FoxFarm Blog

Pruning Indoors

If you’re starting seedlings indoors for spring or growing a hydroponic crop, you know that sometimes things can get a little out of hand. Take a good look at what you’re growing and do a little strategic trimming and pruning now to create healthy, well-formed plants later.

Tall, spindly plants should be pinched back to encourage more lateral, bushy growth.  Be sure to leave two or three sets of leaves on the plants.

Long, branching stems can be cut back to the central stalk, particularly if they are not producing flowers or fruit.

Any weak, diseased, or damaged leaves or branches should be removed immediately to prevent further problems.

After pruning, feed plants with a weak foliar solution of Big Bloom to help them recover and charge ahead!

Earthworms, Start Your Engines!

Make a worm bin one of your New Years Resolutions.  There’s no easier way to improve the health of your soil.  A few tips:

• Buy a worm bin from a garden center or make your own using rubber storage tubs with small holes in the bottom for drainage.
• Red wigglers are the best worms for the job.  Buy them at a bait stand or from a commercial worm farm.  Other earthworms in your soil won’t live well in captivity.
• Use a bedding of worm castings (if the worms come in their own castings) or shredded coconut fiber, and always keep a layer of shredded newspaper on top.
• Feed worms a vegan diet of fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, eggshells, bread, and grains.  No dairy, meat, or oils, please.
• Finished worm castings look black and crumbly.  It will take several months to get enough to use in the garden.  Separate worms from castings and mix castings with water to create a fresh compost tea, or add a small shovelful of castings at the bottom of each planting hole when you plant in the spring. 
• Remember that the benefit of worm castings comes from their healthy microbial population, so use them while they’re fresh and know that a little goes a long way!

Feed Your Dirt--It Feeds You

It’s time to get some nutrition in the ground ahead of the spring planting season.  In areas with no frost or light frost, a light feeding of our Peace of Mind All-Purpose fertilizer will replenish soils that may be depleted after winter rains.  It will also add important beneficial microbes that colonize the root zone and help plants get the nutrition they need.  Just scatter it around according to package directions and scratch it in.

After you’ve fertilized, add one to three inches of mulch.  Well-aged compost will do the trick, and we recommend our Happy Frog Soil Conditioner as well.  The mulch will improve drainage, protect roots, smother weeds, and give the garden a jump-start. 

And if you’re in an area that’s still getting heavy freezes, a little mulch might help protect plants, but we recommend waiting to fertilize until the ground has thawed and plants start showing signs of new spring growth.