POTTING 9 



lished in its new quarters. If all are disturbed, the 

 plant receives too severe a check, because it will be 

 some time before they are in a condition to take up 

 nutriment; but if a part of them are left undisturbed, 

 these can feed the plant while the others are taking 

 hold of the fresh soil. 



In shifting plants, it is not advisable to change 

 from a small pot to one more than one or two sizes 

 larger. It is better to make frequent shifts. Do not 

 repot till the roots have filled the ball of earth and 

 formed a network of white fibers all around the outside 

 of it. You can v readily ascertain when this has been 

 done by turning the plant out of the pot. Invert the 

 pot over the left hand, with the stalk of the plant be- 

 tween your fingers. Then give the pot a sharp rap 

 against something to loosen it from the soil. The plant 

 can then be slipped out readily without disturbing the 

 roots in the least. Do not think that this injures the 

 plant, for it does not. 



A great mistake is made by many amateurs in 

 giving too large pots. They think a small pot means 

 starvation to the plant because it will not contain a 

 sufficient amount of earth to feed a plant well. This 

 is not true of small plants. They have few roots, and 

 a small amount of soil will meet all their require- 

 ments until these roots have enlarged and fill the pot. 

 Then repot. If you put a small plant in a large pot 

 it cannot make use of all the nutriment in the soil, and 

 as there is nothing else to share it, the poor little 

 plant is overfed fed to death, often. A young plant 

 from a cutting should not have a pot larger than 

 three inches across the top. Plants bought from 

 florists in spring are generally from pots of that size, 

 and they are almost always in strong, healthy condition, 

 after having been grown in these small pots the greater 

 share of the winter. This proves that a young plant 

 does not require a large pot. 



