342 FRITZ BAHR'S COMMERCIAL FLORICULTURE 



Care of the Plants in Fall 



For the plants you want in flower for Christmas, the middle of 

 September is as late as they should be shifted; a potbound plant 

 will always flower earlier than one that isn't potbound. That is 

 also a good time to have your plants get ready to set buds, and not 

 be so much concerned about more growth. While the plants often 

 do a lot of growing even up to November, you are more interested 

 in seeing the buds push their way up toward and through the 

 foliage. To encourage that, give full sunlight and provide no more 

 moisture than is absolutely necessary to keep red spider away. 

 Set the plants on pots, if you wish, in a 50- or 52-deg. house to let the 

 air get around every plant and the sun get into it; this will in a way 

 arrest' the growth and at the same time promote the development 

 of the buds. On hot days a light spraying won't hurt. Toward 

 December you can even give the plants a 55-deg. temperature to 

 hustle things up a little, but don't make the mistake of forcing a 

 lot of plants when there is no chance to ever get them into flower; 

 keep those which are too late for Christmas in a 50-deg. house and 

 let them take their time. 



Possible Troubles 



There is more crippled Cyclamen foUage due to green fly than 

 to anything else. The pests settle near the base of the plants and 

 you no sooner get rid of them and think all trouble is over, than 

 you notice that the young leaves as they develop are aU crippled— 



the result of a former dose 

 of green fly; and so it keeps 

 on. Either spray or fumigate 

 regularly, as long as you have 

 the plants on hand, from the 

 seedling stage to the time 

 they are in flower. 



Red spider, as we all know, 

 comes from a too-dry atmos- 

 phere and will never occur if 

 you pay attention up to the 

 flowering stage and maintain 

 enough moisture. Thrips is 

 another nasty thing, but 

 spraying with nicotine will 

 keep it in check. We all 



„. ,„ ^ ^ have heard of "the mite" 



tig. 141. — Improved Cyclamen Blooms. „++„„i,;„„ ,.i„„+„ i„ot wlipn 



Some of the modern forms remind one of attacking plants JUSt When 



orchids more than anything else full of buds. Just what it 



