HOUSE PLANTS 



HOUSE PLANTS 



1609 



good drainage should be provided. Such a room is not 

 only capable of keeping plants in good condition but 

 can also be used for starting seedlings and cuttings. 

 The temperature can be kept weU above freezing and 

 under 50° F. sometimes without extra fire heat when 

 such a room opens into a heated cellar. It can be used 

 not only for growing plants but also as a storeroom from 

 which plants can be taken for decorating the living- 

 rooms; there is no better place for all bulbous plants 

 from the time they are taken out of the frame until 

 they show flower-buds well developed. 



In rooms in which plants are kept, any device by 

 which the atmospheric moisture can be increased is 

 desirable: oilcloth on the floor, or a floor of porous tiles; 

 a zinc tray, in which the pots can be set and surrounded 

 with moss ; saucers under the pots, the pots being raised 

 slightly to prevent the roots of the plants standing in 

 the water which runs through. By these aids not only 

 can plenty of water be given to the roots, but there wiU 

 also be some opportunity to sprinkle the leaves, while 

 the evaporation of surplus water will dampen the air. 

 The Japanese porcelain pots are not only ornamental 

 but useful; the glaze prevents undue evaporation from 

 the sides, and the legs hold the pot well above the water 

 which may collect in the saucer: they are in every way 

 excellent. Wooden tubs are serviceable for large plants 

 or for any which are likely to be exposed to frost, either 

 before or after bringing into the house. Plants should 

 never be overpotted, but the larger the bulk of earth the 

 easier it can be kept uniformly moist; from the wider 

 surface, too, there is more evaporation. For these rea- 

 sons it is sometimes a good plan to have window-boxes 

 in which several plants can be grown; or the boxes can 

 be filled with moss in which the pots can be plunged. 

 All pots, tubs or boxes for growing plants should have 

 holes in the bottom through which water can pass freely. 



Much trouble is likely to come from the use of unsuit- 

 able potting soil. Procure it from an experienced florist, 

 or make it yoiu-self of equal parts rotted sods, old leaf- 

 mold, well-decayed cow-manure and clean, sharp sand: 

 discard tea leaves, chip dirt, and the decomposed 

 remains of dead stumps. The soil should always be 

 moist when used, not too wet and never dry : it should be 

 made firm, not hard, and a good space left between the 

 siu-face and rim. Large pots should be drained with 

 potsherds and moss. The best time for potting is just 

 before the plant begins to grow; the next best is just 

 before growth ceases, thus giving the plant opportunity 

 to establish itself in its new quarters before it stops 

 growing. It is not always easy to do this properly at 

 home, and large and valuable plants should be sent to a 

 florist. Plants growing in the open air should be lifted 

 and potted two weeks or more before bringing into the 

 house, not only before frost but before the nights are 

 cool. Keep them at first in a shady place, gradually 

 accustom them to the sunhght, and carefully avoid 

 all drafts. Do not give too much water at the root: 

 some wilting is unavoidable, and cannot be prevented 

 by heavy watering. Give one good application when 

 they are first potted, and sprinkle the fohage and sur- 

 roundings in the middle of the day. After they are 

 established, keep them out-of-doors, on the piazza or 

 porch, until there is danger of frost, but try to bring 

 them into the house before the furnace fires are lighted. 

 A period of rest is natural to all plants. Amateurs 

 often make mistakes in trying to force plants to grow 

 all winter in the house after a vigorous growth in the 

 open ground all summer. Such plants should be rested, 

 kept cool at first and water withheld, but never to such 

 an extent as to shrivel the wood. No rules can be given 

 for watering, the most important detail of plant-grow- 

 ing. Water must be given as it is required, a knowledge 

 to be gained from experience only. This may be once 

 a day or once a week, twice a day or once in two days. 

 The smaller the pot and the more vigorous the growth, 

 the oftener it will be required. In hot weather and in 



dry rooms more water is needed than in cool rooms and 

 on damp, cloudy days. It should always be given in 

 sufficient quantity to pass through the hole in the 

 bottom of the pot : here it can remain an hour or more, 

 and part of it will soak up, back into the pot, but the 

 surplus should be taken away with a sponge, unless the 

 pot has legs or it is a plant like calla, English ivy, or 

 some ferns, which are iminjured by an over-supply. 

 Water given to the foliage of house plants in the form 

 of spray is always helpful. 



Insects, dust and sometimes fungous pests are 

 troublesome to house plants, due largely to insufficient 

 watering and lack of ventilation. The best remedy is 

 frequent washings with warm water and a sponge for 

 plants with large leaves. All plants can be easily 

 cleaned at the kitchen sink or in the bathtub, or advan- 

 tage can be taken of a mild day, and the work done in 

 the yard with the hose. The forcible application of 

 water will remove most insects, but if scale appears it 

 must be taken off with a stiff brush. Whale-oil and 

 tobacco soap are too rank for house use ; fir-tree oil and 

 Gishurst's compound are less obnoxious. They can be 

 used when the plants are washed with sponge or brush. 

 The florists' preventive against greenfly is impracti- 

 cable: enough tobacco smoke to harm them would not 

 be tolerated in hving-rooms. Tobacco stems may be 

 burned, however, in the plantroom described above if a 

 well-fitted door is provided and precautions a/e taken 

 to make the ceihng air-tight. It is altogether too 

 dangerous to use cyanide of potassium in any form of 

 plant-growing in the house. The red-spider can be 

 driven off by spraying with an atomizer, if discovered 

 in time. Some plants are not attacked by insects, but 

 are injured by dust, e.g., the rubber-tree. Dusting 

 when dry is better than nothing, but washing is best. 

 If fungous diseases appear, the plants should be isolated, 

 giving a chance to recover, or be thrown away. 



Ventilation is an important factor in keeping house 

 plants in good condition. Open the windows on bright 

 days: the fresh air is moist and therefore grateful, and 

 wiU do no harm, even if the plants are near the glass, 

 so long as the sun shines and discretion is exercised. 



1918. A window-garden 



