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The Florists^ Review 



Apbil 29, 1920 



veloped by intense application under 

 careful guidance. 



When the subject matter is to be con* 

 sidered, it may be taken for granted 



that the phase of horticulture selected 

 by the student for his life-work will be 

 his major and considerable time should 



[Continued on page 54.] 



think. It outsells S. A. Nutt because 

 it has a darker ring in the leaf and last 

 year it was full of blooms when S. A. 

 Nutt had few showing. 



J. T. & s.— ni. 



GERANIUMS CHIT.T.F.D. 



I am sending you three geranium 

 plants to find out -what the trouble is 

 with them. The top leaves showed tiny 

 light spots through them. I sprayed them 

 with Bordeaux mixture and they seemed 

 to do well. I repotted them and they 

 are coming along nicely in bloom, but 

 the edges of the leaves are turning red. 

 What is the cause and is there a remedy? 



L. E. B.— N. Y. 



The geranium plants appear to have 

 been chilled. A low temperature, to- 

 gether with overwatering, may also be 

 the cause of the edges of the leaves 

 turning red. The roots and stem of the 

 plants seem to be all right and the fact 

 that the top leaves are most affected 

 leads me to believe that your plants 

 have been touched with frost at some 

 time. I should advise raising the tem- 

 perature a little and withholding water 

 from the plants until the condition of 

 the soil shows that they are absolutely 

 in need of it. M. P. 



SOIL TROUBLES GERANIUMS. 



We are sending some geranium leaves 

 showing bad color, due. we think, to 

 disease or to the soil. The plants did 

 well until recently, when some of the 

 leaves sliowed a reddish tinge, finally 

 turning yellow. If this is caused by the 

 soil, would an application of lime to the 

 top of the pots be of advantage or, if 

 it ia disease, what can be done? We 

 also notice some of our calceolarias, 

 pelargoniums and hydrangeas showing 

 too light green foliage. Could this con- 

 dition also be caused by the soil? 



E. & S.— Mich. 



The trouble with the geraniums may 

 be caused by either of the following 

 conditions: Sour soil, overwatering 

 and low temperature after repotting, 

 before the plants have had time to gain 

 control of the new soil; or, crowding 

 the plants and keeping them extremely 

 wet at the roots. The trouble will also 

 occur when the plants have been neg- 

 lected in the repotting and held in small 

 pots crowded together on the bench, 

 thus causing the lower leaves to become 

 soft, so that when spread out they turn 

 yellow. 



To overcome the trouble I should sug- 

 gest the following treatment: Loosen 

 up the surface soil a little, so that the 

 air can penetrate into it, and then 

 spread the plants out on the bench so 

 that there is about a 2-inch clear space 

 around each pot; water sparingly until 

 the roots are firmly established in the 

 soil, and, last but not least, give plenty 

 of ventilation as weather conditions 

 permit. This is a backward season for 



all plant growth, both inside and out- 

 side, but it is reasonable to expect bet- 

 ter weather with bright sunshine from 

 now on, which will help geranium plants 

 greatly and, if the treatment suggested 

 is followed, they should come through 

 ail right. 



According to the condition of the 

 calceolarias, pelargoniums and hydran- 

 geas, as described, the trouble evidently 

 is caused by sour soil, due to excessive 

 watering, and I should advise a treat- 

 ment for these similar to that suggested 

 for the geraniums. All of these plants 

 are free growers, but they need careful 

 watering, because as soon as the soil 

 becomes a little sour or stagnant, the 

 growth of the plant is checked and the 

 foliage quickly turns yellow. M. P. 



I cannot see any difference between 

 the variety sent and S. A. Nutt. In 

 comparing it with our own stock of S. A. 

 Nutt, I find they are as much alike as 

 two peas. Referring to the blooming 

 qualities of S. A. Nutt, we have not 

 found any variety of its color that will 

 throw as many flowers during the sum- 

 mer. The principal fault that we hav© 

 to find with Nutt is its tall growth, es- 

 pecially when planted in partial shade. 

 As regards blooming and furnishing cut- 

 tings, we find it about tops the list of 

 geraniums. M. P. 



LEAT-SPOT ON GERANIUMS. 



I am sending some geranium leaves 

 that are affected by some disease. Could 

 you suggest a treatment to overcome 

 this disease? E. S. — Ind. 



S. A. NUTT AFTER ALL. 



We are sending you a geranium which 

 we should like to have identified. We 

 have had it for about four years and 

 we find it produces more cuttings than 

 S. A. Nutt and is a shade darker, we 



The geranium leaves are affected with 

 leaf -spot. Among the principal causes 

 for this trouble are the following con- 

 ditions: Overcrowding the plants on 

 the benches, wet foliage during dark 

 weather, and low temperature and damp 

 atmosphere in the house. To over- 

 come the trouble, remove the affected 

 leaves and give the plants more room 

 on the bench, so that the air can circu- 

 late freely among them. Follow clean 

 cultural methods. Water the plants 

 with care, as they need it, and ventilate 

 as freely as the weather conditions will 

 allow. Spraying the affected plants 

 with Bordeaux mixture will check the 

 disease and prevent it from spreading. 



M. P. 



SWEET PEAS YELLOWING. 



I should like to know what the 

 trouble is with my sweet peas. I have 

 been giving them cow manure water 

 every ten days and several days ago I 

 gave them a light mulching of soot. 

 In a week's time they turned yellow in 

 spots; the foliage looks as if it had 

 been scalded. We have had a great 

 deal of cloudy weather this winter, but 

 had sunshine all last week and the tem- 

 perature in the house rose to 96 degrees, 

 with the ventilators open. I have a 

 good crop of buds on the plants, but the 

 leaves are yellow two-thirds of the way 

 up the plant and the stem is a dark 

 brown. H. L. U. — Kan. 



I am inclined to think that the top- 

 dressing of soot is mainly responsible 

 for the condition of your sweet peas. 

 The high temperature would hardly be 

 responsible for the browning and yel- 



lowing of the foliage, but an overdose 

 of liquid manure with a top-dressing of 

 soot added would make the plants soft. 

 The ammonia in the soot would be 

 largely responsible for the damage, par- 

 ticularly ii^-a;pplied on a cloudy day 

 which was followed by a clear, hot one, 

 causing a great variation in tempera- 

 ture. Under such conditions, abundant 

 ventilation and plenty of moisture in 

 the atmosphere are necessary; if these 

 were afforded, your feeding is surely at 

 fault. Under the circumstances, I fear 

 there is little you can do to improve 

 your plants, except giving them fresh 

 air, avoiding feeding and providing 

 as equable a temperature as possible. 

 I would suggest trying a mulching of 

 some old, well decayed manure, which 

 would prevent the soil from drying out 

 so much and help to keep the roots coolj 

 it would also feed the plants moderately, 

 but not enough to make them soft. 



C. W. 



