338 



Greenhouse and Stove Plants 



TRACHELOSPERMUM. 



as obtainable about July, using good stout 

 pieces of the extremities 5 or 6 inches in 

 length ; if these are put singly in 3-inch 

 pots drained and three-parts filled with 

 fine peat and sand, the remainder all sand, 

 kept moist, shaded, and close in a propa- 

 gating frame or under a bell-glass, in 

 moderate stove heat, they will soon make 

 roots. Then give more air, keep them 

 through the autumn and Avnnter in an 

 intermediate temperature, and supply 

 enough water to the soil to keep the roots 

 slowly mo^dng. In March give 6 or 7 inch 

 pots, using soil similar to that in which 

 they were struck, and pinch out the points 

 of the shoots. Through the spring and 

 summer keep them in a growing atmo- 

 sphere with a moderate amount of air, and 

 a little shade when sunny ; syringe over- 

 head at closing time. Two or three sticks 

 will be required round which to train the 

 shoots as they extend ; beyond this nothing 

 will be needed but the same treatment 

 through the autumn and winter that they 

 received in the last. Pot about the end of 

 March, giving them a 2 or 3 inch shift 

 according to the strength and quantity of 

 their roots. The plant will succeed in 

 either peat or loam, but we prefer the 

 former, as it will induce quicker growth, 

 and in it the leaves have a darker, more 

 healthy tint, which adds much to the 

 general appearance, especially when in 

 bloom, the dark glossy green Myrtle-like 

 foliage forming a good background for the 

 flowers. Let the soil be of a good fibrous 

 description, and from the first be used in a 

 moderately lumpy state, as the roots are 

 naturally strong. Add enough sand to 

 keep it open, and drain the pots sutficiently. 

 When the potting is completed put half-a- 

 dozen sticks 3 feet long in the new soil just 

 inside the rims of the pots. Roimd these 

 train the shoots, at the same time pinching 

 out the points to cause the production of 

 an increased number of growths, for al- 

 though really a climbing plant, and as such 

 not necessarily requiring so much stopping 

 as if it possessed a shrubby habit, enough 

 shoots should be formed to furnish the 

 trellis which the plants -n-ill ultimately 

 require. Place them in a house or pit, if 

 such is available, where there is a night 

 temperature of 50°, with a rise of 10" in 

 the daytime. This will answer well for 

 them, and so treated they wall make much 

 greater progress than if grown cooler ; do 

 not give much water at first until the 

 roots have got possession of the new soil. 

 SjTinge the plants overhead every after- 

 noon, and close the house at the same time ; 

 as solar heat increases the temijerature 

 they are subjected to may be propor- 



tionately raised. Very little shade will be 

 required except for a few hours in the 

 middle of the day in very bright weather ; 

 give plenty of light, or the growth will 

 become too much elongated and weak. 

 The shoots as they grow must be kept 

 regularly trained round the sticks — never 

 bring the points too low do\vn, but allow 

 them to retain an upright position ; a con- 

 tinuance of this treatment will be all that 

 is needed through the summer, enough air 

 being admitted in the middle of the day. 

 By the middle of September discontinue 

 syringing, and give more air with a drier 

 atmosphere to discourage further progress 

 and ripen up the growth. 



Through the winter the plants will do in 

 any house or pit where the temperature is 

 kept at 35° in the night, giving just as 

 much water to the soil as will keep the 

 roots slightly moist. Again, in the spring, 

 about the same time, remove into pots 4 or 

 5 inches larger, using similar soil. Uncoil 

 the shoots from the sticks, replace these 

 with others longer and thicker that will 

 support the increasing weight of the shoots, 

 and train regularly as before. It is not 

 ad\'isable to use a wire trellis until the 

 season following ; if the shoots are not 

 sufficiently numerous, or there is an ap- 

 pearance of their extending too far, so as to 

 be deficient near the base, again shorten 

 the leaders. Treat through the spring and 

 summer as in the preceding season, as 

 before giving less water and more air in 

 the autumn. We have said nothing about 

 flowering during this summer, although the 

 plant is such a free bloomer that it will 

 have produced its bunches at almost every 

 joint ; but as the object will be to induce 

 as much growth through the season as 

 possible, the treatment when in flower 

 should have been such as to keep them on 

 growing. 



Keep through the winter in a tempera- 

 ture such as in the last, and rejDot again in 

 the spring, giving a shift of 3 or 4 inches, 

 in proportion to the quantity of roots the 

 plants have got. As before, take them oft' 

 the sticks round which the shoots have 

 been trained ; they will now be large 

 enough to cover a moderate-sized wire 

 trellis, some 2 feet in diameter by 2| feet 

 high above the pot ; over this train the 

 shoots regularly from the base to the top, 

 and place them in a temperature similar to 

 that to which they have each preceding 

 spring been submitted if they are required 

 early in bloom — if not they may be kept 

 5° cooler. When the flowers are about to 

 commence expanding they can be moved 

 to a conservatory, or any house where they 

 will not be kept at much above an ordinaiy 



