16 



The Florists^ Review 



Apbil 30, 1914. 



iEAF DISEASE OF GERANIUMS. 



yVe are mailing under separate cover 

 a sample of some geraniums which are 

 giving us lots of trouble. For three 

 vears they have been acting in this 

 way, beginning in February or March 

 and continuing until about May 10. 

 Our stock plants are bedded in the 

 ground in other houses and are per- 

 fectly free from this trouble. We have 

 tried running them pretty dry and they 

 have had plenty of room. In years 

 previous to the last three we have 

 grown geraniums in the same house as 

 these are grown in, and under exactly 

 the same conditions. This disease was 

 first noticed on some plants we bought, 

 but our own plants were not affected 

 at that time. Now it has spread to 

 all our geraniums. "We have used cin- 

 ■ders and have tried sand in the 

 benches under the pots. Do you think 

 the disease is in the plants, or is it 

 •due to the condition of the house or 

 the soil? P. & C. 



The Review each year at this time 

 leceives many queries similar to this, 

 relative to leaf diseases of geraniums. 

 "While cultural conditions and soils may 

 sometimes account wholly, or in part, 

 for the trouble, the most likely cause 

 of the disease is that the purchased 

 plants may have been propagated in a 

 fairly warm house and left in a 

 crowded condition in the cutting 

 .benches before being shipped to you. 

 Most of these troubles have their ori- 

 gin in the cutting bench. This does 

 not apply to geraniums only, but to 

 many other plants. A poor soil is less 

 likely to start trouble of this sort 

 than is an overrich one. 



I would suggest throwing away the 

 •worst affected plants. Keep the others 

 picked over and well spaced apart. 

 Spray all affected plants and, for 

 safety, your entire batch with a good 

 fungicide, such as Bordeaux mixture. 

 Two or more applications may be nec- 

 essary. Be sure the foliage is per- 

 fectly dry when it is applied. Use the 

 remedy at the prescribed strength. 

 Keep your houses well ventilated and 

 •dry, and do not allow any debris to be 

 thrown below the benches. Nothing 

 -will encourage fungoid diseases more 

 than decaying vegetation below the 

 benches. Be careful to select cuttings 

 from clean plants only. C. W. 



WORMS IN OEBANTUM SOIL. 



I find a great many small worms in 

 the soil of my geraniums. The worms 

 have a black head, but are otherwise 

 about the color of the new roots. Can 

 you tell me of something which will ex- 

 terminate these! I have used lime 

 water without success. J. I. H. 



As lime does not get rid of the worms 

 referred to, give the plants a watering 

 ■witji Vermine, which destroys these arid 

 •oth(Br soil pegts. Use at the rate of one 

 l^art of Venaine to 250 parts of water. 



Carbon bisulphide and Vaporite are also 

 used to exterminate soil pests. C. W. 



GERANIUMS LOSING FOLIAGE. 



Will you kindly give me a little in- 

 formation regarding my geraniums? 

 The ends of the branches seem to be- 

 come blasted. The new leaves, when 

 about one-fourth grown, get spotted 

 and in a few days turn brown and die. 

 I do not know the cause of this. I 

 keep the plants on the dry side and 

 give them all possible air and a night 

 temperature of 45 to 50 degrees, never 

 above 50 degrees. Around where these 

 were affected there is a leak in the 

 hose and, after watering, there will be 

 a puddle of water there for several 

 hours. Aside from that, the floor and 

 atmosphere are dry. Also, about one- 

 half of my old stock plants seem to go 

 blind. The leaves are misshaped and 

 the ends of the shoots turn brown in 

 about the same manner as the other 

 geraniums. W. E. H. 



If I knew the nature of the soil in 

 which your plants are potted and had 

 some idea of their present vigor, I 

 could answer your query more intelli- 

 gentlj. The puddle of water, if about 



the bases of the plants, might in some 

 measure be accountable for the disease. 

