April 19, 1919 



HORTICULTURE 



369 



GROWING AND FORCING HYDRANGEAS 



FOR EASTER 



In growing hydrangeas for Easter, a start must be 

 made 14 months previous to that date, or during Janu- 

 ary or February, according to the date on which Easter 

 falls, by making cuttings of sucker-growths from the 

 plants that are being forced, or, better still, from older 

 plants which have been grown especially for the pro- 

 duction of cuttings. The cuttings from such plants are 

 growths which will not produce a flower that season, 

 whereas with well-grown plants intended for Easter 

 forcing, it is almost impossible to obtain a pure sucker 

 growth or growth of any kind for the purpose of cut- 

 tings without interfering with the balance of the plant. 

 The cuttings are made in the usual way, and rooted in 

 gentle bottom heat in a moderately warm house. When 

 rooted they are placed in three-inch pots and grown for 

 several weeks in a fairly warm house to give them a 

 good start, after which they are placed in a cool house. 

 The plants remain in this pot until the end of May or 

 thereabouts, when they are placed in five-inch pots and 

 grown in the gTeenhouse for a few weeks. Then they 

 are plunged to the rims in frames for the balance of 

 the summer. 



Early in September the pots are lifted, the bed lev- 

 elled over and the plants set on the surface in order to 

 better control the moisture condition of the soil. This 

 is the beginning of the ripening-down process which is 

 all important if satisfactory results are to be obtained. 

 The plants from now on are watered only when it is 

 necessary to keep them from flagging. Handled thus, 

 they are gradually ripening down while it is still early 

 fall. They are left in frames as late as it is safe to 

 leave them, in the meantime being protected from frost. 

 When the weather becomes too cold, the plants are 

 housed in the coldest end of a violet house to finish 

 ripening down, water being given as before — only when 

 the soil is on the dry side. When all the leaves have 

 dropped the soil is given a thorough soaking and the 

 plants stacked up on the wall plate for the balance of 

 the resting period. They could, however, be placed in a 

 bulb cellar after all leaves have fallen, but certainly not 

 before. During the resting period, the soil is never al- 

 lowed to approach dryness. 



Depending upon the date of Easter, the dormant 

 plants are started into growth from the middle of 

 December until the first week in January by giving a 

 temperature of 40 degrees. When they show signs of 

 activity, an increase of from 5 to 10 degTees is given 

 for about a week, after which a steady night tempera- 

 ture of 60 degrees is maintained with a considerable 

 increase by day according to the weather and careful 

 ventilation. 



The plants make rapid growth the first six weeks, and 

 one may think they are coming along too fast. This 

 is just where some growers are apt to fool themselves, 

 and is responsible for as many plants not being in on 

 time. The experienced grower knows this, and is sel- 

 dom, if ever, caught napping. It is mveh the safer and 

 better plan to have them ahead of time, as in that case 

 the plants can be finished off in a cooler temperature 

 and will stand rougher handling, besides giving better 

 satisfaction to the buyer. 



The reader will notice that the plants received no 

 change of pot from the time they were potted the May 

 previous, and yet the majority of the plants carry four, 

 five and some six blooms with foliage as dark as is pos- 

 sible with forced stock. As may be expected, plants to 

 that size in such a small pot will require close attention 

 to watering during bright weather, and also that some- 

 thing more than water from the hose be given them. 

 Feeding commences soon after the plants are started. 

 This is given first of all in the form of a top-dressing. 

 To make room for a top-dressing that will be of any 

 service, the surface soil is loosened, removed and re- 

 placed with fresh soil, into which a fertilizer composed 

 of fine bone meal, dried blood and superphosphate has 

 been mixed at the rate of a good-sized teaspoonful to 

 each plant. Three weeks later, feeding in the form of a 

 liquid cow-manure and nitrate of soda at the rate of a 

 teaspoonful to a gallon is given alternately every second 

 watering for a week or so, after which one or the other 

 is given every time the plants are watered. Liquid ma- 

 nure is withheld the last week on account of its dis- 

 agreeable odor. 



As each plant reaches the stage when the blooms have 

 taken on their proper color, they are removed to slightly 

 cooler quarters, where a little shade is given during the 

 bright part of the day. All plants are finally finished 

 off in a temperature of 50 to 55 degrees. 



One of the questions which the reader may ask is, 

 Why grow the plant in such a small pot? The chief 

 reason is that the pot is quite large enough to maintain 

 the young plants in good growing condition during the 

 growing season, and sufficiently small that the entire 

 soil is a mass of roots by early fall. Plants in this con- 

 dition are in perfect shape for ripening down, as soil is 

 more or less poor and the soil moisture more easily con- 

 trolled. Hence ripening down is a simple but, as ex- 

 perienced growers know, an all-important matter. The 

 reason why plants are flowered in the same pot is that 

 our particular trade calls for plants in pots that are 

 more or less light to carry. Apart from that, however, 

 I see no reason for shifting them into larger pots short- 

 ly after they have been started into growth, unless be- 

 cause they require less attention in watering, as feeding 

 has to be done in either case with liquids with the same 

 results. 



An article on hydrangeas would not be complete 

 without touching on the "yellows." This is due, in my 

 opinion, to plants not being properly ripened down 

 early enough in the fall to allow a reasonable period of 

 rest before being started into growth again. One is apt 

 to get what may be termed a touch of the "yellows" 

 on well grown plants, but this is not the true "yellows." 

 The "yellows" is in evidence in the early stages, whereas 

 this slight paleness does not show up for some time, and 

 may be due partly to the forced conditions under which 

 the plants are growing, but chiefly to the lack of nour- 

 ishment in the soil. This is easily remedied by giving 

 the liquid manures already mentioned. — Canadian 

 Florist. 



