J 576 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



Max 18, 1906. 



GERANIUMS AGAIN. 



Would you please tell me how to get 

 my geraniums more short and stocky? 

 I have a neighbor who grows them stout 

 and short and still he does not have 

 his farther apart on the bench than 

 mine. Could there be a difference in the 

 fertilizer? I use well rotted horse ma- 

 nue and I think he uses cow manure. As 

 I take special interest in geraniums, I 

 am anxious to get information about 

 their culture, particularly how to keep 

 them from running up tall. H. C. O. 



Thete is nothing wrong with your fer- 

 tilizer. Most likely you use too much 

 manure and too light a soil. A stiflF, 



fresh loam and not more than one-fifth 

 of manure is the thing, and pot firmly. 

 Light and tempefature will have much 

 to do with the growth of your geran- 

 iums. They at all times want the full- 

 est light and air on all possible occa- 

 sions. Young plants that are for sum- 

 mer bedding should not be kept at over 

 45 degrees at night during winter and 

 in dark weather they should be kept 

 rather dry. About February 1 they 

 should be grown enough to need the top 

 pinched out, or maybfe a cutting taken 

 off. Our zonal geraniums flower more 

 than we wish for in April and May and 

 we have to keep the buds picked off. You 

 must be growing them too rich and too 

 warm. W. S. 



,^.i*^<^»#*«^y*^'*"r '«>»."« 



POTS VERSUS BENCHES. 



For Growing Exhibition Flowers. 



There has the past year or two been 

 a reaction with some of the best exhibi- 

 tion growers in regard to bench culture 

 for exhibition blooms, the claim today 

 being, and apparently with good reason, 

 that deeper, better finished flowers can 

 be produced from pots and an increasing 

 number are being grown in this manner. 

 For general cutting and commercial cul- 

 ture, there is no question but that the 

 bench method is the better way, since 

 not nearly so much water and care is 

 needed and the question of supports, etc., 

 is more easily disposed of. But when we 

 get down to growing the very finest 

 flowers, which have to be fed to the 

 limit and handled as carefully as possi- 

 ble, it is another story. In pots every 

 plant gets its individual treatment, since 

 the roots are confined and a plant that 

 has reached the stage where feeding is 

 not necessary need not be watered with 

 liquid, whereas in a bench discrimination 

 is well nigh out of the question. 



Anyone who has ever carefully turned 

 over the soil in a chrysanthemum bench 

 after the crop has been cut has seen 

 the roots running for yards along the 

 bottom of the bench, and this shows very 

 plainly how useless it is to try to dis- 

 criminate when feeding plants in a 

 bench, where different kinds are growing 

 together. 



Another big advantage when the plants 

 are in pots is in being able to move them 

 about at will. When the flowers are de- 

 veloping, if it is seen that they are com- 

 ing along too quickly they can be moved 

 to a cellar, or some other dark place, and 

 held back for several weeks. Also with 

 varieties that are predisposed to damp- 

 ing of the petals (and most varieties are 

 affected more or less in this manner 

 when heavily fed) pot culture has an 

 advantage because the roots can be kept 

 much drier and there will be less mois- 

 ture in the atmosphere. 



Several methods of growing are used 

 that may be said to be intermediate be- 

 tween pots and benches. Thus one noted 



grower I am acquainted with, partitions 

 his benches off into sections a foot wide 

 and four feet long, planting one variety 

 in each section. This seems to work well 

 with him since he manages to capture his 

 share of prizes every year. Others grow 

 in boxes made large enough to hold from 

 four to six plants and I may say that 

 the finest flowers I ever grew were pro- 

 duced in thisjnanner, but the idea is the 

 same with all these different ways, and 

 that is restricted root action. 



Why a plant should produce a heavier, 

 deeper flower when grown in this restrict- 

 ed manner I do not pretend to say, but 

 the fact remains that it does. Many 

 fruits, notably tomatoes, produce much 

 more freely when pot bound and I pre- 

 sume the same rule works in the case 



of the chrysanthemum, checking some- 

 what its exuberance of growth and di- 

 verting its energies to the flower more 

 directly, as bearing on its reproductivfl 

 organs. 



For those who want to try this pot 

 method I would not recommend a larger 

 pot than 8-inch and the plants should 

 be growing in these as soon as possible 

 now. Use a soil that has lots of turf 

 fibre in it, because such a soil does not 

 sour in a pot and the roots love to cling 

 to the lumps of fibre. Bone meal may 

 be added with advantage and also a little 

 clay fertilizer and the soil in the final 

 potting should be made very solid, so as 

 to keep a stocky, short-jointed growth 

 on the plant. 



Plants on Benches. 



Those growers who are compelled to 

 grow in benches, or prefer to do so, 

 should get in their plants now as soon 

 as possible if they are figuring on grow- 

 ing for exhibition, as there is no ques- 

 tion but that the longer season of growth 

 is all in favor of the plants. Early 

 planted stock should not be set out closer 

 than nine inches by eight, and even wider 

 than this would not be too much. Give 

 the tall growers the most head room. Tha 

 catalogue description generally notes the 

 height more or less, so one can get an 

 idea from that. Among the tallest grow- 

 ers are T. Eaton, Gen. Hutton, Henry 

 Barnes, S. T. Wright and Ben Wells, 

 while Alice Byron, Cheltoni, Donald Mc- 

 Leod, Nellie Pockett and others will not 

 exceed three feet in height. A little 

 forethought at planting time will mean 

 much less work later on. I never did 

 like having to pull down the plants from 

 the glass, because, outside of the work 

 entailed, I do not think that the flowers 

 open 80 well after the stem has been 

 tied down. Eight feet of head room is 

 not one bit too much to allow for the tall 

 growers, and if you cannot do this, pinch 

 the tops off at once, which will' take a 

 foot or two off the height next fall. 



C. H. TOTTT. 



THE PLANTING SEASON. 



Disposing of Old Plants. 



With the planting plans complete and 

 everything in readiness for that work, 

 general planting can be started imme- 

 diately after Memorial day trade is past. 

 In order to make as much out of the old 

 plants as possible, it will pay to ad- 

 vertise and sell them at a reasonable 

 price for planting outside. These old 



plants, especially of Beauties, Kaisering, 

 Chatenay and Meteor, make excellent 

 bloomers during the summer and if prop- 

 erly handled and cared for during the 

 winter are good for years to come and, 

 as they have to be thrown out anyhow, 

 if they can be disposed of at a figure 

 that will pay for the work and leave 

 a margin it is like money found. 



June planting has, in my experience, 

 proved the most profitable and the plant- 

 ing should be pushed along so that by 

 July 4 every rose should be benched, 

 thus securing the best part of the sum- 

 mer, when growth is at its best. 



Qeansing the Houses. 



When the old soU has been remove*! 

 from the benches and all repairs pade, 



