PLANTING-OUT AND FLOWERING CYCLAMENS. 



5 



manure freely ; or the corms may be partially freed of soil, damaging the roots as little 

 as possible, and be placed in pots a size larger than they were in before, using soil as 

 recommended for the younger plants. Return them to frames or pits and treat simi- 

 larly to the seedlings. 



Planting out cyclamens is sometimes recommended, but in the case of old corms does 

 not answer particularly well unless they are previously rested as already advised. They 

 are liable to fail in hot and dry situations, and are best planted in beds of rich soil 

 in frames on a mild hot-bed on the north side of a wall. With them may also be 

 associated a portion of the newly raised plants, these not unfrequently succeeding ad- 

 mirably when planted out in frames. Treat in all other respects similarly to those 

 grown entirely in pots, lifting carefully early in October, and placing in pots just large 

 enough to hold the roots comfortably. 



The Flowering Period. 



Although the plants fail to grow well in a comparatively dry atmosphere, they must 

 not have much moisture about them when in flower. Arrange them thinly on a light 

 greenhouse staging not immediately over the hot-water pipes, and not in mixture with 

 a variety of other plants. Maintain a gentle heat of 45° to 55°, according to external 

 conditions, and open the top ventilators slightly during the warmest part of mild days. 

 Attend carefully to the watering, pouring what is necessary round the sides of the 

 pots rather than into the centres of the plants, damping off being the cause of many 

 losses of flowering plants. A free use of liquid manure such as answers well in the 

 case of cinerarias, is apt to result in the production of far too much foliage in cyclamens, 

 at the expense of flowers, but enough may be applied in a mild form to keep strongly 

 rooted plants in a robust state. 



Never cut the flowers, but draw the stalks clean out of their sockets, as a preven- 

 tive of decay. Treat decaying flowers and damaged leaf stalks in the same way. 

 Flowers that expand during November and again in February are the most likely to give 

 pods of seed, but these form at other times if the pollen is sufficiently dry for dispersion. 

 Tapping the flowers towards mid-day is usually enough to effect fertilisation, or the 

 pollen may be transferred from one flower to another with the aid of a camel's-hair 

 brush. Allowing the plants to seed early seriously weakens them, and a few of the 

 later flowers should be saved for the purpose, keeping the plants in frames and well 

 looked after till the seeds are ripe. 



