January 16, 1909. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
35 
Address : The Editor, The Gardening 
Vorld, 37 and 38, Shoe Lane, London, E.C. 
The Editor invites enquiries, which may 
aver any branch of gardening. Questions 
hould be as brief as -possible and written on 
ne side of the paper only; a separate sheet 
f paper should be used for each question. 
Replies cannot be sent by post. 
Garden Plans .—Gardeners who would make 
he best use of this column are invited to 
trepare and forward to us a rough outline 
lrawing or plan of their gardens, indicating 
he position of beds and lawns, the charac- 
STOVE AND GREENHOUSE. 
3534. Conditions for Odontoglossum. 
I beg to thank you for offering to answer 
enquiries with regard to Orchids. 1 have 
some Odontoglossums in a greenhouse with a 
little heat. I am told they would be better 
in a vinery without any. Kindly advise. 
(E. May, Suffolk.) 
Odontoglossums belong to the section 
known as cool house Orchids, but it" is all 
a mistake to imagine that they can be grown 
with any degree of satisfaction in an un¬ 
heated house. A few of the Orchids may be 
grown in houses from which the frost is 
merely kept out. 'Many Odontoglossums, 
however, make their growth during the win¬ 
ter months, and for that reason a regular 
temperature is a decided advantage. The 
house containing them should not be allowed 
to fall below 45 degs. and that only in severe 
weather, when it is best not to drive the 
boiler on account of the dry heat which it 
produces. In mild weather 50 degs. should 
be the minimum by night in winter. If any 
of your plants are making growth at the pre¬ 
sent time, it is a good reason why they should 
have the temperature mentioned, so as to en¬ 
courage and not cripple the young growths 
upon which so much depends for a good dis¬ 
play of flowers when they come into bloom. 
You will find an article dealing with this 
subject, namely, “ Orchids for Amateurs,” 
under "‘Work of the Week.” It deals this 
week especially with the conditions which 
Odontoglossums require in winter. 
3535. Pelargoniums in a Cold House. 
There is another question I -would like to 
ask, if not troubling you too much. I 
have some boxes of cuttings of Pelargoniums 
in a cold greenhouse that are damping off 
badly. How can this be checked? (M. B., 
Durham.) 
Pelargoniums are very liable to damp in 
winter owing to the moist condition of the 
atmosphere, and in a cold greenhouse just 
after the passing of a snowstorm the mois¬ 
ture seems to be more abundant as it comes 
out of the floors or walls. Your best plan 
■would be to light a fire so as to drive out 
the damp. This should be done in the morn¬ 
ing and a gentle heat kept in the pipes all 
day with the object of drying the atmosphere. 
If you have no pipes in the house a good 
plan would be to place a lamp or a^couple 
of them there to dry up the moisture. See 
that the wicks are properly trimmed and 
that they burn well without smoke. This 
ter and height of the fence or wall; posi¬ 
tion of vegetable garden, orchard, etc. The 
north side of the garden and any over¬ 
shadowing buildings should be denoted. It 
should also be stated whether the garden is 
■flat or on a declivity, and all large trees 
should be marked. Particulars of the na¬ 
ture of the soil will also help us to give 
satisfactory replies. When such plans are 
received they will be carefully filed, with 
the name and address of the sender, and 
will be consulted by the Editor whenever an 
enquiry is sent. 
can easily be done during the day when you 
can now and again have a look to see how 
the lamps are getting on. The shoots that 
are actually damped should be cut away 
down to a bud in sound wood. The cuts may 
he dusted with flowers of sulphur or pow- 
deied charcoal to dry up the wounds and 
prevent fresh rotting. All decayed leaves 
should be kept off the plants and the house 
kept as dry as possible. This can be greatly 
helped by giving ventilation when the sun 
is shining. Another year you should make 
a point of getting your cuttings inserted 
earlier—say, in the second half of August, 
so that they would be well rooted before 
winter. In that case you can keep the soil 
in the pots or boxes much drier and this will 
considerably lessen the tendency to damp. 
3536. Raising and Growing Primulas. 
I have a greenhouse (heated) in which 1 
would like to grow Primulas if I can give 
them the necessary heat in winter. Please 
say how high the temperature should be and 
how I am to set about rearing the plants. 
(E. H. Needs, Middlesex.) 
There should be no difficulty in keeping 
up a sufficiently high temperature for flower¬ 
ing Chinese Primulas in winter, and that is 
the class, we presume, which you mean. 
