POT-PLANTS IN ROOMS 9 



phosphate, and potash — can be obtained separately and then 

 mixed. This is an economical thing to do if they are wanted 

 on a large scale, but it is not worth while for the owner of a 

 few pot-plants. The fertilisers sold in tins are f^ady mixed, 

 and they are the most convenient form for small users. In 

 every case the directions on the labels should be followed. 

 The quantities advised should not be exceeded. If a plant 

 grows well with a teaspoonful of fertiliser a week, there is a 

 temptation to think that it will grow still better with two ; and 

 when it begins to fail under this treatment, some more obscure 

 cause is generally sought for, though the double dose is 

 really responsible. The annual mortality among pot-plants, 

 as the result of mistaken kindness, is enormous. Excess of 

 food is a poison, and in pots the roots cannot escape from 

 it as they often can in the open ground, where, too, it may 

 be diluted by the surrounding soil, and washed away by 

 heavy rains. 



Even when the fertiliser is not large enough to injure the 

 plants, it may be large enough to be wasteful, for much of 

 what they cannot use at once may drain away through the 

 holes in the bottom of the pots after watering. F'or several 

 reasons, therefore, it is better to give small doses at short 

 intervals — say every third or fourth day — than large doses 

 at long intervals. 



The time to apply a fertiliser is when plants have 

 exhausted the soil in the pots — that is, have filled it with 

 roots — and are still making growth. It should never be 

 applied to young seedlings, because they do not need it; and 

 it should never be applied to larger plants towards the end 

 of the growing period, or afterwards while they are at rest. 

 The rate of growth gradually increases every year from the 

 beginning of the season, until it reaches its maximum — for 

 the majority of shrubs, trees, and herbaceous perennials, 

 early in summer — and it then declines, and finally ceases. 

 During its decline, the wood stems or crowns undergo what is 

 called a ripening process, which not only enables them to 

 endure the low temperature of winter, but also is essential 

 to floral production in the following year. If growth is 



