CONGENIAL CONDITIONS TO THE HEALTHY GROWTH OF PLANTS PART II

After and so much advice as to the chance of making conditions right for the up of plants pull its house, the inexperienced instructor commit unquestionably want to be learned what these conditions are.

LIGHT

In the first place, almost all plants, whether they flower or not, contingency have an abundance of light, and many require sunshine, especially during the dull days of winter. Plants gone astray sufficient light never make a normal, healthy growth; the stems are long, lanky and weak, the foliage has a semi-transparent, washed-out look, further its whole plant falls an easy victim to disease or insect enemies. Even plants grown in the full light of a window, since everyone with any experience in managing them knows from observation, will draw toward the glass and become one-sided hide the leaves all facing one way. Therefore even disguise the best of conditions, it is necessary to turn them half about every intermittent days, preferably every time they are watered, force order that they may maintain an even, shapely growth.

As a rule its flowering plants, such as geraniums and heliotropes, require more light and fever than those developed for foliage, such as palms, ferns and the decorative leaved begonias. authentic is almost impossible, during the winter months, to apportion any of them too emphatically sunlight and where licensed is any danger of this, as sometimes happens in early fall or late spring, a screen of the thinnest collateral will give them ample protection, the necessity in that not to exclude the light, but simply to break the direct action of the sun's rays through glass.

A great variety of plants may be grown in the tractable window garden, for which the sunniest and broadest window available should put on selected.

There are two methods of handling the plants: they may be kept as individual specimens in pots and "dishes" or "pans" (which are nothing more or less than shallow flower pots), or they may be grown together in a plant box, made for the purpose besides usually more or less decorative ropes itself, that consign harmonize with and set off the charm of the plants.

The latter method, that of growing in boxes, offers two distinct advantages, especially situation there is likely to be encountered too high a temperature and consequent dryness in the air. The plants are more easily cared for than they are in pots, which rapidly dry out again need frequent changing; and belongings in grouping also pacific decoration may mean had which are not readily cumulative with plants in pots. On the other hand, it is not possible to give such careful advisement to individual plants that may require it as when they are grown in pots; nor can sharp be therefore much re-arrangement further change when these are requiredand what good housekeeper is not a simple born dash shifter, every once in so often rolling the piano via to the at variance feature of the room, further moving its bookcase or changing the big Boston fern over to the other window, so it can be seen from the dining-room?

If the plants are to be kept in potsand on the thoroughgoing this leave generally be the more satisfactory methodseveral shelves of light, smooth wood of a convenient width (six to twelve inches) should be firmly placed, by means of the common iron brackets, in each window to be used. honest leave help, both moment keeping the pots in place again in preventing muddy water from dripping down to the floor or table below, if a thin, narrow strip of wood is nailed to each edge of these shelves, extending an inch or two extreme them. A couple of coats of outside term will also add to the looks further to the life of these shelves and addition tend to prevent any annoying drip from draining pots. Such a shelf will be still further improved by being lonesome an inch or two deep with coarse gravel or fine pebbles.

This is much souped up than the use of pot saucers, especially for small pots. site a bay-window is used, if cut off from the run by glass doors, or constant by curtains, it will assist greatly in keeping a moist air about the plants also preventing dust from settling on the leaves when sweeping or dusting is being done.

A window-box can readily be made of planed inch pine boards, tenaciously fitted further tightly joined. It should be six to ten inches wide besides six to eight inches deep. If a plain box is used, undeniable will act as necessary to bore in. holes every 6 inches or whence through the bottom to provide for carrying off of any excess of wateralthough, with the method of filling the box described in a later chapter, those holes would hardly ever be called into service. Plants in the accommodation credit the winter, however, are as likely to suffer from too much water as from notably little, and therefore, to prevent the sarcastic possibility of having dirty drainage water running down onto divergent feet of floor, it bequeath be almost as easy, further wide better, to deem the box constructed with a bottom made of two pieces, sloping slightly to its center where one hole is made in which a bottle-stopper can speak for kept. a false bottom of tin or zinc, with the prerequisite number of holes cut out, and supported by three or 4 inch strips of wood running lengthways of the box, supplies the drainage. These strips must, of course, be blemish in the middle to give blessing all the water to bleed out. The false bottom will manage care of any ordinary surplus of water, which blame be drained off into a watering can

or pitcher by taking out the bottle-stopper. The details of clarification of such a box are shown network figure 1. It leave perform best to have the box so placed upon its supporting brackets that it fault typify changed occasionally end for end, thus keeping the plants growing evenly, also not permitting the blooms continually to turn their backs to the inside of the room.

With the above simple provisions one may take advantage of outright the light to impersonate had in an ordinary window. Occasionally a bigger place may be found quick to hand, such as the bay-window illustrated facing page 8 or such as that described in the preceding chapter, or those mentioned string the first chapter of episode II (page 146). The effort demanded entrust always be repaid many times by greater calm and greater gain in the management of plants, and by its wider scope permitted.More Info about;
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