has anyone dealt with this? if so, is there a remedy? I started melrose pepper seeds in 2.25 inch deep seed compartments (as seen in the first image) in buffered peat moss (pH 5.8) with micro nutrients and some perlite straight out of the compressed block....I added some crushed pumice for better drainage. seeds germinated and grew fast. they are in a shade house during the day with a shade cloth that doesn't cut much light. when seedlings had 2 sets of true leaves and a third starting to emerge, I watered them with commercial 20-20-20 at 1/4 strength. they grew even faster. one week after fertilizing I transplanted them into 4 inch pots with a home-made potting mix of 1/3 home-made compost, 1/3 peat moss and 1/3 crushed pumice. I added 1 tblspn of dolomite lime per dry gallon of peat moss to my mix and a couple handfuls of a slow release, non-water-soluble organic fertilizer pellets. 3 or 4 days after transplanting, I hit them with 1/4 strength mix of the 20-20-20 commercial fertilizer. I'm on the coast in Costa Rica...it's tropical and warm here with a strong sun. a couple days I put them in full sun for a little while and one of those days I neglected them and the pots got very hot. around that time, the new leaves coming out are curled upward as seen in the 2nd photo. anyone seen this before? did the heat stress them out? are they getting hit with too much fertilizer? anyone know? help.

It's moving day! The temperatures are dropping. Our Second Spring garden is cruising along. But some of the plants we've enjoyed all summer are beginning to look nervously toward the house. 🌿 "Sooooo...is there room for me in there?" Maybe.😂 Because today we're talking about: 🏠 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐎𝐑 𝐌𝐎𝐕𝐄! Every fall, container gardeners face the same question: 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫? Sometimes the answer is: 𝐘𝐄𝐒! Sometimes it's: 𝐌𝐀𝐘𝐁𝐄... And occasionally it's: 𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚, 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟒𝟎-𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐭. 😂 Because overwintering doesn't necessarily mean dragging every container into the living room. We have options! We can: 🏠 Bring the entire plant indoors ✂️ Take cuttings 🌱 Divide a plant 🪴 Move something into a protected location ❄️ Leave cold-hardy plants outside 🗑️ Say goodbye to plants that have completed their season The trick is figuring out which option makes sense for WHICH plant. But before anything crosses the threshold, we need to talk about: 🐛 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐖𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐒. 🚨 𝐑𝐔𝐋𝐄 #𝟏: 𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐀𝐍 𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐃𝐎𝐎𝐑 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐄 Please don't look at your lovely herb pot and think: "𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆!" then carry it straight to the kitchen windowsill beside your houseplants. Because your herb may not be traveling alone. Outdoor plants can be carrying: 🐛 Aphids 🕷️ Spider mites 🪰 Whiteflies 🐜 Ants 🥚 Insect eggs 🐌 Slugs or snails 🪰 Fungus gnats or other organisms in the potting mix And outside? Many of these aren't a huge problem because predators, rain, weather, and the larger ecosystem help keep things in balance. Inside your warm house? You may have just opened: 𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐋𝐋-𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐎𝐑𝐓 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐀𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐃𝐒. 😂 Warm temperatures. No frost. No rainstorms. No predators. All-you-can-eat plants. They'll leave you a five-star review. 🔍 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐏 𝟏: 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐓 𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐌𝐎𝐕𝐄 Before bringing ANY outdoor plant inside look carefully. And I mean REALLY look. Check: 🌿 Tops of leaves 🔍 Undersides of leaves 🌱 New growth 🌿 Where leaves meet stems

