September, 1907 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



63 



indeed, to overpot a plant, strange as it may 

 seem, and really nothing in the plant's life 

 can be more disastrous than an over-large 

 pot. Nine times out of ten the plants will 

 be over-watered and the soil become sour. 



Select for potting stocky, healthy plants 

 which are growing. Dig them carefully so 

 as to secure as many roots as possible. If the 

 soil is clayey, it must be neither so wet that 

 it is muddy and the roots cling together, 

 nor so dry that the dirt crumbles entirely 

 away from them. The right condition of 

 soil can be obtained by a thorough watering 

 at least five hours before potting. 



If the plants are growing in sandy soil, it is 

 better to have it rather dry, for then more of 

 the working roots can be saved than if it is wet. 



Have the pots, soil and plants on a bench 

 about waist high. Here it will be more 

 convenient to pot them up than out in the 

 garden. The best way to work the soil in 

 among the roots, is to hold the plant with the 

 left hand, put a little soil around the roots, 

 and work the plant up and down a little. Put 

 in some more soil, and tamp down with a 

 potting stick. It is possible to get the soil 

 too firm, so use the potting stick with mod- 

 eration and be careful not to strike the roots. 



A potting stick is usually made from a 

 piece of pine about a foot long, an inch wide 

 and an inch thick with the corners and ends 

 rounded off. A piece of a broom handle is 

 sometimes used. 



After potting, thoroughly water the plants 

 and set them in a shaded place. Syringe 

 the foliage several times a day until the roots 

 have taken hold of the new soil; but under 

 ordinary conditions, the soil will not again 

 need watering until the new roots have been 

 made. As soon as the plants have taken 

 hold, gradually inure them to direct sunlight. 



The best time of the year to repot house- 

 plants is in the spring (April or May), or 

 when new growth starts. Only in very 

 exceptional cases do house-plants need re- 

 potting during the winter; this is partic- 

 ularly true of palms, ferns, rubber plants, 

 etc. These plants are then resting or are 

 making very little growth, and meddling is 

 positively dangerous to their lives! The 

 ordinary amateur gardener does not realize 

 this, and although the plant is in a good 

 healthy condition, he becomes very much 

 worried because it is not making new growth. 

 Then he will repot the plant, putting it in 

 a larger pot, and nine times out of ten the 

 plant becomes sickly and often dies in a few 

 weeks because of the shock received and the 

 inability to make new root system rapidly 

 and so take hold of the new soil. 



Soft wooded plants like geranium or coleus, 

 I would much rather feed with liquid fertilizer 

 than to repot during the winter, although if 

 the plants are growing they can be shifted 

 to slightly larger pots without injury. Should 

 you desire to repot the plants, do so before 

 the roots circling about the inside of the pot 

 become woody; after they have matted but 

 while still white and succulent. 



To remove the plants, take the pot in the 

 right hand and place the stem of the plant 

 between the index and middle fingers of 

 the left hand; then invert it and strike the 



Sharply KnocK the rim of the inverted pot on the 

 table or bench and the plant will slip out into your 

 hand. A dry ball will not slip 



edges of the pot sharply against the edge of the 

 bench. The ball of earth and roots will 

 slide out easily, unless the earth is dry; in 

 that case, before attempting to remove the 

 plant, immerse it in water until the earth 

 has become damp. 



Now, with the right hand, disentangle and 

 spread out the lower half of the mass of roots. 

 If part of the ball of earth crumbles away, 

 it does not matter. Then place enough soil 

 in the new pot to bring the plant in about 

 the right position — that is, with the surface 

 (which should be loosened up) of the old dirt- 

 ball about half an inch to one inch, according 

 to size, below the rim of the pot. The pot- 

 ting stick will be useful in firming the soil. 



When removing palms, rubber plants and 

 other comparatively large-rooted plants from 

 the pots, the roots will be found matted 

 together in circles. If possible, without 

 injuring the roots, remove the old drainage. 

 This will leave a large hole in the ball. 

 Before putting the plant in the new pot, 



Before repotting disentangle the matted roots at 

 the bottom, removing the lower part of the ball if it 

 crumbles. Round off the top slightly also 



fill this hole full of soil; otherwise, it will 

 allow the water to drain away too rapidly, 

 and the interior of the ball becomes too dry. 

 Sometimes the roots are so matted that it is 

 impossible to cut out the drainage. 



Cuttings and seedlings are usually first 

 potted up in thumb pots (2 -inch), from 

 which they are shifted to larger pots as soon 

 as the pots have become filled with roots. 

 The soil used in filling these small pots must 

 be free from all lumps. The better way to 

 pot these small plants is to hold the cutting 

 with the left hand and with the right hand 

 fill in the soil. When the pot is full, firm the 

 soil with the thumbs and then give the pot 

 a sharp rap on the bench to settle the soil. 



Another way to pot up cuttings (but which 

 I believe is not so good as^the way already 

 described, because the roots are much more 

 liable to get bunched together) is to fill the 

 pots with soil and then make a hole in the 

 soil for the roots, after which the soil is 

 firmed. This is also a slower method. 



A geranium as lifted from the garden and after a dozen cuttings are taKen from it before potting 



