Beginner Gardening: New to gardening (both indoor and outdoor LOL!), 0 by MrsLidwell

MrsLidwell wrote:
Hi all! I am new to gardening, both indoor plants and outdoor plants. Currently, since it is almost December already and I live in the state of Pennsylvania, I am trying my hand at indoor planting for the first time in my life! LOL! I have done *some* outdoor planting, but, indoor is a new playing field for me. I have LOTS of questions, though, I wont ask them all in this thread lol. Anyway, here we go.. lol..

1) I have read much about "heat mats", including what is mentioned on this site that I had stumbled across last night. I am trying my hand right now at growing an amaryllis from a bulb I bought at American Meadow website. It says to put bottom heat on it, and that most people just set it on a radiator in front of a window. Well, I dont have a radiator lol. Right now, I have it sitting on my windowsill, which is a few feet above our heater. Our windows can be pretty drafty, especially our living room window because it is so big, but it is the only window sill that was wide enough for me to set the pot on. Overall, it seems to be doing ok, but I am wondering if there is something more I could do for it to provide it some bottom heat other than what it is getting currently. Any tips on how I can try to apply bottom heat to it, without purchasing a heat mat? I have attached a picture of the amaryllis. This is how much it has grown so far. I planted the bulb roughly 2 weeks ago. I know there is a forum here for amaryllis plants, but, since I am not a paid subscriber (yet!!), I am not able to really benefit from that forum just yet I dont think.

2) I have seen some pictures on here of other peoples plants sitting inside a large fish tank. What exactly does this do to help the plants, other than the lighting?

Thats all the questions I'll ask for now (mainly cuz its all I can think of off the top of my head at 3:30 in the morning LOL!)

Thank you all for any help/advice you can lend me!!!