Plants went into the greenhouse from the yard about the end of October, all but the key lime which we bought at Green Haven at the same time. Early on, leaves started to yellow and drop off the citrus. But a combination of daily checks with a moisture gauge and adding water when needed, slight soil amendments, misting, providing 12 hours daily of grow light and a temperature that has stayed above 15 C pretty much stabilized the plants. Fertilizer every couple of weeks has helped. During the days/nights that had -20 temps outside, we needed to crank up the heater a couple of degrees. Days when the outside temperature is above -5 or so and the sun is shining, the greenhouse reaches about 20 C.

The meyer lemon has few leaves (deer got at the plant in August when I moved it to a hot spot in front of the south facing house) but they remain green and healthy. The flowering has been constant. It continues to bud profusely. I took a q-tip to two flowers today to try some pollination. Fall/winter is supposed to be the time for flowers, so on schedule. 

The key lime is a bigger plant, and came with about five limes, which remain and appear to be growing. Little flowering but that and the earlier leaf dropping may be attributed to the move from Green Haven to our little greenhouse – apparently, they don’t like environment changes.

Otherwise, a succulent pot and the joshua tree continue to thrive, with little attention – water maybe once a month. The parsley pot needs regular watering, but remains usable.

A basil plant did well until the recent week of sub-20 weather. It bit the dust, likely because it was too close to a window. We’ll just buy another.

Next up, in a month or so, we’ll plant some lettuce and other greens until the seed planting for use in the vegetable and flower gardens and Legacy Garden about mid-March.