GREENHOUSE. 



727 



Spring and summer management of greenhouse 

 plants. — As spring advances an increase of tem- 

 perature should be allowed to take place in a 

 gradual manner; air and water must be increased 

 in a like ratio. A general arrangement will be 

 required towards the end of February or begin- 

 ning of March. Such plants as require it should 

 be potted, pruned, and neatly trained, and, in 

 the case of lean-to houses, be frequently turned 

 round, so that no part of the plant be too long 

 excluded from the sun and air; due regard should 

 be paid to the suppression of insects, and slight 

 syringings with tepid water should be given to 

 the plants early in the day, to refresh and clear 

 the foliage of dust. Propagation must be 

 thought of, particularly as regards soft-wooded 

 plants ; for on keeping up a constant succession 

 of young stock much of the success in green- 

 house management depends. The majority of 

 hard-wooded plants, particularly such as are 

 difficult to propagate, or which take a long 

 time to root, never can repay the private 

 grower or amateur. It is better, therefore, to 

 purchase young plants at once from the nursery- 

 men. The majority of greenhouse plants are 

 propagated by seed, as all annuals, many plants 

 otherwise difficult to multiply, like Eucalyptus, 

 Astelma, &c. ; others, like Kennedya,Chorozema, 

 Eutaxia, Cytisus, Viminaria, Aotus, &c, seed 

 freely, and are more readily increased in this way 

 than by cuttings : wherever seeds are produced, 

 they should be preferred. Others are increased by 

 cuttings, as geraniums, fuchsias, hydrangeas, jas- 

 minum, "Nerium, &c; by cuttings of the roots, as 

 several species of acacia; by budding, inarching, 

 and grafting, like camellias, oranges, &c; by cut- 

 tings of the leaves, like Hoya, Gloxinia, &c. ; by 

 layers, like Clematis, Wistaria ; by division of 

 the roots, like Calla, Agapanthus, &c, and by 

 knaurs or dormant buds, which form on the 

 stems of some plants, and the roots of others, 

 like Yucca, &c. The various processes of propa- 

 gation have been treated on, vide p. 309-355. 

 We may here, however, remark, that seeds of 

 most greenhouse plants, the production of the 

 preceding summer or autumn, should be sown 

 in February or March, in soil somewhat lighter 

 than that in which the plants are grown, and 

 placed in a temperature a few degrees only 

 warmer than that of the ordinary greenhouse, 

 and in a uniform atmosphere, rather more humid 

 than otherwise. Seed sown at a more advanced 

 period of the season, and particularly during the 

 heat of summer, vegetate with greater vigour 

 and more certainty when placed in a house or 

 pit having a northern aspect. Imported seed, 

 particularly those with hard outer coverings, 

 require the stimulus of a slight bottom-heat, and 

 their germination is greatlyinsured by theirbeing 

 steeped for twenty-four hours in tepid water to 

 soften them, so that the embryo bud may pro- 

 trude more freely. The periods during which 

 seeds remain in the soil before germinating are 

 exceedingly various, some vegetating in a few 

 days, others in a few weeks, and some remaining 

 for one or even two years. Seed-pots, therefore, 

 should not be too hurriedly thrown out. Sow 

 thin, and transplant as soon as the young plants 

 are fit to handle ; and the first transplantation 



may be very judiciously done by pricking them 

 out thinly into store-pots, in which they will 

 soon attain a proper size for planting singly into 

 small 60 - sized pots. Young seedling plants 

 require to be kept in rather a close and moist 

 atmosphere at first, gradually exposing them to 

 the sun and air as they become furnished with 

 roots. 



Cuttings of all soft -wooded plants succeed 

 best when planted during February, March, or 

 April, and the majority of them strike roots 

 rapidly if plunged in a mild bottom-heat and 

 kept near to the glass; hence a low pit or garden 

 frame is, in the absence of a regular propagating- 

 pit, the most suitable. Soft- wooded plants, such 

 as pelargoniums, do not require to be covered 

 with bell-glasses. Many hard-wooded ones do; 

 and all which require a long time to strike roots 

 require such covering in a particular degree. 

 From the end of March onward throughout the 

 summer, cuttings either of soft or hard wooded 

 plants strike readier when the structure they 

 are placed in faces the north, because the atmo- 

 sphere in it can be kept more uniform than if 

 exposed to the full sun ; and it lessens the care 

 and trouble of shading, which, however well 

 attended to, is liable to accident; for a few 

 minutes' bright sun striking suddenly upon the 

 unrooted cuttings is in many cases fatal to them. 

 All hard-wooded cuttings should be set in silvery 

 sand, and as soon as the roots have commenced 

 to form, they should be taken up and transferred 

 either to store-pots or to single ones of small 

 dimensions, kept close and humid till fairly 

 established, after which they should be gradually 

 exposed to the sun and air. The majority of 

 soft -wooded plants strike root readily in a light 

 sandy soil, such as sand and leaf-mould, or in 

 light sandy loam. All the other modes of pro- 

 pagation already described should be proceeded 

 with during February, March, April, and May. 



Potting. — Early in spring a general examina- 

 tion should take place ; those plants intended to 

 be grown as specimens should be shifted into 

 pots two sizes larger than those they have been 

 growing in. Such as are wished to be of mode- 

 rate size and to bloom profusely, should have a 

 shift of one size only, and all that are defective 

 at the roots should have the soil greatly reduced, 

 often entirely removed, and be set in fresh soil 

 in pots less than those they formerly occupied. 

 The most proper soil for greenhouse plants is 

 sandy peat, and light maiden loam which has 

 not been in previous use. Many plants, such 

 as Ericas, Epacris, &c, succeed best in the 

 former without any other mixture. Proteas 

 and bulbs do best in the latter, while the great 

 majority prefer a soil composed of these two 

 sorts in equal quantities. 



Watering. — As vegetation advances, the quan- 

 tity of water at the roots should be increased, 

 and such as are not at the time in flower, are 

 much benefited by a gentle syringing over their 

 tops two or three times a-week — regard, however, 

 being paid to the habits of some, which require 

 it in greater quantities than others; and these are 

 those of very rapid growth, and having large 

 fleshy roots, as Richardia Ethiopica, the genus 

 Agapanthus, Crinum, &c. ; and some during the 



