At the Turn of Winter w. c mccollom 



AS THE DAYS LENGTHEN ACTIVITIES IN THE GREENHOUSE BEGIN FOR THE NEW YEAR 



FORWARD looking gardeners are 

 glad when the end of December 

 approaches for to them it means 

 gradually lengthening days with in- 

 creasing light, and in consequence an awak- 

 ening of activity in plants under glass, and 

 easing up of the actual management of routine 

 operations in keeping plants growing. With 

 diminished light and increased heat the prob- 

 lem of keeping the plant healthy is not always 

 an easy one to solve; but as the end of De- 

 cember approaches the necessity for very close 

 attention greatly diminishes. The difficulties 

 of winter management of the greenhouse are 

 wrapped up in those two facts, and it is a 

 mistake to endeavor to force growth unduly 

 during periods of dull light. The tendency 

 is always to get the house too warm, which is 

 bad in ultimate results. The best grower in 

 the world cannot make a good plant ultimately 

 out of one that in its youngest stages has been 

 forced into a sappy, long drawn out, weak 

 growth by too high a temperature in the ab- 

 sence of adequate light. For instance, if 

 you are growing Sweet Peas too much heat 

 at this time makes them soft and consequently 

 an easy prey to mildew or aphis; and although 

 there may be more flowers produced to the 

 plant, the individuals will be small. Fifty 

 degrees at night is the maximum temperature 

 for this time of year; but when more ventila- 

 tion can be given with less fire heat, a higher 

 degree can be maintained. 



Getting Flowers Early 



PRACTICALLY all annuals make fine 

 * subjects for early spring forcing; that is, 

 by sowing now you will have flowers in abund- 

 ance during March, April and May or until 

 the outside flowers appear. This will also 

 add considerably to the variety of flowers 

 in your greenhouse and while most of these 

 plants will not force well during late fall and 

 early winter, they will do well from this time 

 on. Lavatera, Scabiosa, Stock, Candytuft, 

 Zinnia, Clarkia, Arctotis, African Daisy, Sweet 

 Sultan, Marigold, Cornflower, Calliopsis, 

 Nicotiana, Calendula, Balsam are all avail- 

 able besides many others. 



Antirrhinums are now recognized as one of 

 our finest winter cut flowers. They force 

 much better after the short days are passed, 

 and are very easy to grow, if you do not try to 

 hurry them with heat. Fifty degrees is ideal, 

 and 90 per cent, of all trouble with Antirr- 

 hinum is caused by growing the plants too 

 warm. The cultural requirement is to spray 

 the plants frequently, feeding them freely when 

 they start to flower and keeping them dis- 

 budded. The flowers keep well, have excel- 

 lent stems, and have a fine range of colors. 

 Mignonette is one of the rankest feeders of 

 all forcing plants so feed it freely with liquid 

 manures or mulch the bed with pure cow 

 manure. Keep the strong shoots staked up 

 and sprayed frequently to keep green fly in 

 check. 



Using Liquid Fertilizer 



DOT plants of Cyclamen, Primula, etc., can 

 be fed freely with liquid manures when 

 they start to flower. Begin easily and keep 

 increasing both the strength and the fre- 

 quency of the doses. 



A word as to liquid feeding: Plants, like 

 everything else that lives, like a little variety 

 of diet. Make a practice of giving "balanced 

 rations" so to speak. Sheep manure, cow 



By a little tempering of the winter's cold many of the 

 spring flowers can be had in late winter. Cut branches of 

 flowering shrubs are easily brought into bloom indoors 



manure, or good stable manure, all good fer- 

 tilizers, are equally effective when used in 

 liquid form; so also guano and any of the 

 concentrated natural plant foods, and the 

 chemical foods such as nitrate of soda, sul- 

 phate of ammonia, potash, can be used in 

 liquid form. The general practice is to dis- 

 solve about a bushel of the natural manures 

 in a barrel of water, letting it stand for 

 a day or two. If you tie the manure in a 

 loose sack, it will not clog up the spout of 

 the watering can. The stronger forms such as 

 guano or the standard concentrated foods 

 should be used by dissolving an 8 to 12 inch 

 potful in a barrel of water. A 5 or 6 inch 

 potful to a barrel of water is double strength 

 for the chemicals and should be diluted with 

 an equal quantity of water before applying. 

