Most House plants are in their dormant stage. Some like Exoras, Nicodias and Hydrangeas will have to be put under cover. Don’t forget to water them though, because watering helps them to deal with the cold winter frost. Please remember the golden rule, water when the soil turns dry. In peak winter house plants will probably need water once in 10 days. It is recommended that a diluted liquid of fermented cow dung be given to the plants which works like warm wine for them.

Keep these under cover at night and protect from the frost. In fact the best thing to do with Indoor plants is to actually move them inside the house. Treat indoor plants like children. Send them out in the sun between 9 AM and 4 PM, but must bring them in once the sun goes down. Do not leave them out in the cold winter nights, the frost is extremely harmful to them. The key to keeping your indoor garden jungle and oxygen bombs healthy is to give them a lot of natural light and maintain a more or less constant room temperature.

Roses are in full bloom. Enjoy them but be sure to cut away the wilted ones.

Dahlias: Dahlias require plenty of sunlight. Dig and aerate the beds for Dahlias. Spread well decomposed gobar, in preparation for Dahlia. Plant rooted cuttings Add Neemkhali, Bonemeal and leaf compost.

Chrysanthemums: These will start flowering and can be displayed according to colour and size.

The bulbs store their own water so water sparingly in the first few days. These need a little more nutrition before they flower. Each pot will take 2 tbs od Neemkhali, 1 tbs of bone meal, half a tsp of DAP and .25 of Single Super Phosphate. Once the bulbs flower these need regular watering.

Radish, Lettuce, Coriander, Beet, Gaanthgobi, Zuchchini, Peas. Spinach, Trunip seeds can be sow this month. Brinjal, capsicum, and Tomato seedlings can be transplanted.

Seedlings for winter flowers can be planted. Since I am a big fan of flowers that grow easily and last the longest, please grow Petunias, Dianthus, Dahlias, Sweet Peas for sunny areas. Sannaneria, Salvias and Impatience for the shady areas. (For Impatience it is best to buy seedlings, its not the easiest to grow from seed). Calendulas,Poppies, lupins, cornflowers and larkspur are also very quick to flower. Antirrhinum, Holy Hock, Larkspur, Marigolds, pansies, Phlox, Verbina Carnations can also be grown. Winter annuals seedlings at 4-6-leaf stage can be transplanted in the flowerbeds or in the pots. Desi seedlings are available at Sunder Nursery, specially desi salvia and desi Cinnaneria which are not available for sale anywhere else.

Ist feed for seasonal flowers, after 15-20 days of planting the saplings can be only neem khali and bonemeal in the ratio of 2:1.

2nd feed 15 days later can be Neemkhali: Bonemeal: DAP in the proportion of 2:1: 0.5.

3rd feed when you can see the colour of the flowers. Add 2.5 kgs of Neem khali and 1.5 kg of Bonemeal and .5 kg of DAP to get a 5 Kg mixture to which 250 gram of potash has to be added.

All herbs do well in the Delhi Winter. Celelry, parsley, Rocket, oregano, chives, basil thyme and Oregano can be easily grown. Best to buy ready plants in small polybags and transplant into terracotta pots. Some vegetable shopkeepers will sell Celery with some roots on it. Use the leaves, leaving a couple of the smaller ones, and dig it into the soil. It takes rot easily and before long you will have celery as and when you need it.

Protect your tulsi plants. Ideally these should be in an area where they get sun during the day and can be covered with a thick plastic sheet at night. Water regularly. An old tulsi plant will be easy to save in the winter frost. The new ones are the most fragile.

Lawns and Hedges:

Please remove the winter frost from your lawns every morning. This goes a long way in keeping your gr

Please remove the winter frost from your lawns every morning. This goes a long way in keeping your grass alive. Use a pipe as in the video below or lightly sprinkle with water to wash away the frost. Watering can only be done once in 2 or 3 days so best to use both methods to remove the frost.

Repot, replant and/or divide the succulents using a fresh potting mixture. Water only after a week. I keep reading about succulents doing well indoors, and it works for Sanseveria, but hardly works for anything else. Even the hardy jade will start looking dull indoors and if left for a bit longer, it will show its unhappiness by dropping its leaves. The only succulents which has worked well indoors and without any fuss is Zebra Haworthia. The nurseries in Delhi will come out with the most beautiful looking succulents, and I always worry about their survival.