36 



The Florists^ Reykw 



Dkcbmbbk 1, 1921 



as soon as they are ripe, watering and 

 shading them until fall. Then they can 

 be carried over in the open ground and 

 are better plants in the spring. We 

 often sow in the open in February and 

 most of these plants bloom the first year. 

 The best of them are large enough to 

 ship north by the last of April or the 

 first of May. 



Perennial phlox, in order to be suc- 

 cessfully grown, should be 'protected by 

 lattice, as they suffer badly during the 

 hot, dry days of summer. Often entire 

 stocks are lost at this time for lack of 

 shade. We have faith enough in them, 

 however, and we are planning to propa- 

 gate something like 10,000 next spring 

 and this faith is based on past experi- 

 ence. 



GROWING VICTORIA REGIA. 



I 



The Royal Wkter Lily. 



The reyal water lily, Victoria regia, 

 indigenous to the Amazon river, al- 

 though in its native habitat it is a per- 

 ennial, is treated at the Phipps con- 

 servatory, in Schenley park, Pitts- 

 burgh, as an annual. The seeds are 

 started about January 1, inserted in 

 sand in shallow pans and placed in a 

 tank containing water, the temperature 

 of the water being 90 to 95 degrees. 

 This temperature is maintained until 

 the seeds germinate, which takes from 

 eight to ten days. The temperature of 

 the water after that period is decreased 

 to about 80 to 85 degrees, at which time 

 the seedlings are placed singly in 2%- 

 inch pots. They are repotted whenever 

 necessary until the final potting, which 

 is generally in 8-inch pans, from which, 

 at the beginning of May, they are 

 planted in their permanent quarters for 

 the summer. At this time the tempera- 

 ture of the water is decreased to about 

 80 degrees. The temperature of the 

 house at night is 70 degrees. This also 

 applies to the house where the seeds are 

 started. 



They are planted in cement boxes, 

 eight feet square and thirteen inches 

 deep, in an irregular-shaped tank 28x48 

 feet, two plants being placed in the 

 tank. The compost in which they are 

 planted consists of three parts ordinary 

 soil and one part well decomposed cow 

 manure, with a good sprinkling of bone 

 flour. In addition to this, six inches of 

 manure is placed on the bottom of the 

 boxes before they arc filled. After they 

 are filled, the surface is covered with 

 about two inches of sand, which helps 

 to keep the water clear. When planting, 

 the water is run up to within an inch 

 of the top of the boxes. After the 

 planting is done, the water is run up so 

 as to have about four inches of water 

 covering the crown of the plant, gradu- 

 ally increasing as the plants grow, until 

 finally there are fifteen inches of water 

 over the crowns. 



At the time the accompanying photo- 

 graph was taken there were twenty 

 leaves in the tank, two to eight feet 

 in diameter, with rims abouit six inches 

 high. If the tank were larger, there 

 would be far more leaves, but the rapid 

 growth of the plant makes it necessary 

 to remove the older leaves to make room 

 for the newer ones. 



The peculiarities of the Victoria 

 regia are the smallness of the flower 

 compared with the gigantic leaves, and 

 the changing ©f the color of the blossom. 

 When the blossom, which is about 8 

 inches in diameter, first opens in the 



morning it is a pure white, with a ba- 

 nana-like fragrance. About 3 p. m. 

 the color will have gradually changed 

 from white to a faint pink, increasing 

 in intensity until at evening it is about 

 the color of an American Beauty rose. 

 The following morning it will be sub- 

 merged and will sink gradually to the 

 bottom of the tank, where it will per- 

 fect the seed for the following year. 

 The blossoms are not hand-pollinated. 

 One of the peculiarities of the lily is the 

 fact that there are fierce spines on the 

 under side of the leaves, by which they 

 are protected from fish, etc., below. 



A good method of saving the seed is 

 to place a receptacle on the bottom of 

 the tank early in the summer for six or 

 eight of the largest flowers. A shallow 

 pan is best, as it keeps the seed to- 

 gether; otherwise, if there were fish in 

 the tank, they would scatter the seed. 



J. W. Jones. 



10,000 and a third grower 6,000, Prac- 

 tically all these batches are a complete 

 loss. Every year some growers suffer 

 this loss, no matter how skillful growers 

 they are and no matter how careful they 

 may be. It would be advisable not to 

 grow any cyclamens next year. The 

 spores of the mite seem to persist. Keep 

 clear of them for a year. Then try 

 again. It is harassing and discouraging, 

 but I have more than once had the 

 same experience and can sympathize 

 with you. C. W. 



TROUBIJl WITH OYCLAMEl^S. 



We are sending under separate cover 

 some of our cyclamen leaves, which are 

 spoiling. I should like to know what we 

 can do to save them from further loss. 



B. G.— la. 



MITE ON CYCLAMENS. 



I have sent you by parcel post a 

 cyclamen plant that seems to have a 

 fungous disease. This starts on the un- 

 der side of the leaves and they get 

 wilted and leathery-appearing. Then 

 they turn yellow or brown. I have been 

 careful about watering them, watering 

 only when on the dry side. I have sprayed 

 them twice with Nico-fume since hous- 

 ing. The soil here is composed of two 

 parts of soil from the field, two parts of 

 leaf-mold and one part of well rotted 

 cow manure that contains sawdust and 

 sand. The temperature has been kept 

 at about 55 degrees at night, except 

 two or three nights when it went down 

 4 or 5 degrees lower. Will you tell me 

 what the trouble is and suggest a 

 remedy? H. H. J.— Ind. 



The leaves were much decomposed on 

 receipt and it is not easy to diagnose 

 your trouble. No signs of mite were 

 seen. Mite causes the leaves to become 

 more or less distorted. Spots at inter- 

 vals would seem to indicate that you 

 have some sort of fungous trouble. It 

 would be advisable to throw away 

 the plants most affected and to isolate 

 others affected in a less degree. 



Keep a tolerably dry atmosphere and 

 do not shade the plants at all now. Do 

 no syringing and in watering dampen 

 the foliage as little as possible. Use a 

 powder bellows and blow a mixture of 

 sulphur and fine charcoal dust on the 

 affected plants. Give the plants a tem- 

 perature of 55 degrees at night and 

 lower the temperature as the blooms 

 open well. Air the plants freely on 

 clear, pleasant days. Keep some heat 

 in the pipes all the time. C. W. 



SOCIETY OF AMERICAN FLORISTS. 



The plant came safely and shows un- 

 mistakable signs of mite. This will 

 wipe out, probably, your whole batch. 

 This is a heavy loss and is regrettable. 

 I do not know of any cure for mite and, 

 while some have been suggested, it is 

 doubtful if a real one exists. It is a 

 common disease. At present I have in 

 mind one prominent grower who has lost 

 20,000 plants; another grower has lost 



Plant Registration. 



Public notice is hereby given that, as 

 no objection has been filed against the 

 registration of Coleus Harding, by Louis 

 Hahn & Son, Pittsburgh, Pa., and 

 Geranium Alice Mae, by the Tong & 

 Weeks Floral Co., Ashtabula, O., the 

 same has become complete. 



John Young, Sec'y. 



Victoria Regia House at Phipps Conservatory, Pittsburgh. 



