As much as I am enjoying this spell of warm weather and completely avoiding the sub-30 degree temperatures, I am severely missing everything about the snow. There’s just something soothing about laying in it and listening to the world go by. I used to do it as a kid, and I still enjoy the reverence and the peace that comes with it.
Weather graph for January 2012 From Wunderground
Here are some awesome Winter Macros I’m borrowing from Flickr.
Photo by Martina Linnea
Photo by Binoche
Poop can save the life of your seedlings.
One of the most common killers of seedlings is the pathogen Pythium aphanidermatum, which causes what gardeners commonly refer to as “dampening off“. This pathogen is a water mold or “oomycete.”
Vermicompost
And, apparently, worm castings, also known as vermicompost, can be used as an alternative to chemical pesticides.
According to an article from the Cornell Daily Sun, Allison Jack, a graduate in plant pathology and plant-microbe biology, found a link that vermicompost can suppress disease in crop plants:
The microbes present in compost are the key to suppression. These microbes colonize the seed surface within eight hours of being planted in vermicompost. The microbes chemically modify the seed as it germinates so that signaling between the seed and the motile zoospores of P. aphanidermatum is interrupted, preventing the pathogen from accessing the plant.
Since vermicompost is probiotic, it stimulates the growth of microorganisms, unlike tranditional pesticides. These pesticides are antibiotic and inhibit such growth, basically creating a sterile environment. As is common with pesticides, they lose their efficacy when microbes evolve resistance.
Striving to be an organic gardener, using the tons of vermicompost that I have collected since June helps me to avoid ever needing any time of chemical treatment beyond what naturally occurs in Mother Nature.
A seed can become infected with Pythium aphanidermatum, often darkening and softening to the shell. Nine times out of ten, this can kill the seed before the seedling emerges, or cause the seedling to be weak, sometimes getting “wet” patches on it which decay until it falls apart.
Likewise, a seedling can be infected after it sprouts, before it leaves the ground, or even after it appears well-developed, the latter often resulting in the plant mysteriously thinning right where it touches the ground, until its stem at that point rots and it falls over.
Damping Off Seedling
I would recommend using sterilized soil to plant seeds in and applying a spray of worm compost tea to your sections of plantings. Also, make sure to promote good air circulation and don’t over-water.
Know what I did today? On this day, January 7, 2012?
I stood outside for an hour, in the sun, spraying my pots and containers to clean off all the extra dirt, leaves, and bug webs. A chore that I neglected this Fall. Mother Nature gave me/us a window of opportunity to make up for my laziness and lack of planning.
I didn’t get cold once. Know why? Because it was 65 degrees.
I decided to do some temperature comparisons for this date in history:
Baltimore, MD (Towson Weather, Towson, MD)
January 7, 2012: 64.5 °F/34.2 °F
January 7, 2011: 31.2 °F/24.8 °F
January 7, 2010: 34.7 °F /26.4 °F
January 7, 2009: 38.4 °F/31.8 °F
Okay, so today’s high was more than twice that of last year. One day, though, doesn’t mean much. Let’s take a look at a week:
Week of January 1, 2012
Week of January 1, 2011
Week of January 1, 2010
Week of January 1, 2009
No data for the week.
Looking at the monthly data shows that there is a warm spell either before the beginning of January or right around the middle. So, this isn’t so abnormal, I suppose.
Still, though, I worry for the trees that are trying to go dormant still. We haven’t had a ton of cold weather here, yet. It’s snowed only a handful of times, with no significant accumulation. Maybe that’s the way Baltimore is; after all, this is the first winter I’ve lived here; I was just trying to get an idea of what to expect…
Week of January 1, 2012