There you are... Admiring your beautiful Second Spring containers. The lettuce is growing. The kale looks fantastic. The parsley is happy. The pansies are blooming. You've finally forgiven summer for what it did to your cilantro. And then you check the weather forecast. 🌡️ 𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓'𝐒 𝐋𝐎𝐖: 𝟑𝟒°𝐅😳 Suddenly you're standing on the patio wondering: 𝐃𝐎 𝐈 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄?! Do I cover it? Harvest it? Move it? Water it? Say goodbye to it? And how can there be frost if the temperature isn't even supposed to reach 32°F?! 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐁𝐎𝐃𝐘 𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐌. 😂❄️ A chilly forecast does NOT automatically mean the end of your Second Spring garden. In fact, many of the plants we've been growing are much happier with cool weather than they ever were during summer. But knowing what to do before that first really cold night can extend your container garden considerably. So today.... We're getting prepared. ❄️ 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐈𝐬 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐓?. Frost forms when water vapor turns into ice crystals on cold surfaces such as: 🌿 Leaves 🌱 Grass 🚗 Cars 🪴 Containers Here's the confusing part: 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝟑𝟑°𝐅, 𝟑𝟒°𝐅, 𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐫. Why? Because the temperature reported in your weather forecast is measured under specific conditions above the ground. The surface of a leaf sitting beneath a clear night sky can become colder than the surrounding measured air temperature. Low spots can also collect colder air. So if your forecast says: 🌡️ 𝟑𝟒°𝐅 and frost is possible... 𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆. Don't assume your plants are safe simply because the number isn't 32. 🥶 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐯𝐬. 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐳𝐞: 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 These terms get tossed around interchangeably, but they describe different situations. ❄️ 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐓 Ice crystals form on exposed surfaces. Frost can damage tender plant tissue even if the official air temperature remains slightly above freezing. 🥶 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐙𝐄 The air temperature drops to approximately: 𝟑𝟐°𝐅 𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰.

You knew we couldn't have a Second Spring flower series without talking about this one. Walk into almost any garden center in fall and there they are... Rows and rows of big round plants covered with flowers. 💛 Yellow 🧡 Orange ❤️ Red 💜 Purple 🤍 White 🩷 Pink Bronze, burgundy, gold... 🌼 𝗠𝗨𝗠𝗦! Nothing says: "𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫. 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫." quite like a mum sitting beside the front door. 😂🎃 But today I'm going to tell you something that may go against every instinct you have at the garden center. When you're standing in front of 50 mums trying to choose one.., 𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐁𝐔𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐈𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐎𝐍𝐄. Walk into almost any garden center in fall and there they are... At least... Not if you want flowers that last as long as possible. We'll come back to that! 🌼 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭...𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐈𝐒 𝐚 𝐌𝐮𝐦? "Mum" is simply our shortened name for: 𝐂𝐇𝐑𝐘𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌𝐔𝐌. And chrysanthemums come in an enormous variety of flower forms, sizes, and colors. The big rounded plants that suddenly appear everywhere in late summer and fall are often sold as 𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐮𝐦𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐮𝐦𝐬. And there's a very good reason they're associated with autumn. Mums naturally respond to the shortening days of late summer and fall by developing flower buds. So while we're pulling out tired summer annuals... Mums are preparing for their big performance. Talk about good timing. 🌼🍂 🛒 𝐎𝐤𝐚𝐲...𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐈 𝐁𝐮𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐎𝐧𝐞 Imagine you're standing at the garden center. Mum #1 looks AMAZING. 🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼 Every flower is wide open. It's a giant ball of color. Beside it is Mum #2. It's healthy and green... But many of its flowers are still: 🟢 Buds. A few have started opening, but it's nowhere near as impressive. Which one does your gardening brain want? 𝐌𝐔𝐌 #𝟏! Of course it does. We're gardeners. We're weak around flowers. 😂 But if your goal is to enjoy blooms for as long as possible... 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐀 𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐑 𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐀𝐓 𝐌𝐔𝐌 #𝟐. A plant covered with unopened buds still has much of its flower show ahead of it.

This is a garden I am designing for a friend with fibro. It is about 1/2 done right now. Next step is to clean up some poison ivy, finish the mulching, and plant some shade loving plants.