38 



The Florists' Review 



NOVBMBBB 17, 1921 



over with a hose should not be done. Any 

 plants showing diseased foliage should 

 be carefully picked over, separated from 

 other plants and given a dipping or 

 spraying of a good fungicide. Above 

 all, do not throw decayed leaves or rub- 

 bish in the paths or below the benches. 

 Nothing is more likely to start the 

 spread of fungoid affections of the 

 leaves. C. W. 



OERANIX7MS FOR CHRISTMAS. 



I have some fine, well branched red 

 geraniums, which I have just lifted 

 from the field and potted in 5-inch and 

 6-inch pots. I desire to have these 

 flower for the Christmas trade. They 

 were kept disbudded all summer. When 

 shall I let the buds form in order to 

 have blooms at the proper time? Would 

 a light dressing of bone meal be bene- 

 ficial about the time they are coming 

 into bloom? Are these popular as 

 Christmas plants? H. D. H. — 0. 



You will not have much success with 

 geraniums lifted from the field as hol- 

 iday plants. Pot-grown plants are the 

 only kind to use and these should now 

 be in their flowering pots, which, as I 

 grow them, are 6-inch. Disbudding on 

 plants wanted in bloom for Christmas 

 is discontinued after November 1, and 

 the plants, when well established in the 

 pots, appreciate a light top-dressing of 

 bone or similar fertilizer to tone them 

 up. 



Seeing that you are depending on 

 lifted stock, you must face a heavy loss 

 of foliage and it is doubtful whether 

 the plants will be in presentable condi- 

 tion at Christmas, no matter how well 

 you care for them. Do not overwatcr 

 your plants; never syringp them; pot 

 them quite firmly, avoiding the use of 

 any fresh animal manure. Give the 

 plants full sunsliine. An average night 

 temperature of 48 to fifty degrees, as 

 cool wejither comes along, will suit 

 them. Plenty of fresh air is what they 

 want. To prevent the petals from damp- 

 ing, use care in watering and ventilat- 

 ing, especially in sunless, damp weather. 

 A little fire heat, with some ventilation, 

 should be given when we get cold 

 weather. C. W. 



DISEASED GERAinUMS. 



I should like some information in re- 

 gard to the cause of the disease that is 

 affecting the geranium leaves sent you. 

 We had several thousand plants last 

 year that lost their leaves and so became 

 unsalable. We planted them in the open 

 field, but they have not recovered. The 

 new leaves are spotted and more or less 

 crii)pled. Our plants last year were 

 good plants until we shifted them to 

 SMi-inch pots. At that time I thought 

 the trouble was due to a soil condition 

 and that the plants would recover if 

 they were planted out in tlie field. They 

 seem to be affected by some sort of spot. 

 Any suggestions as to a remedy for this 

 will be greatly appreciated. 



J. F. C— Wis. 



If your stock is as bad as you de- 

 scribe, it would not be advisable or 

 profitable to propagate or attempt to 

 carry any of it over. It is quite doubt- 

 ful whether any spraying or course of 

 .treatment would render the plants 

 clean. It would certainly be advisable 

 to discard your entire stock and start 



anew with clean plants. The diseases 

 causing loss of foliage are many. Out- 

 doors they are usually due to unfavor- 

 able climatic conditions. Indoors, tem- 

 perature, moisture in the atmosphere, 

 watering, spraying, feeding and venti- 

 lation must be considered. 



Speaking generally, zonal geraniums 

 succeed best and flower most freely 

 when quite firmly potted. They do not 

 Jo well in any compost which contains 

 any rather fresh animal manure. Old, 

 well decayed and broken-up cow manure 

 is safe. Fine bone at the rate oc a 

 4-inch pot to a bushel of compost is a 

 .safe food. It helps to build up a stocky, 

 short-jointed plant, which will bloom 

 freely. Much animal manure, much 

 water and injudicious feeding will give 

 large, green-leaved plants, which will 

 flower sparsely. Geraniums do well with 

 plenty of fresh air and abundant sun- 

 shine, and succeed best when kept a lit- 

 tle on the dry side at the root. Spraying 



TROUBLE WITH TUBEROSES, 



I have sent you a stalk of tuberose. 

 Our tuberoses of this variety, The Pearl, 

 budded up well in the field, but they did 

 not bloom well. Will you advise as te 

 what is the trouble? F. C. P.— la. 



It cannot be determined what the 

 trouble with your tuberoses has been. 

 Some seasons a great many of The Pearl 

 tuberoses act in this way. It is prob- 

 ably due to some climatic condition and 

 it is doubtful if it can be controlled. 

 All you can do is to keep the ground 

 clean, and, if it is dry, furnish the plants 

 some water. A mulch of old manure 

 helps tuberoses a great deal. C. W. 



Bristol, Va.— The night of October 30 

 a fire broke out in the building where 

 the store of Fallon the Florist is located. 

 Considerable damage was done to fur- 

 niture and fixtures. Fortunately, there 

 was not a large stock in the store at the 

 time. 



USING BLOOD AND BONE. 



Will you advise me as to what pro- 

 portion of blood and bone I should use 

 (in carnation benches? The benches are 

 120 feet long, five feet wide and six 

 inches deep. The plants are spaced nine 

 and one-half inches and the soil is a 

 light clay soil. In the past I have been 

 feeding the plants liquid cow manure 

 about every ten or twelve days. I 

 started to feed the plants about the 

 middle of January. As I shall have 

 trouble in securing enough fresh cow 

 manure, I shall be compelled to change 

 to some other fertilizer. The benches 

 were filled with new soil this last sum- 

 mer, using about thirty-five. bushels of 

 well rotted cow manure to each bench. 

 How often shouM I use the blood and 

 hone? R. E. M.— O. 



Great care must be exercised in feed- 

 ing carnations during the months of 

 Xovember, December and January. 

 These are the dull months, during which 

 growth is the slowest and the plants 

 take up the least nourishment. During 

 the fall months and in early spring the 

 growth is more rapid and, on account of 

 the stronger sunlight, more matured, 

 with a consequent lesser danger from 

 overfeeding. Before you apply any 

 pulverized fertilizer, it would be well to 

 apply a light mulch of rotted stable ma- 

 nure. This will prevent the fertilizer 

 from washing when the benches are be- 



ing watered. It will also assist in de- 

 composing the bone meal by keeping it 

 moist after it is washed into the loose 

 manure. 



A medium handful of bone or blood 

 and bone to each row halfway across a 

 5-foot bench is considered a fair appli- 

 cation. Just how soon this should be 

 repeated, depends on the condition of 

 the growth and the season. If the 

 plants lack in fiber, bone will help them, 

 providing the weather is uniformly 

 bright. If you have normal winter 

 weather, this application will probably 

 suflQce until well into January. After 

 that, exercise good judgment in apply- 

 ing bone and blood, sheep manure, poul- 

 try manure and acid phosphate, giving 

 light doses as the plants seem to need 

 them, and using one of these fertilizers 

 at a time. A. F. J. B. 



SPOTTED CARNATIONS. 



I am sending some carnation leaves to 

 you for your examination. Will you let 

 me know what causes the spots on 

 them? Is it a disease? If so, what 

 remedies shall I use? 



J. B. S.— Wash. 



The ruptures in the leaves submitted 

 are probably caused by the punctures of 

 both aphis and thrips. There is no dan- 

 ger of the trouble spreading after you 

 get these pests under control. Keep 

 your houses clean and spray regularly 

 with one of the nicotine preparations 

 and your plants will soon outgrow the 

 effects of this injury. A. F. J. B. 



