Darkness

 

January 2023

 

Pickaway to Garden

Darkness

By Paul Hang

 

Darkness. It’s always darkest before the dawn. Or, how about Longfellow, “Into each life some rain must fall, Some days must be dark and dreary.” Darkness has many connotations: lost, evil, ignorance, fear, danger, cold and death. If you are not likely to win at something, you are a dark horse. The darkness I want to consider is the opposite of daylight. It seems an appropriate topic for this time of year given that, “The darkest day will have passed away.” (W. Cowper). December 21 was the longest night of our calendar year. Every day there will be a little less darkness until the next equinox in late June. We know this intellectually and it brightens us psychologically, but it doesn’t make much immediate difference practically.

 

The continuing darkness, though lessening, is uneven. It gets dark a little later but not light a little earlier. Think about that for a minute or two. Don’t despair. By the end of the month the sun will set a half hour later. By February we will have gained an hour of daylight. What does all this have to do with plants? For plants light is essential as are other requirements such as, moisture, nutrition and carbon dioxide. But so is darkness. Plants need a period of darkness for their metabolism to work properly.

 

Plants continue to grow and respire 24/7, just like us, but, unlike us, they do not sleep. They do not go dormant at night, in the dark. In darkness photosynthesis stops because that biochemical process, so necessary in plants, needs light to operate. Permanent light would give them more food and energy for growing. But, plants are not designed to create food non-stop and to do so in the long term would eventually kill them. Occasional bouts of excess light are OK. Plants need light and darkness. It’s the combination that counts.

 

Some plants, poinsettia, gardenias, kalanchoes, Christmas cactus and chrysanthemums need a certain period of darkness to bloom. Some plants will do well in low light, but not prolonged complete darkness, such as Spider plant, Snake plant, Corn plant, and phalaenopsis, or Moth, orchids. Many activities of plants such as flowering, fruiting, going to seed, are regulated by longer or shorter nights (or days however you want to look at it).

 

It’s not the absolute number of hours that matters; it’s the change of the amount over time. This is called photoperiodism. It’s not temperature or rainfall but how the amount of light changes over time. Plants that flower in the spring are triggered by shorter nights. Other plants flower later, even in the fall, and are triggered by the nights getting longer. If you buy onion seeds or plants you will be asked to decide if you want Long-day, Short-day or Day-neutral varieties. Short-day varieties do well in Southern states and Long-day varieties do well in the Northern states.

 

 

These processes are familiar to anyone who has observed plants' growth. Although science can inform us about this it still hasn't been able to fully understand it.

We hope we have shed some light on darkness.

 

Things to do in the garden:

 

The list of things to do in the garden has gotten shorter. Things we can do about gardening are: Review last year's garden; draw a map while you can still remember what grew where. Plan your gardens and plantings. One of my favorite guides for this is The Ohio Gardening Guide by Jerry Minnich.

 

Check your supply of old seeds. Are they expired? Do you want to reorder that variety? Read your new seed catalogs. Want some more seed catalogs? Go to gardeningplaces.com. Order seeds and plants of new varieties that you want now. They usually sell out quickly.

 

Believe it or not, by the end of the month, you can begin to grow members of the Allium family (Onions, Leeks, Garlic and Shallots) from seed indoors. You can get ready by getting your seed starting supplies together. Make sure you provide plenty of light.

 

Cut back on watering your houseplants and don’t fertilize until March or April when growth begins as the amount of light lengthens, rinse/dust leaves, turn them every few days. When your poinsettias are looking ragged throw them on the compost heap. The same goes for paper whites. In my opinion it is not worth trying to get them to bloom again. If you like a challenge, go ahead but be prepared for disappointment. Amaryllis and Christmas cactus are exceptions and can be kept for re-blooming. Check the internet for instructions.

 

Establish a new bed by placing black plastic or several layers of newspaper, cardboard or even old carpet down over the area you’ve chosen for the new bed. Weight it down so the wind doesn’t disturb it. By late spring the vegetation under it should be dead and the space ready for planting.

 

Learn to sharpen your tools, trowels, pruners, spades and if you are adventurous, your mower blades. Oil them and use linseed oil on the wooden handles. Getting rid of a cut live Christmas tree? Don’t. Use it to serve as a wind break for evergreens. Cut the branches off and use them as mulch for perennials. Put it near your bird feeders as cover. Decorate it with suet, fruit, seed cakes, as a bird feeder. Chip it for mulch. If you have a pond, sink it for structure cover for fish. The needles can also be mulch and will not make the soil too acidic. If you had a balled live Christmas tree, plant it ASAP.

 

Some gardening resolutions: Rotate vegetable crops; water the base of plants, not from above; weed and mulch; use row covers; water newly planted trees and shrubs; visit and check your garden often. Happy New Year.