 These chemical plant foods should not be 

 applied with the regularity that liquid manures 

 are used but as occasional tonics to give the 

 plants a good shake-up and accelerate root 

 action. 



Pushing on Early Flowering Shrubs 



T ATE in the month it is time to start cut- 

 *-~* ting shoots from the early flowering 

 shrubs (Pussy Willow, Forsythia, Japan 

 Quince, etc.),, for forcing in the greenhouse. 

 Plunge the shoots into deep jars of water 

 and keep the tops sprayed. Do not cut 

 great quantities at one time, but rather a little 

 frequently as the plants are improving every 

 day because of the rest they are receiving. 

 And they force much quicker and with better 

 results later in the winter. But growing plants 

 may be used too. Hard wooded forcing 

 plants such as Lilac, Deutzia, Wistaria, are 

 started by being placed in a cool greenhouse 

 and the tops well sprayed until they show by 

 the buds that root action has started, when 

 they can be given more heat. Plants of this 



165 



type, if pot-grown, should be fed freely with 

 liquid manures just as soon as growth starts. 

 Hybrid Perpetual Roses for forcing in pots 

 should be potted up just as soon as they are 

 received. Use good rich soil and be sure the 

 pots are properly drained. When potting 

 ram the soil well with a potting stick. Roses 

 dislike a wet, soggy soil that does not 

 drain well; but in fact, nearly all plants 

 do. The plants can be plunged in a cold- 

 frame until they have been properly rested 

 or they can be plunged out of doors and 

 protected slightly. 



Get Ahead on the Food Crop Supply 



TT IS now time to think of next year in the 

 vegetable garden. French globe arti- 

 choke sown now and carried along in pots 

 in a cool greenhouse will surely fruit next 

 season. Onions — those great, large mild 

 ones — for salads, that are really more fruit 

 than vegetable, are best sown now, and 

 the seedlings can be "dibbled off" into 

 boxes when large enough to handle and the 

 boxes placed in a cool greenhouse until 

 spring. 



Sow lettuce, beans, cauliflower, radish, 

 and spinach about every two or three weeks to 

 keep a continuous supply on hand. Beets 

 and carrots do not mature very quickly 

 and if sown at intervals of five to six weeks 

 you will have a proper succession. It is also 

 advisable to sow a few pots of cucumbers 

 occasionally to keep them on hand as the old 

 plants sometimes " go off" very suddenly with 

 stem rot. 



Cucumbers and tomatoes growing in hills 

 on the bench should have a top dressing, using 

 the same compost as recommended for Car- 

 nations, but do not apply a lot at one time 

 on the theory that if a little is good, a whole 

 lot must be better, A little at a time, fre- 

 quently, is the right idea. A good practice 

 is to apply about an inch to the outside of the 

 hills, when you seethewhite feeding rootsshow- 

 ing through. Don't apply any to the top as 

 covering the stems of the cucumbers is apt* 

 to lead to stem rot. 



Carnations for Cut Bloom — Roses Too 



T^EEDING can be done now and it is a 

 -*■ good practice to mulch Carnations 

 under glass late this month; liquid feeding 

 can be practised until such time as you are 

 ready to apply the mulch. A mulch, how- 

 ever, is preferable to continual liquid feeding. 

 Make a rich mixture, using well rotted manure 

 and good turfy loam in equal quantities, and 

 adding about one tenth the bulk of bone meal. 

 Apply this mulch about one inch in depth, 

 having the benches fairly dry at the time, first 

 "roughing up" the top of the bench with a 

 hand cultivator so the mulch will bind with the 

 old soil; the bench should then be watered 

 copiously. The same compost can also be 

 used for Roses that are showing any indica- 

 tion of the lack of food. During dark, dull 

 weather, Roses particularly and inside 

 flowers in general, are very apt to be "off 

 color." This is the direct result of lack of 

 light. Feedings of soot occasionally w T ill 

 offset this. Dissolve an 8 inch potful in a 

 barrel of water and apply it to the benches 

 about once a week. Use it on all plants 

 when the flowers are "bleaching out" which 

 you will find more particularly with pink 

 and red shades. 



