360 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[December, 



too little — in many cases too much. You cannot 

 water any plant by rule of thumb. We frequently 

 hear, " I cannot think how it is my window plants 

 do not do well, for 1 water them every day." This 

 is likely to be the cause of their not doing well. 

 Whenever you water a plant, always give suffi- 

 cient to soak the whole mass of soil thoroughly ; 

 then do not water it again until it shows signs of 

 dryness on the surface. It may not be for two or 

 three days, or even longer, but no matter, do not 

 water it until you are sure of its being in a slightly 

 dry condition. On the other hand, some plants 

 require water twice a day, especially when the 

 pots are full of roots, and the plant is growing 

 vigorously and flowering profusely. The leaves 

 of plants must be kept clean and free from dust ; 

 those witii bright, shining leaves and of good size 

 can be wiped clean with a sponge or other soft 

 article. Others with smaller leaves can only be 

 cleaned by being showered overhead either with a 

 sprinkler or syringe, and it should be done once 

 or twice a week. Do not allow plants to stand in 

 water except such as are aquatic. If the water 

 touches the bottom of the pots, a good plan is to 

 have a smaller saucer turned upside down for the 

 plant to stand upon within the other saucer, or 

 even small blocks of hard wood or any other ma- 

 terial that will hold the bottom of the pot above 

 the water-line, otherwise remember to empty out 

 the water that drains into the saucers. Plants de- 

 light in good living, and when the pots become 

 crowded with roots they should be stimulated, but 

 not until then, unless the plant has been a long 

 time in the same pot, and it is impossible to renew 

 the soil or give a larger pot. I am particular in 

 calling attention to this matter of stimulating 

 window plants, from the fact that a theory is now 

 being extensively circulated, to the effect that 

 plants grown in pots do not require any stimu- 

 lants, or at the most very few. My experience is 

 that you can no more grow a plant successfully in 

 a pot, in poor or worn-out soil, than you can take 

 a crop of corn or any other crop from the same 

 soil ten years in succession without enriching. 



For stimulants, one ounce of Peruvian guano in 

 proportion to three gallons of water. Soapsuds, 

 as used on wash-days, or water with ammonia 

 in that has been used for washing hands, are all 

 good ; or the top of the soil in each pot can be re- 

 moved to the depth of from one-half to one inch, 

 a sprinkling of fine bone meal (which can be had 

 at all florists' supply stores) applied, and then 

 covered up with fresh soil. Besides there a:re a 

 good many preparations of concentrated manures 



that are good and easily applied. Plants in warm 

 rooms should be watered with water as warm as 

 the temperature of the room, or a little warmer. 



Insect pests arc a great annoyance, and often 

 cause considerable trouble from the fact that they 

 do harm before being discovered. It is quite safe 

 to subject all plants to an occasional bath of to- 

 bacco water, in strength about the color of strong 

 tea or weak coffee, which can be easily made from 

 the refuse stems from cigar makers or a small 

 package of the common smoking tobacco, by 

 placing in a pail and pouring over it boiling water, 

 allowing it to stand all night, and then immersing 

 the head of the plant entirely, and holding it so 

 for a few seconds. This will destroy the green 

 fly or aphis, and the minute red spider ; other in- 

 sects, such as the white, cotton-like mealy bug, 

 must be picked off with a sharp-pointed stick, and 

 the very tight-sticking scale-like insects will have 

 to be removed in the same way. In immersing 

 plants, with one hand press tightly on the top of 

 the pot and turn it upside down before holding it 

 over the vessel ; this will allow all loose soil to es- 

 cape and thus keep the liquid clean. 



All plants should have either new pots or old 

 pots washed perfectly clean inside and out. Brok- 

 en pieces of pots must be used for drainage by 

 first placing one of good size, with the hollow side 

 downward, over the hole, then filling in with other 

 pieces to about one-third of the depth ; over this 

 place a little rough soil, then place in the plant, 

 fill in compactly all around, press tightly so as to 

 have the soil within half an inch of the top in pots 

 of small size, and in larger pots allow an inch be- 

 low for water room, and all plants newly potted 

 should be well soaked so as to be sure the whole 

 is saturated. 



I have not named any particular time to pot 

 or re-pot plants, but it is desirable to change the. 

 soil at least once a year, and in cases where the 

 pots are already large enough, there is no difficul- 

 ty in washing away the old soil so as to use the 

 same sized pots again ; where plants are potted 

 but once a year, the end of February or begin- 

 ning of March is the best time ; but as plants fill 

 the pots with roots they can be moved into pots a 

 size or two larger at any time. 



To obtain the best results we must divide our 

 collection into two sections — the first section to 

 embrace such as will do well in rooms where the 

 temperature exceeds 65° Fahrenheit, and the sec- 

 ond section where the temperature does not exceed 

 65- nor fall lower than 40°. This must be under- 

 stood to mean where the heat is artificial, and not 



