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The Florists^ Review 



Pkbhuaey 18, 1915. 



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WINTEB-BLOOMINO OEBANIUMS. 



While there is a nice, steady bottom 

 heat in the sand, geraniums are easily 

 and quickly propagated. You may 

 have stock plants to take cuttings 

 from, or tops of fall-rooted stock may 

 be at your disposal. These winter- 

 rooted geraniums will not equal in size 

 such as were propagated in September, 

 but they will make nice stock in 3-inch 

 or 3% -inch pots, and, as Ihe demand 

 for geraniums seems almost insatiable, 

 exceeding that for any other bedding 

 plant, you cannot go far wrong in root- 

 ing all possible cuttings. 



Grow the fall-rooted geraniums 

 fairly cool, to keep them stocky, and 

 give them a fresh stand occasionally, 

 at the same time removing all moldy 

 or dying leaves. You may have to 

 cut down the plants fairly hard when 

 taking cuttings, and it is well to re- 

 member that until the plants start to 

 break away freely again, water must 

 be applied in reduced quantities. 



Do not overlook the scented-leaved 

 geraniums when propagating. About 

 every customer likes to get one or two 

 plants of these and, if you have a few 

 stock plants either on a bench or in 

 pots, they will give you an abundance 

 of cuttings and you have still ample 

 time, to mak,^ /go^d plants of these he- 

 foretJifk^ing-out^ltime arrives. 



Whiere^any dfi^ased plants appear it 

 is bei^Rto throw them away at once, to 

 preveffl^ the trouble, from spreading. 

 Where only occasional leaves are found 

 affected, pick them off. Keep the at- 

 mosphere for geraniums always on the 

 dry side. Do not spray the plants 

 overhead. Air freely on every possi- 

 ble occasion. Cleanliness, a fairly low 

 temperature and a dry, buoyant at- 

 mosphere will keep your plants clean 

 if anything will. Also bear in mind 

 that to grow them so that they will 

 flower freely they must not be kept 

 saturated like aquatics, nor must liquid 

 manure be given. Each of these helps 

 to produce a' green, but soft and poor 

 flowering plant. 



Where geraniums for Christmas flow- 

 ering are desired, cuttings should be 

 rooted between now and March 1. The 

 best plan is to put each cutting singly 

 in a 2-inch pot containing sandy loam. 

 Stand them where they can have some 

 bottom heat and in the full sun. In 

 rooting geraniums no shade whatever 

 is necessary. 



DISEASED GERANIUMS. 



We have about 8,000 geranium plants 

 in one greenhouse; the varieties are 

 Bruan*, La Favorite, Nutt and Poite- 

 vine. About 1,000 of these are affected 

 as is the specimen sent with this letter, 

 but the affected plants are all Bruant 

 and La Favorite; the others show no 

 sign of the trouble. You will note that 

 the plants do not break as they should. 

 The center shoot seems to harden and 

 the plant stops growing. All the stock 



has received the same treatment. The 

 plants were propagated from cuttings 

 which were put in during September 

 and November, and rooted in the green- 

 house where they now are. They have 

 had a temperature of 65 degrees during 

 the day and 50 to 55 degrees at night. 

 New soil was used and the greenhouse 

 is new. Some shredded cattle manure 

 was mixed with the compost. The trou- 

 ble seems to develop about the time the 

 plants reach 2i^-inch pots, but it is also 

 showing on some of the stock plants. 

 Please tell us whether it is some rec- 

 ognized geranium , disease, or whether 

 the stock simply is,- running out? 



" ' ' L. G. N. C. 



