52 



Greenhouse and IStove Plants. 



AUISTOLOCHIA. 



need to pass freely through it, but good 

 loam is preferable to peat, as in it they do 

 not run so much to leaf, and form flowers 

 more freely. For this first potting, sift the 

 loam and add one-sixth of leaf-mould and 

 a moderate quantity of sand. Keep them 

 in a temperature of 70° during the night, 

 with 10" higher in the day, and give a 

 little air when the weather is sunny ; a 

 slight shade will be required Avhen it is 

 bright, and use the syringe freely in the 

 afternoons. By midsummer the roots will 

 have filled the pots, and they shoiild then 

 be moved into others 3 in. larger ; use 

 the soil in similar proportions of loam, 

 leaf-mould and sand, but do not now sift 

 the loam — break it by hand, press the 

 material firm in the pots, and pinch out 

 the points of the shoots so as to induce 

 them to ihrow out several breaks. 



Treat them through the summer as 

 already ad\-ised as to shade, giving more 

 heat and air as the season advances, and, 

 when the growth requires it, place in the 

 pots several moderately tall sticks, round 

 which wind the shoots of the climbing 

 species ; but do not allow them to twine to 

 the sticks or each other, or they will cling 

 so fast as to run the risk of injury when 

 they are removed. At the end of August 

 cease shading, and also the use of the 

 syringe, giving more air to discourage 

 further growth and ripen up the wood. 

 Keep the plants through the winter in a 

 moderately light position in a temperature 

 of 60°, or a little over, in the night, with a 

 few degrees more in the daytime, but never 

 allow the soil to become so dry as ad\asable 

 with things that produce smaller leaves of 

 a harder texture. By the beginning of 

 March raise the night temperature 5°, and 

 10 with sun-heat in the day, and at the 

 same time move the plants into their 

 blooming-pots ; these should be 15 inches 

 in diameter, with a couple of inches of 

 crocks in the bottom, covered with fibrous 

 material to prevent the soil being washed 

 down by the large quantities of water they 

 will want almost daily through the grow- 

 ing season. At this potting use the soil in 

 a more lumpy state ; add one-fifth of rotten 

 manure and leaf-mould in equal propor- 

 tions, and a fair amount of sand. Use the 

 potting-lath freely, so as to make the wliole 

 moderately solid. The plants should now 

 be placed Avhere they are intended to 

 bloom ; if to cover a pillar or rafter, they 

 should at once be trained to such. There 

 is no jilace that they can occupy with more 

 advantage than run lengthways o^'er a jjath 

 in the stove ; so placed they utilise space 

 that is seldom filled, and are in a good 

 position for their flowers being seen to 



advantage. Such a situation gives an ex- 

 cellent opportunity for a free use of the 

 syringe, so as to get the water to the leaves 

 on all sides. This is necessary, otheiwdse 

 red spider is sure to become troublesome. 

 There is nothing better to train the shoots 

 to than thin strings placed 6 inches apart, 

 on each of which allow a single shoot to 

 twine. As the days lengthen, raise the 

 night temperature to 70°, or a few degrees 

 over, according to the state of the weather, 

 with 10° more in the day. As the pots 

 get filled with roots, an abundant supply 

 of water will be required. They will now 

 grow apace, and by the middle of June will 

 most likely show their flowers, which are 

 produced from the axils of the leaves over 

 a considerable extent of the growing shoots. 

 The plants may be allowed to go on flower- 

 ing through the summer where they are 

 growing, or, if desired, the strings may be 

 cut, and the shoots wound round several 

 sticks, inserted inside the rims of the pots, 

 or a trellis may be used on which to 

 train them. In this way, if wanted, they 

 can be placed for sevei'al weeks whilst the 

 weather is hot in a warm conservatory — 

 first preparing them for the change by 

 putting them at the coolest end of the 

 stove, where they will receive more air. 

 While in a cooler house stand them at a 

 distance from where air is admitted, other- 

 wise such a check may be given to the 

 advancing flowers as will cause their fall- 

 ing oft' before opening. When the bloom- 

 ing is over remove them back to the stove, 

 placing them at the coolest end and ad- 

 mitting sufiicient air to ripen up the wood, 

 and discourage further growth by giving 

 no more water than needed to prevent the 

 leaves flagging. Winter in a similar 

 temperature to that before advised, and 

 by the end of February cut the shoots back 

 to within about a yard or 4 feet of the base 

 of the plants. Give a little more heat, 

 and, when the young growths ar'e a few 

 inches in length, turn the plants out of the 

 pots and remove as much of the old soil 

 as can be got away without injuring the 

 roots ; place them in pots 3 in. larger, and 

 treat in every way through the spring and 

 autumn as recommended for the season 

 previous. Cut back freely each spring to 

 within a few joints of where they wer'c 

 shortened the preceding year, and partially 

 remove the soil at potting time ; they will 

 not ireed larger pots, but should, through 

 the early part of summer, be freely sup- 

 plied with man rrre- water, and in this way 

 the plants will last for years. Where re- 

 quired to cover a considerable space they 

 may be plarrted out, but even in this case 

 they sliould not have too much root-room, 



