158 



Greenhouse and Stove Plants. 



there is a disposition to ffrow. In March 

 move singly into small pots, and encouiage 

 them by a genial temperatui'e and a mode- 

 rately close atmos])here until they have 

 begun to grow. Then give more air and 

 dispense with shading except when the 

 house or pit they are in is so light as to 

 dry up too quickly the little pots that these 

 and similar young stock at this stage occupy. 

 Syringe through the spring and summer 

 each afternoon when the house is closed, 

 stop the shoots again about the end of 

 June. By the middle of August give more 

 air, and cease syringing ; keep through the 

 winter at a temperature of 40" in the night. 

 Towards April move into pots 2 or 3 

 inches larger, and treat as before, stopping 

 the shoots in May and tying then well out 

 at the same time. During the I'emainder 

 of the season and also the ensuing winter 

 they will require managing as previously ; 

 move again in spring to pots 2 or 3 inches 

 larger, according to the strength of the 

 plants and the condition of their roots. 



Good fibrous peat, without anything 

 added except clean sand, in sufficient 

 quantity to ensure porosity, is all that is 

 required — this will grow them better, and 

 the plants will last longer in it than in a 

 mixture of loam and peat, or all loam, 

 such as they are sometimes gro\\Ti in. 

 Make the new soil quite as solid in the 

 pots as the ball of the plant is, and at once 

 remove them to a house or pit, where they 

 can be kept a little close, and slightly 

 shaded from the sun for a fortnight ; then 

 gradually dispense with shading, as plants 

 from such sunny climes require all the 

 solar light we can give them after they 

 liave attained this size. Ti'ain the shoots 

 right out horizontally, drawing them down 

 to the rim of the pot : if the future 

 groundwork of the plants is not laid in 

 this way they soon get naked and leggy 

 at the bottom ; close early in the after- 

 noons, drawing the syringe over them at 

 the same time. The strongest growers 

 should have their shoots stopped once 

 during the summer ; gradually inure them 

 to more air, so as to ripen the wood before 

 the autunm is far advanced. It will not 

 be necessary to expose them to the open 

 air this year, as the object is not so much 

 to prepare the plants for flowering as to 

 get a maximum of growtli. 



Through the autumn and winter they 

 must be watered with care ; it is necessary 

 at all seasons, even when the plants are 

 growing freely, to see that they are never 

 overwatered, that is, watered before the 

 soil is sufficiently dry to require it ; there 

 are few plants that are so easily killed by 

 any mistake in this matter, and we have 



no doubt this is the reason they are not 

 grown in anything like the quantities they 

 deserve to be, especially for conservatory 

 decoration, and for producing cut flowers 

 in the winter. In the summer, while the 

 young growth is soft and tender, if 

 water is withheld until the points of the 

 shoots flag slightly, no injury will follow. 

 We simply instance this to show that, with 

 Epacrises, it is much safer to withhold 

 water a little too long than to give it too 

 soon. The winter-flowering varieties have 

 mostly an upright habit of growth, and 

 about Christmas should have their shoots 

 shortened to within 6 inches of tlie point 

 to which they were cut back the previous 

 year, unless it is deemed advisable to 

 flower them this season. This will cause 

 a considerable sacrifice in the coming 

 summer's growth, neveitheless it Avill not 

 injure the plants in any other respect : and 

 if their flowers are wanted, the plants 

 should in January be placed in a little 

 warmth — 45" to 50° in the night, with 5° 

 additional by day, which will bring them 

 on nicely. After flowering, cut the^ shoots 

 back as far as already directed, and if the 

 plants are kept in a similar temperature to 

 that in which they were brought into 

 flower they will break quickly, after which 

 they must be potted, and allowed about 3 

 inches more room. 



Those plants that were cut back without 

 allowing them to flower, must also when 

 they have made a couple of inches of 

 growth (which will be towards the end of 

 April) be potted, after which they should 

 be treated as in the preceding year. The 

 spring-floweiing varieties, of which we 

 may take E. miniata as the type, should 

 be shortened back at the same time as the 

 winter-flowering section ; they do not need 

 cuttiirg in so close as the upright growers, 

 but, in other respects, they require to be 

 treated in the same way Tlirough the 

 spring and summer manage as before ; en- 

 courage them to make strong and free 

 growth by giving them a good liglit house 

 or pit, using, as in the preceding summer, 

 the syringe every afternoon, at the same 

 time closing the lights. Towards the be- 

 ginning of Jirly gradually inure them to 

 more air, and by the end of the month 

 they will be in a condition for turning 

 out-of-doors, on a good bed of ashes to 

 exclude worms. At lir'st place them on 

 the north side of a wall, fence, or tree, 

 where they will receive a little shade from 

 the midday sun ; afterwards they may be 

 gradually inirred to bear it fully. They 

 may remain here until the middle of Sep- 

 tenrber, later than which it is not advisable 

 to risk them out for fear of frost. 



