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Mabch 9, 1911- 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



9 



Mr. Winterich is Growing One Hundred Seven Thousand Cyclamen Plants this Season. 



loose mixture of about two-thirds leaf- 

 mold, with some loam and sand added. 

 This soil may do also for the first shift. 

 For each successive shift add more 

 loam and old hotbed soil. For the last 

 two shifts we use some horn shavings 

 or meal, mixed with the soil in the 

 proportion of a 4-inch potful to a 

 bushel of soil. 



Care of the Seedlings. 



Set the seed flats, thinly covered 

 with sphagnum moss, on a mild hotbed, 

 with not too much ventilation, or in a 

 greenhouse where you can keep the 

 air moderately moist until the seeds 

 germinate, which takes about four to 

 five weeks. Keep the flats shaded and 

 moist until the seedlings make the first 

 leaf; then remove the sphagnum moss 

 and increase the light and ventilation 

 gradually. Loosen the soil around the 

 plants with a label and keep the green 

 moss which forms on the soil removed. 

 Do this every two or three weeks, as 

 this is essential to the growing of 

 strong and healthy plants. 



We transplant the first batch into 

 other flats about eight to ten weeks 

 after the sowing of the seed, planting 

 them about one and one-half inches 

 apart. Set them on shelves near the 

 glass and give them an average night 

 temperature of about 52 to 55 degrees, 

 with 10 degrees more heat in the day- 

 time. Give them plenty of fresh air; 

 never let the air become close, or they 

 will weaken, and such plants are hard 

 to get through the hot summer months. 

 Do not shade cyclamens from the mid- 

 dle of October until about March 1. 

 Give all the Jight possible until you 

 see the plants are in danger of wilt- 

 ing; then, with two or three fine 

 sprinklings, you might have to shade 



them only during the hottest part of 

 the day. A sprinkling two or three 

 times on a hot day will help to make 

 large bulblets and, of course, the plant 

 will greatly benefit by it. I use a 

 spray that produces a fine mist, as a 

 coarse spray would keep the plants 

 wet and soggy. 



Set the. plants so that the bulblets 

 are just covered after the first good 

 watering. I warn you not to plant too 

 deep, as that would make spindly 

 plants and weak bulbs. If planted too 

 high, the bulbs grow hard and will 

 never make a thriving plant. 



Semoval to the Hotbed. 



We manage to have our plants from 

 the first sowing in 3-inch pots by 

 the end of March, when they go on a 

 mild hotbed. In the beginning keep 

 the bed rather close, until you notice 

 their root action. Shade them only in 

 bright sunshine and sprinkle them at 

 least once or twice a day, according to 

 the weather. Keep the bottom heat at 

 about 70 to 80 degrees. Gradually give 

 more ventilation and maintain a tem- 

 perature of about 55 to 65 degrees 

 above the plantsj a much warmer 

 atmosphere will tnake spindly plants 

 and a much cooler one will give them a 

 backset. Shift whenever the pot ball 

 is fairly well rooted. Do not let them 

 get potbound and do not give them too 

 large a shift. Put in about one-fifth 

 drainage, for which washed coal ashes 

 or coarse sand is the best material. 

 Cyclamens, more than any other plant, 

 enjoy clean pots. They also enjoy a 

 mild hotbed, though this is not abso- 

 lutely necessary. 



When shifting into larger pots, set 

 the plants now so that the bulb is 

 about covered with soil. The first 



watering will then settle the soil to 

 about three-fourths or one-half the 

 bulb. If planted too high, the bulb 

 will get hard too soon and may burst 

 and set the buds on too early. On the 

 other hand, when planted too deep, the 

 plants get spindly and the flower stems 

 rot easily. 



The Watering and Shading. 



Most of the mistakes are made in 

 watering, by keeping the plants too 

 wet and soggy. Let them dry out 

 fairly well before you give another 

 watering. This will keep the soil 

 sweet, which is of the iitmost impor- 

 tance for growing choice - cyclamen 

 plants. - ■-' ' I 



The shade should not be too deiise. 

 I use thin burlap or sashes made out 

 of plaster strips, also mats of bamboo 

 sticks, but I believe burlap is the 

 easiest to handle and the cheapest in 

 the long run. •-'*• 



The last shift we usuajly* make in 

 August or September. It»"is now ad- 

 visable to set the plants so the bulb 

 comes to stand about one-half in the 

 soil. This is important to the setting 

 of the buds. The plants bloom with 

 more flowers at one time; also, the 

 buds are not so liable to rot off and 

 the plants are more ej»aily kept clean. 



During the warm ni. hts of August 

 and September the Mt/ies should be 

 removed from the plants. The dew 

 freshens up the plants, keeps them 

 short and is quite helpful in setting 

 the buds. 



With the beginning of hot weather 

 we set the sashes on a railing, so that 

 the space between the lower part of 

 the sash and the hotbed frame is about 

 six to eight inches; the upper part of 



