Indoor Garden Update

I think I would go absolutely nuts if I didn't have a little gardening to do inside during these long winter months. Here is a little update on whats going on right now in my indoor garden.

The gerbera daisies have almost made it to spring. I've had at least one of them blooming at one time or another throughout the winter.

The pink one is blooming now. I took over a hundred pictures of it this morning, with three different cameras, trying to get the lighting correct and a good close-up.
I still am not satisfied, but I'm tired of editing pictures.


For some reason, I love the center of these flowers. It looks like little ribbon curls in there.

The sun was streaming in through the window while I was having the photo session with the gerbera and I notice the back of the flower.

I'm usually so focused on the front that I haven't really paid attention to the back. It's actually quite beautiful too.

The red gerbera has new buds and a full bloom too.

The yellow one has a new bloom and seems to be the healthiest of the five, with a lot of new green growth. I am having a problem with white flies and gnats at the moment and have to spray regularly with soapy water.

I don't think I've ever mentioned that I brought in four containers of the sweet potato vine to winter over, (2 blacks and two chartreuse). They all have new growth and are doing well inside. I plan to get cuttings and propagate new plants from them. I also saved some of the tubers from the plants I discarded. I don't know if they will be any good, since I didn't store them properly. I just threw them in an open box in the garage, it may have gotten too cold for them.

I'm beginning to wonder if I started the impatiens too early. I started them at the end of February last year and they weren't quite ready at planting time. These seem to be thriving and growing quickly. I'll soon have to plant them in a larger container.

This little experiment isn't going so well. The lantana seeds need warmth to germinate, with the lid on it gets too humid and stays too moist. Now I have some kind of algae or moss growing on my peat moss. I may try to heat from the bottom and leave the lid off. Does anyone have any advice? I know it's a long shot growing these but I'm not ready to give up yet.

It will soon be time to start my other seeds, but before I do I really need to get rid of the fungus gnats. Any suggestions on that little problem?