Turn the heat up on mouse plant killers

“You know that beautiful lily you gave me last summer? Well, I killed it.”

Fortunately, my massage therapist was squeezing a pillow and not my leg as she described the condition of the corpse.

“I think I watered it too much,” she confessed. “It looks like a pot of dirt.”

Lilies? In January? I wracked my brain while she wracked my leg muscles. A-ha! It’s supposed to look like a pot of dirt. I remembered giving her a deep burgundy leafed Oxalis regnellii purpurea last fall and it was performing its annual disappearing act right on time.

Look around at your house plants this time of year and most of them are probably looking like they’d rather be on a plane to somewhere sunny and warm than sitting dried out in a dim corner of the living room.

Our first response is to reach for the watering can and feed our house plants when dry, but most of them are probably in a dormant mode.

Over watering with plant food can kill or weaken them and encourage pests like fungus gnats.

Some tuberous plants, like that purple leafed Oxalis, or shamrock, typically fall back and play dead this time of year.

Stop watering the Oxalis for a couple of weeks to give it a rest. This is a good time to re-pot or divide them and pass some along to friends.

Resume watering at weekly intervals and tiny, loopy stems will slowly push out of the soil in about two to three weeks.

I promise they will be nice bushy pots of purple by Mother’s Day.

house plants help provide humidity, but often our homes are too dry in winter even for the plants. Setting them on a shallow tray with pebbles and water, misters, and small humidifiers add humidity without over watering.

Water when the soil is dry just below the surface unless you have a plant that likes a lot of moisture.

Rain forest natives, like many ferns, prefer moist environments. Sansevieria, or Snake Plants, prefer a drier climate and can tolerate being ignored. Grouping plants according to their needs will help cut down on mistakes.

Pests can be a problem if you re-potted using compost from the garden, or put your plants outside last summer. Sometimes these pests come with the sterilized potting medium or a new plant you bought from the garden center. The usual culprits are aphids, fungus gnats, and spider mites, so, there are a few home remedies and some fairly safe approaches to use before you reach for the serious bug killer.

Aphid infested leaves should be cut off and put outside.

Rinse the plant off holding it upside down using room temperature water. Spray with Safer’s insecticide soap or soap mixed with rubbing alcohol.

Fungus gnats love the dead, decaying leaf matter on the top of the soil and their larvae like the fungus on the roots.

Keep the soils on top dry and clear of dead leaf matter by raking the top with a fork once a week.

Don’t mist your plants for awhile and make sure there’s plenty of good air circulation.

Water from the bottom so only the roots get wet.

Sprinkle some cinnamon, a natural fungicide, on the top of the soil and rake it in about an inch.

You need to stop the life cycle of these critters and make the nursery for the larvae inhospitable. The life cycle is about a month, so, you might want to do this for at least six weeks or more. Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis, used in mosquito dunks, a bactericide is said to work pretty well on gnats. Break a mosquito dunk into pieces soak a couple of hours then use it to water your plants.

Safer’s yellow sticky strips work well for aphids, white flies, black flies, gnats, and wasps. I’ve tried to make my own with petroleum jelly and yellow cards, but, it doesn’t work as well.

Red spider mites hate humidity, so spraying with cool water and keeping tabs on humidity is essential. Neem oil mixed with insecticide soap or natural predator mites can help, but, if you can live without the plant just get rid of it.

Colorado State University’s extension service has a comprehensive source of information about houseplant pests on their website at Ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05595.html.

If you’re feeling a bit dormant yourself this time of year, try giving your house plants some of your undivided attention.

Turn up the lights, put on some tropical tunes, re-pot, divide and remember. . .we’ve added another half-an-hour to our day this week.

Spring is just around the corner!

Brooke Heppinstall, artist and gardener, is the owner of Wool Wood Studio & Gardens, an art studio and nursery specializing in Alaska-grown perennials and shrubs. Visit online at Woolwood.blogspot.com.