CULTURE OF TROPOEOLUM TRICOLORUM. 205 



ARTICLE VIII.— ON THE CULTURE OF THE TROP(EOLUM 

 TRICOLORUM AND PENTAPHYLLUM. 



BY MR. RICHARD GOODSALL, GARDENER, ENDON HOUSE, MIDDLESEX. 



I was much pleased with the beautiful flowering Tropceolum inserted 

 in the Cabinet for August ; I have possessed the T. tricolorurn and 

 pentaphyllurn for several years, and have cultivated them in a very 

 successful manner ; I am, therefore, induced to send you the par- 

 ticulars of my mode of management, for insertion in the Cabinet. 



The soil I use is a mixture of rich loam and sandy peat, and to 

 have a good degree of broken pots for drainage. Early in spring, I 

 place one tuber each in a small pot ; as some of the tubers are larger 

 than others, I select a pot about as wide again as the tuber ; after 

 potting, I place them in a Cucumber or Melon frame. At the time 

 of planting, I give them a supply of water, but being kept in moist 

 heat they require little afterwards, till the shoots have pushed some 

 length. This attention is necessary to be observed, for if much water 

 be given before the shoots push, the root will be liable to rot ; so that 

 my only care is, to keep the soil from being dry. 



When the shoots have got a few inches high, I repot the plant 

 into one a size larger ; this is repeated in its subsequent treatment, 

 whenever it is observed to require it, by the pot being filled with 

 roots. If the plant be over potted at once, it is certain to suffer by 

 it, for the roots not occupying the soil, and its being of necessity 

 kept moist, becomes sour by frequent waterings, and unfit for the 

 plant to grow in. But by often repotting into a size larger, every 

 due encouragement is given to the successful culture of the plant, 

 and to secure a profusion of blossom. When the plant has pushed 

 as high as the frame will allow, I take it into a vinery of mo- 

 derate temperature, where I keep it for a few days, and then remove 

 it into the warmest part of a greenhouse, but where a free supply of 

 air can reach it, to prevent its moulding. As the plant pushes, I 

 take care to have it neatly secured, using a stick or two for its early 

 stages of growth, but afterwards to a wire frame, made something 

 like what is recommended in the Cabinet. In pushing down the 

 points of the stick or wire, I do not allow them to be inserted close 

 to the side of the pot, because the fibrous roots run round there in 

 abundance, and the point of the stick or wire pressed down there, 

 would cut the greater part of them through, or by mutilation damage 

 them in some degree. 



When I discover that the plant is attacked by the green fly, I have 

 'i sprinkled at the under side of the foliage with a strong solution of 



