Gardening for Amateurs 



545 



out from the pots, when the stems are 

 reduced to one, two, or three, according to 

 the vigour of the variety. All side shoots 

 are removed as they appear. 



This practice seems to puzzle a good many 

 amateurs, some of them very keen exhibitors. 

 Supposing the weather is favourable, and you 

 plant out your Sweet Pea plants into their 

 permanent quarters in the first week of 

 April, with ordinary growing weather they 

 will be ready for their first thinning by the 

 second or third week of May. The first 

 thinning consists merely in cutting out the 

 leader or main stem, together with any other 

 small side growths, so as to leave five or six 

 shoots. These are left to grow until the next 

 thinning of the plants, which should be done 

 by the second or third week in June. Of 

 course, no definite date can be given for this, 

 as so much depends on the weather and 

 locality. The grower must have his mind 

 made up as to how many shoots or stems he 

 is to leave on the plant. Supposing he is to 

 grow two stems on each plant, then what 

 he has to do is to cut off all the shoots on 

 the plant with the exception of the two 

 strongest, which he retains for flowering. 

 Now, as these two shoots grow they too 

 will throw out side shoots or laterals at the 

 axil of every leaf. These are picked out ; 

 hence the term disbudding. 



Plants restricted to one, two, or three 

 stems invariably make vigorous growth and 

 produce long-stemmed flowers, though these 

 are sometimes coarse. 



The great drawback of this system of 

 cultivation is, that owing to the removal of 

 all lateral shoots, flowers are only produced 

 near the top of the plant, which, from a 

 garden decorative point of view, makes the 

 display somewhat unattractive. For this 

 reason it is advisable to grow them where 

 their appearance is of secondary considera- 

 tion. Should a variety show a disposition 

 to throw very coarse flowers, the evil may 

 be minimised by allowing a few laterals to 

 develop and by giving less fertiliser. 



Instead of following either of the methods 

 of staking previously mentioned, the grower 

 uses bamboo canes or other long thin sticks, 

 and as the plants will probably attain a 

 height of 12 feet preparation must be made 

 accordingly. Never place confidence in sup- 

 35 



ports of less length, or perhaps just when 

 flowers are needed for a late August show, 

 owing to the ends of several of the plants 

 toppling over the required number of 

 straight-stemmed flowers will not be forth- 

 coming. 



When to Gut the Blooms. The flowers 

 are best cut in the evening prior to the show, 

 and stood in water during the night ; they 



Sweet Peas 12 feet high in a 10-inth 

 wide flower pot. 



then absorb enough moisture in the stems 

 to carry them over their journey. The stage 

 at which the flowers ought to be cut depends 

 on how far they have to travel. Should they 

 have a day's journey by rail, the day before 

 they are to be shown, the top lml should be 

 about three parts open when the stnn i* 

 cut. If the blooms are to be shown the 

 morning after cutting, they should be almost 

 fully out, but it is always best to have them 

 rather young than too fully expanded, for 

 should it be very hot the close atmosphere 



