OF HOUSE-PLANTS 



Those who would reduce the care of plants 

 to a minimum during summer, yet who are 

 averse to turning them out of their pots, 

 practise what is called the *' plunging" system. 

 This means that the plant, in its pot, is sunk 

 into the ground until the pot is even with the 

 surface of the soil. Of course the labor and risk 

 of repotting in fall is avoided by this method, 

 but unless constant care is taken to pre- 

 vent the soil inside the pot from getting dry 

 there is great danger of disastrous results. Be- 

 cause the soil outside the pot appears moist it is 

 an easy matter to deceive ourselves into the 

 belief that the soil inside of it must be in a 

 similar condition. We forget, or overlook, the 

 fact that the pot, though porous to a consider- 

 able extent, does not admit moisture in 

 sufficient quantity to make the soil in it as moist 

 as it ought to be, and we neglect to apply water 

 until the plant shows, by wilting, that it is 

 suffering severely. Then we drench it, thus 

 going to the other extreme, and alternating 

 periods of too little water and too much are 

 always harmful. Aim to secure the "happy 

 medium" that makes, and keeps, the soil 

 moderately and evenly moist. 



Plants in pots sunk in the ground ought to 



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