 If your soil is all right, your house a 

 suitable one arid well ventilated, and 

 if other conditions are all right, you 

 should soon master this trouble. I 

 would advise throwing away the worst 

 plants. Give all the affected ones a 

 spraying with a fungicide. Continue to 

 keep the air and foliage (Jry, water 

 carefully, remove weeds and bad leaves, 

 keep all refuse away from below your 

 benches — too many florists throw sick 

 and useless plants there — preserve 

 cleanliness, and your plants should soon 

 improve. The old, blind stock plants 

 would better be discarded. Give the 

 others some suitable feeding, such as 

 fine bone, to brace them up. C. W. 



^^ 



DISEASED GERANIUMS. 



I am sending some geranium leaves 

 which are affected with some kind of 

 disease or insect. Kindly let me know 

 the nature of the trouble and the treat- 

 ment for it. As yet it is not bad, but 

 I am afraid it will spread and ruin my 

 crop. A. D. K. 



Throw away the badly affected 

 plants and pick over the balance. Keep 

 the atmosphere dry and ventilate 

 freely. Give plenty of sun; do not 

 shade at all. Underwater the plants 

 rather than the reverse. Do not spray 

 overhead with the hose. Keep the 

 ground below the benches clean; any 

 rubbish thrown there will produce 

 moldiness and aggravate the trouble- 

 Spraying the plants with " Bordeaux 

 mixture may help to remedy your 

 trouble, and I have found Fungine an 

 excellent remedy. C. W. 



i 



« 



^ 



^ SEASONABLE 



[ ^ SUGGESTIONS 



2> 



Stevias. 



If an adequate supply of stevia cut- 

 tings has not been put in, it is not yet 

 too late to make up any deficiency. This, 

 is an easy flower to grow and, while 

 somewhat common, is all but indispen- 

 sable on a place where the stock grown 

 is retailed. Every bouquet of flowers 

 and every floral design can be fur- 

 nished in part by this useful little 

 flower. 



Rambler Roses. 



A new supply of ramblers should 

 now be secured for next season, if they 

 have not already been bought. Some 

 for an early crop are better pot-grown 

 through the season, starting them in- 

 doors, cutting back to within a few 

 inches of the pots, allowing the young 

 canes to come up and judiciously re- 

 ducing the number of these. The plants 

 are better kept indoors until the middle 

 of June and then plunged outdoors, 

 where they can be kept well supplied 

 with water. Also, to keep the canes 

 erect so that they will ripen up thor- 

 oughly, some supports must be given. 



Where pot culture is not resorted to, 

 a good plan is to buy the |)lants now 

 and, if a well manured, sunny piece of 

 ground is at disposal, plant them there 



and keep the canes ereQt -tq assist in 

 maturing the wood.' To produce stand- 

 ards of any particular varieties, select 

 one stout cane, cut away all others, 

 leaving the single cane of any desired 

 height, and remov6 all growths except 

 such as will form a suitable head. Such 

 roses as Dorothy Perkins, Tausend- 

 schon, Excelsa, Lady Gay, White Dor- 

 othy, Hiawatha, Newport Beauty and 

 American Pillar are all suitable to 

 grow for forcing purposes. 



Poinsettias. 



Where poinsettias are wanted with a 

 considerable length of stem, the old 

 roots should now be shaken out, potted, 

 pruned back and started in a tempera- 

 ture of 55 to 60 degrees. A warmer 

 house is not to be recommended, as the 

 cuttings are then less stocky. Water 

 somewhat sparingly until growth starts; 

 then water more freely. Cuttings 

 rubbed off with a heel root with the 

 least trouble and are less liable to damp 

 off than such as are cut below a ioint. 

 Where pans not exceeding eighteen 

 inches in height are wanted, tfee roots 

 need not be started for a morith yet, 

 but if any are to be grown in benches 

 or as single specimens in 6-inch d^pts, 

 now is the correct starting tim^.''^* , 



