AprU 18, 18fi7. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



273 



CULTURE OF TRICOLOR PELARGONIUMS. 



HE present is a good time to 

 propagate and repot this 

 most beautiful class of bed- 

 ding plants. 



Mr. Pearson, of Chilwell, 

 gave some hints on tlie cul- 

 ture of Variegated Pelargoniums at page 34:5 of the last vo- 

 lume of this .Tournal : if he will use the turf soil, such as he 

 recommended in the Xumberfor Januaiy 24th of the present 

 year for the growth of Camellias and the fonnatiou of Vine 

 borders, he -H-ill find that the plants will root very much 

 more freely in it than in the mixture which he recommends, 

 I can fully indorse all that Mr. Pearson has said in favour 

 of using green or partially decayed sods for the cultivation 

 of the Camellia, and, indeed, for almost any kind of plant 

 that will grow in light sandy loam. To keep soil in large 

 stacks for any lengtli of time is a mistake. Before cutting 

 up the sods I have the grass shorn ofi' as ctosely as possible ; 

 the sods are then cut in pieces about 1 foot long, i) inches 

 wide, and 1^ or -^ inches thick ; they are stacked in narrow 

 ridges, and are only allowed to remain stacked long enough 

 to kUl a portion of the grass. They are then puUed to pieces, 

 and used at once. For all purposes turf is decidedly much 

 better pulled to pieces than chopped. 



I have never had my Tricolor and other Pelargoniums 

 rooting so freely and growing so luxmiantly as they are 

 this season : many of them are now in s and I'-i-inch pots: 

 a description of my mode of treating them may therefore 

 prove interesting to some of the readers of " our Journal." 

 In the first place, the soil which I find most suitable con- 

 sists of fresh sods cut from a light sandy loam, pulled to 

 pieces, as recommended by Jlr. Pearson for Camellias, 

 adding to every baiTowful of sods a :32-sized potful of bone- 

 dust. Tliis is the only manure wliicli I mix with the soU, 

 and I find that in it the plants root much more freely than 

 when other manures are used. If the soil is naturally 

 ■sandy, no sand is mixed with it. After the plants have 

 well filled their pots with roots they are supplied two or 

 three times weeldy with manure water in a clear state. 



Most of my plants were shaken out in the beginning of 

 Januaiy, and potted in small pots in nothing but the sods, 

 no bone-dust or manure of any kind being used. By the 

 end of January they had commenced rooting very freely, 

 and as soon as the roots had reached the sides of the pots 

 the plants were shifted into others of larger size, adding 

 at each shift about 2 inches of soU to the ball, and many 

 of those which were in (ill and 4S-sized pots in the last 

 week in January are now in 8. 10, and l'.>-inch pots. The 

 plants received their last shift only a fortnight ago. and 

 their roots have now reached the sides of the pots, and are 

 rapidly creeping round the ball. Everj' time the plants 

 No.818.— Vol, XII., Nkw Sebiis. 



were shifted great care was taken to have both the new 

 soil and that in which they were gi'owing in just the 

 same state of moisture, and as nearly as possible of the 

 same temperature. I may also observe that the plants 

 did not require water till the roots had reached the sides 

 of the pots, and to paj-ing particular attention to this, and 

 using proper care in watering newly-potted plants, I at- 

 tribute a large portion of my success. 



The plants are grown in a light house, and near the 

 glass. Before potting see that the pots are clean, especially 

 on the inside. This is a point which should be carefully 

 attended to : for if you put a plant into a dh'ty pot. when 

 the time comes for shifting it again, on turning it out of the 

 pot it is sure to leave many of its most healthy roots ad- 

 hering to the old soU. Great care is also necessary in 

 taking the drainage awa_y from the balls not to break or 

 disturb the roots, and after the drainage has been carefully 

 put into the pot, and a portion of soil placed upon it, before 

 the plant is set in the pot, make a little hillock in the 

 centre vdth some of the most tempting bits of sod, so as 

 to just fit into the place before occupied by the drainage ; 

 the roots that were formed around the outside of the drain- 

 age will then rest on the sides of the cone formed by the 

 pieces of sod, and the soU can be filled in around the ball 

 without the slightest injury to the roots. The best time to 

 repot is when the roots have just reached the sides of the 

 pots ; the plants can then be placed in larger pots without 

 injuring their roots, and these will more readily work into 

 the new soU than if they were allowed to fill the pot before 

 shUting. At the first potting, after the old soil has been 

 shaken from the roots, hold the plant in the left hand and 

 wth the right place the soU about its roots, gently shaldng 

 the plant aU the time so that the soil may be properly 

 settled among them ; the soil should not be pressed 

 into the pot until it has been well settled by shaking the 

 plant and tapping the pot on the bench. The same care 

 should also be observed in subsequent pottings. 



As soon as the plants have well tilled their pots with 

 roots after the last shift, they may be watered every day 

 in hot bright weather. Now that the days are longer and 

 frequent gleams of sunshine appear, the house is shut up 

 early in the afternoon, and the plants have a slight dewing 

 overhead with the s.^-ringe ; this must, however, be done 

 early, so that the foliage may become diy before night, for 

 Tricolor Pelargoniums are very impatient of moisture on 

 their foliage. I consider the morning the best time to 

 water them at the roots, there is then no danger of an 

 excessive amount of moisture during the night, when the 

 plants should he partly at rest, and if any of them shoiUd 

 become dry during the day a skiff from the sjTinge keeps 

 them from harm tUl next morning. Of com-se none of 

 them must be allowed to flag through want of water. 



Cuttings of aU the most delicate kinds of Tricolor Pelar- 

 goniums will strike very readily now in a temperature of 

 .'>j' or 00°, but they must not be"placed in any house where 

 the air is charged with much moisture. If the pots in 

 wliich the cuttings are inserted are partly plunged where 

 they will have the benefit of a slight bottom heat of 45" or 

 30°"it will cause them to strike niuch more rapidly, but 

 No. 96S.— Vol. SXZTIL, Old Suos. 



