Twinkle's Garden | Winter indoor gardening

You don’t have to wait until spring to have a home filled with gorgeous greens. Fill your rooms with herbs, ferns and other indoor plants during the colder months.

You can have fresh greens and herbs all year long inside the house. Germinate your seeds in a damp, dark place (you can place trays inside paper grocery bags.) Once the plants have grown to at least 1” seedlings, transfer into pots and place on windowsills and around your home.

Don’t forget the sun in winter. Inside plants need at least six hours of natural light a day, or 14 hours of artificial light. Without enough light, you might see a little herbal Seasonal Affective Disorder in your once-perky plants.  

Ease back on fertilizer and water during the shorter days of the winter season, but when the days turn longer, you can begin adding a bit of compost.  

Good drainage is important, especially if you are using pots or containers without a built-in drainage system. Using a fork, occasionally break the soil up very gently to ensure good drainage and prevent the soil from packing down over time.

Winter means less humidity in many regions. Heating systems can make your home arid and dry, and your plants brittle. Adding a humidifier will help keep the air moist throughout the drier, colder months and benefit not only your houseplants, but also everyone else living in your home.

Another way to keep your plants from drying out is to occasionally mist them with water with a sprayer, once or twice every 3-4 days.

When February rolls around, your plants will love all the extra sunlight, and by March they begin to flower. Start migrating them outdoors in April. Soon, you and your plants will be back outside, in the sunlight and in the garden.