MANAGEMENT OF GREENHOUSES 125 



is easily possible when the work is rightly arranged. In 

 re-potting plants, care should be taken not to get them 

 into pots which are too large. They are troublesome to 

 move, they occupy valuable space in greenhouses, and 

 often plant growth and flower production are as satisfac- 

 tory when the root area is limited. However, there should 

 be sufficient soil to nourish and facilitate a healthy growth. 

 Flowering plants should not be re-potted just as they are 

 coming into bloom. When necessary, this should be done 

 several weeks previous to the time of blooming, so that 

 they will be somewhat pot-bound. This has a tendency to 

 stimulate flower production, and to retard vegetative 

 development. This condition should not be carried far 

 enough to give the plants a starved appearance, but as 

 a rule, if flowering plants are allowed to become some- 

 what pot-bound and are then fed with liquid manures, the 

 results are much better. 



97. Feeding. A careful grower will feed his plants 

 just as a mother carefully feeds her child. In general, the 

 same rules apply to feeding young plants as apply in feed- 

 ing infants. When cuttings freshly rooted are taken from 

 the sand, they should be given a soil only a little richer 

 than the sand. Ordinary garden loam in which there 

 is little active plant food is best suited for them. Soils 

 highly fertilized with nitrogenous plant foods are sure 

 to give cuttings severe attacks of indigestion which should 

 cause the plant grower many hours of lost sleep. Plants, 

 unfortunately, are not capable of resenting injudicious 

 feeding as forcibly as are children. In a second potting, 

 increased fertility may be given the soil, until gradually 

 plants are able to withstand heavy applications of highly 

 nitrogenous plant foods. It is the duty of growers to 

 discern when plants are getting all the food they have 