Forty-five degrees at night is quite sufficient 
to enable Chinese Primulas to grow steadily 
and to flower well if y'ou understand water¬ 
ing and ventilation. The temperature may be 
allowed to rise to 50 degs., which would 
make them grow more freely', but we think 
they would last longer and be better with 
the temperature we mention. Sow seeds in 
the brisk heat of 60 degs. to 65 degs. in May, 
and as soon as the seed leaves aie full grown 
you should remove them to a cooler place 
near the glass. At that time the sun will be 
getting strong and you should not expose 
them too much to its direct rays during the 
middle of the day, but give shading. If 
there is any tendency for them to damp off 
you should have them potted up singly in 
thumb pots, replacing them in the same struc¬ 
ture until they have taken to the change of 
soil. Immediately after this, however, they 
may be placed in a cold frame facing south, 
where they can get plenty of ventilation and 
he shaded by tiffany during the heat of the 
day. From this time onwards your care will 
he to keep them growing slowly and sturdily 
by shading in very bright weather and giv¬ 
ing plenty of ventilation at the back of the 
frame by tilting up the lights. When the 
seedlings have made three or four leaves 
you will find that the roots are getting well 
round the sides of the pots, and if so, they 
should be potted immediately into , small 
60’s so as to keep them growing. Return 
to the frame and give them this treatment 
during the remainder of the season. Some 
ol them will show flowers about August or 
September, but all those early flowers should 
be removed to encourage good growth in the 
plants. About the end of September they 
can be taken into the greenhouse and placed 
on a shelf or bench by themselves close to 
the glass, or, at all events, where they will 
not be shaded by anything. They should be 
placed together and not crowded up amongst 
other plants that would shade them. They 
may be allowed to commence flowering when 
they have got fairly strong. 
FRAMES. 
3537. Hotbed for Raising- Seeds. 
Will you please inform me through your 
valuable paper the best way to make a hotbed 
for growing seeds in boxes. 1 have two gar¬ 
den frames, one 6 ft. by 4 ft. and the other 
4 ft. by 3 ft. Can 1 grow the following 
seeds :—Aquilegias, Asters, Dianthus, Lin- 
aria, Lobelia, Pentstemons, Phlox Drum- 
mondi and Salpiglossis ? (S. G. White, 
Bristol.) 
All of the plants you mention can be satis¬ 
factorily reared on a hotbed, with the ex¬ 
ception of Linaria, which should be sown 
in the open ground where it is to bloom at 
the beginning of April. It would not be 
advisable to commence with the hotbed at 
present, unless you are well acquainted with 
the rearing of seedlings in that way. The 
eaily part of the year is a very bad time 
for seedlings raised in strong heat and mois¬ 
ture. The Lobelia would be better sown 
early to get the plants to some size for plant¬ 
ing out by the end of May, but we think it 
would suit them all generally if you make 
up the hotbed about the beginning of March 
and sow them all then. The plan of making 
a hotbed is to get sufficient manure fresh 
from the cow house or stables and shake it 
up loosely in a heap in a convenient place 
and leave it for about three days or less 
according to the heat which it develops. 
Shake it up afresh and allow it to lie for 
another day or two, after which you can 
make up the hotbed. The plan of building 
it .is to shake up the manure so as to form a 
square heap slightly^ higher at the back than 
at the front, so that when the frame is stood 
upon it it will be more or less inclined to 
the south. As the work proceeds the manure 
should be trodden down firmly, making a 
point of building the corners strongly' so 
that the bed will not get broken down when 
attending to the frame. The smaller frame 
should be sufficient tor the seeds you mention. 
The hotbed should be about 3 ft. wider and 
longer than the frame so that there will be 
a margin of 18 in. all round. This is a 
method by which a steadier heat can be 
maintained than if the frame came close to 
the side of the manure, with a danger, per¬ 
haps, of it tilting over by the sinking of 
the manure. At the same time, we give you 
to understand that from one-third to one- 
half of the material may consist of good 
Beech or Oak leaves, which would prevent 
the manure from heating so violently' and 
making it more durable. Leaves are not 
otherwise necessary, but it is an advantage 
to have them. Put on the frame and cover 
the soil with 3 in. or 4 in. of soil. A con 
siderable amount of moisture will arise from 
the fermenting manure and that should be 
allowed to escape by having the back of the 
fiame tilted up. You should use a ther¬ 
mometer resting on the manure so as tc 
ascertain the degree of heat. When the 
bed is on the decline and has reached So 
degs. or 85 degs. you can then place the 
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