — and allow it to dry before watering again.
The best way to check for moisture in any potted plant is to plunge a finger (knuckle deep) into the soil and water only when the soil is dry at root depth. Place the plant in a sink and water s-l-o-w-l-y until it drains from the bottom, leaving it in the sink until draining stops.
The best way to eliminate gnats is to replace the soil harboring them. After removing the plant from the container, gently rinse leaves and roots with water to remove the potting mix and any insect eggs that may be present. Discard the soil, scrub the pot with a 10 percent bleach/90 percent water solution, rinse, dry and replant your jasmine in fresh potting mix. Place the plant in a different room until the gnats are eliminated.
Yellow sticky-tape traps effectively catch fungus gnats, as do traps made by filling a bowl with apple cider vinegar or red wine and adding a few drops of liquid dish soap (not automatic dishwasher detergent). The gnats will be drawn to it and drown.
Good luck!
💡 If you do one thing this week…
Dust houseplant leaves to unblock lenticels (the tiny pores that allow gasses to reach plant tissue).
👏 Sunday shoutout
Bernice-Theresa Acevedo of Cambria Heights, NY, shares this lovely photo of holly berries against a snowy backdrop in her front yard.
Send in your photo and you could be featured next!
📧 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.