WHEN PLANTS ARE BROUGHT INDOORS 



A UTUMN is a significant period in the life of the garden; 

 /\ and no less wonderful than significant. Its phe- 

 / \ nomena are those of transition. A season of ac- 

 I \ tivity draws to a close; a period of recuperation is 

 •*- -^ at hand. The year's growth has been made, the 

 manufacturing operations pn the leaf cells are over, and the 

 plant, before shedding its leaves, proceeds to absorb from them 

 into its permanent tissues, any remaining nutritive materials; 

 in other words, it drains its now useless vats and retorts pre- 

 paratory to "scrapping them" and closing down for the dull 

 season. The formation of next season's blossom and fruit buds 

 is being carried to completion. 



These miracles may go on deep within the plant, even until 

 midwinter — but merely as the gradual finale of the fall pro- 

 gramme. But sooner or later, under the spell of cold, of frozen 

 soil, of a discontinued moisture supply, the life processes dwin- 

 dle to their lowest ebb — and the plant world sleeps. 



THE change that autumn brings to those plants that we lift 

 from frames or borders and take into our greenhouses and 

 conservatories, living rooms and enclosed porches, carries with 

 it a certain degree of danger to them. Here are subjects that, 

 having just completed a busy season and meriting a well earned 

 rest, are tumbled out of their comfortable beds, jammed into 

 the narrow confines of pots and boxes — often at the cost of 

 cramped and wounded root systems — and set down amid the 

 bustle and brilliance of an environment that permits anything 

 but rest; an environment in which artificial heat and protection 

 from the elements tend to induce a fresh, even more vigorous 

 activity. Verily, for them life has become a continuous per- 

 formance, an unbroken round of "eating, drinking, and merri- 

 ment" at high pressure. Little wonder that, unless steps are 

 taken to meet the situation and offset its demoralizing tenden- 

 cies, many a plant suffers the inevitable disastrous effects of 

 " burning the candle at both ends." 



Of the factors that change when a plant is brought indoors 

 temperature is of first importance, and it is generally accom- 

 panied by a dryer atmosphere. There follow possibilities of 

 complications from sudden drafts of air from opened windows, 

 and the wide, daily variation from the maximum heat of noon- 

 day when both sun and furnace are working full blast to the chill 

 of the midnight hours when households are at rest and furnace 

 fires are banked. Under greenhouse conditions where the 

 plants' welfare alone is considered the conditions of heat regu- 

 lation are almost reversed. 



The degree of light that prevails under the new conditions 

 is of fundamental importance, not only as the source of energy 

 in the action of the leaf, but also in its physical effect, since "the 

 more intense the illumination the greater the evaporation" 

 and, in consequence, the heavier the tax upon the roots and the 



circulatory system. Further, the supply of moisture must be 

 considered in relation to air, heat, and light; and closely related 

 to it is aeration of the roots, the two being, as it were, comple- 

 mentary, because a soil in which there is too much water neces- 

 sarily lacks air. 



THE case of the transported plant is indeed comparable to 

 that of an invalid recovering from a serious operation. 

 The sort of treatment then "indicated" (as the doctors say) is 

 rest, quiet, a darkened room, very light and simple diet. 



This, being interpreted, means for our plants no increase in 

 temperature at first, and a very gradual rise later as the plant 

 becomes established. It means light conditions as nearly as- 

 possible like those of its former location. Ordinarily this calls 

 for more sunlight than the average interior can supply, so the 

 other two factors must be proportionately held back. On 

 the other hand, a glass-roofed conservatory or an unshaded 

 greenhouse may produce a more intense, blistering flood of 

 direct sunlight than many plants have been accustomed to in 

 their outdoor environment and also a greater degree of accu- 

 mulated heat. In a dimly lighted location a plant will develop 

 weak, elongated tissues just as a potato puts out straggly shoots 

 in too warm a cellar; too much light, on the other hand, stimu- 

 lates leaf action and may result in the assimilation of plant 

 food faster than the partially established root system can sup- 

 ply it. In practice, it means less water than we are in the 

 habit of giving house plants of all kinds. 



A healthy, vigorously growing plant normally requires plenty 

 of moisture — but think of the droughts that even the plants of 

 humid regions endure year after year without injury. Adopt- 

 ing Nature's formula, we should wait until a plant becomes 

 definitely thirsty before giving it a drink, until the pot when 

 struck sounds hollow; and then,- we should give it a thorough 

 soaking. The surface of the soil and the outside of the pot 

 naturally become dry long before the soil and the root mass 

 within loose moisture; yet better that they go dry now and then, 

 than that they be kept constantly water-logged. Roots in 

 permanently saturated soil — as is all too often the case with 

 house plants — not only suffocate slowly and surely, but also 

 suffer from nothing kss than alcoholism, due to the formation 

 of alcohol, fusel oil and certain acids. These poisons not only 

 hasten the disintegration of the old root tissues and prevent 

 the growth of new ones, but also, being carried into the upper 

 portions of the plant, bring about fatal cases of auto-intoxica- 

 tion. 



This being the fate of many a healthy plant as the result of 

 careless, injudicious watering, how much more severe the ef- 

 fect on one newly transplanted into an environment to the soil, 

 air, light, and temperature of which it has yet to become 

 adapted. Such a plant does not want to be forced; it is not in 

 a condition to endure increased heat, humidity, moisture, and 

 feeding. 



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