The plant forwarded had.foliage quite 



red in appearance and considerably 

 spotted. This is a fairly common trou- 

 ble. The cause no one seems able to 

 determine as yet. Your treatmenr, 

 seems to have been all right, except that 

 the temperature given the plants wouM 

 have been better 5 to 8 degrees lower; 

 50 degrees at night should be the maxi- 

 mum. Air freely and let the atmosphere 

 be kept on the dry side always. Also, 

 let the plants dry out well between the, 

 waterings. Do not throw any decayed 

 leaves or other rubbish on the floors or 

 below the benches, as these would only 

 aggravate the evil. Cleanliness wiii 

 stamp it out if anything will. Spra\ 

 effected batches with Fungine or Bor- 

 deaux mixture. 



Try fine bone in lieu of shredded cat- 

 tle manure when potting, and compare 

 results. Animal manures cause a some- 

 what soft growth, which flowers sparse 

 ly and is susceptible to disease. The 

 bone makes plants have a hard, short- 

 jointed growth, which flowers freely. 

 Throw away badly affected plants and 

 keep others picked over. This may 

 mean considerable work, but keep at it. 

 Keep your houses clean, sweet and well 

 aired and I think you will overcome 

 the trouble. I do not believe the stock 

 is running out. C. W. 



CROSS EXAMINATION. 



I have two new houses, 26x100 and 

 28x100. As I have no benches in them 

 as yet, I would like to get a good crop 

 of sweet peas for spring, so kindly 

 answer the following inquiries: 



Q. When would it be necessary to 

 plant them to have them in bloom by 

 June 1, 1915! 



A. If you use the regular outdoor 

 Spencer sweet peas, which will be the 

 most satisfactory for flowering at the 

 time named, sow about March 10. The 

 plants will probably flower a little 

 earlier than June 1, but will be in good 

 crop at that date. 



Q. Should the seeds be started in pots 

 or sowed in the solid beds? 



A. Either in small pots, or, better, in 

 flats, and transplanted from them to the 

 beds. This is a more certain and satis- 

 factory plan than sowing in the beds. 



Q. What varieties are best, and where 

 is the best place to buy freirti seedt 



A. A few good varieties are: Nora 

 Tinwin or White Spencer, white; Im- 

 proved Helen Lewis, orange pink; 

 Countess Spencer or Hercules, light rose 

 pink; Florence Nightingale, lavender; 

 Asta Ohn, lavender suffused mauve; 

 Thomas Stevenson, orange scarlet; John 

 Ingman, rose. The best selling colors 

 in order of popularity are pink, white 

 and lavender. It is better not to grow 

 too many varieties. Buy your seed of 

 one of the advertisers in The Review. 



Q. Name the best pure pink variety, 



A. Hercules is probably as fine a pure 



pink variety as we have. It is a glori- 

 fied Countess Spencer. 



Q. If seed is started in beds, how 

 should the beds be made? 



A. They want soil of good depth; 

 twenty-four inches is not too much. Any 

 good, friable loam with plenty of rotted 

 cow manure worked in will suit them. 

 It is better if not too retentive. If the 

 soil is heavy, use some sand or road 

 scrapings to give it more porosity. Soil 

 must be rich for good results. In addi- 

 tion, the plants will need occasional 

 top-dressings or feedings with liquid 

 manure. 



Q. What temperature should they be 

 kept at during the night and in the 

 daytime? 



A. Start at 45 degrees at night. As 

 the buds show give 50 degrees. Thei 

 latter is a good temperature while flow- 

 ering. Do not let it gO above 55 de- 

 grees unless the weather is hot. Allow 

 a rise of 8 'to 10 degrees dh cleudy 

 days and I9 to 20 degrees on sunny 

 days. Air freely, commencing when the 

 thermometer reaches 58 to 60 degrees. 



Q. How often should they have 

 water? 



A. 'Everything depends on weather 

 conditions and' on how well your beds 

 are drained. Sweet peas need a gen- 

 erous water supply in early summer. 



Q. How can I get rid, of green aphis 

 on some vines now? 



A. Fumigate with tobacco papers or 

 some other nicotine preparation, or 

 spray with some insecticide. Fumiga- 

 tion, however, is the best remedy. 



