Flowering plants respond to regular feeding more quickly and more 

 luxuriantly than do foliage plants. In almost every case, flowering 

 plants that rated excellent had been fed regularly. With some few ferns 

 and foliage plants the results of feeding were not so apparent. In some 

 instances, it is desirable that a plant remains almost stationary in size. In 

 this case feeding would be a disadvantage. A good soil mixture at the 

 start will go a long way toward growing a successful plant. 



WATER 



The majority of successful growers checked plants daily and wa- 

 tered when necessary. Various means were used for telling when plants 

 needed water. Some growers use the appearance of the soil surface as 

 an indication while others water when the soil feels slightly dry to the 

 touch. 



Some of the most successful growers kept their plants sitting in deep 

 saucers as shown in Fig. 1, page 3. When the plant needed water they 

 filled the saucer and let the plant and soil absorb it by means of capillari- 

 ty. This, or any other method of watering plants from the bottom of 

 the container, is an excellent practice because it insures a thorough wet- 

 ting of the ball of soil. 



Fig. 2 — Normal cyclamen grown at 50 to 60 degrees night 



temperature compared with one grown at 



much too warm temperature 



Drying or a lack of water caused many of the failures while over- 

 watering accounted for some. If plants are soaked thoroughly when wa- 

 tered, then allowed to become slightly dry before watering again, both 

 these troubles mav be avoided. 



Five 



