Nursing the 
House Plant 
THE PLANTS TO HAVE AND 
WHERE TO PUT THEM—HOW 
TO GIVE THE PROPER DEGREE 
OF TEMPERATURE, MOISTURE 
AND VENTILATION—MAGICAL 
FLOWER GROWING 
Stephen E d s a l l 
Wash off broad-leafed plants occasionally. It 
opens their pores and gives them a chance to breathe 
Photographs by Robert S. Lemmon and 
S. Leonard Bastin 
For plants with delicate leaves it is better to wash 
with a spray. Cover with a cloth when sweeping 
B Y December those who are taking an active interest in house 
plants for the first time discover that they fall into two 
classes — those that thrive and those that merely exist. Yet, with 
careful, common sense treatment, all can he made to thrive. Thus, 
the leaves of your favorite plant may he turning yellow and the 
whole taking on a sickly look. One of three or all three circum¬ 
stances may have conspired to produce this failure in health : 
excessive watering, insufficient food, or the lack of pot room. 
1 f the latter two are obviously the cause, repotting will solve the 
problem. Remove as much of the old soil as possible without in¬ 
juring the roots; cut hack the root system slightly, and work in the 
new soil around the roots. * Again, the stems of your plant may he 
long, lank and weakly, and the whole plant an easy victim to 
disease and insect invaders. The need, then, is generally more 
light. 
For all house plants there are three prime requisites : the proper 
degree of temperature, the proper degree of ventilation and the 
proper degree of moisture. The average plant demands 65° 
during the day and from 50° to 55 0 at night. If it drops below 
that the plants may be retarded slightly. If it comes very cold 
remove them from the window or put papers up at the window. 
The latter method, although unsightly, is effective. Never allow 
leaves or blossoms to touch the glass in extremely cold weather. 
A thermometer hung up near the plants in the window will assist 
in preserving the proper degree of temperature. Should ventila¬ 
tion be necessary, do not open the window directly on the plants: 
either put up a screen before them or let the air circulate through 
another room. But fresh air for your plants is of little use unless 
they can breathe it. If the pores are 
clogged with dust from sweeping, the 
plant’s air supply will be cut off. Every 
fortnight the foliage of plants should be washed. This may he 
accomplished by rubbing the leaves slightly with a damp rag or 
by spraying with water. It might also be advisable to cover the 
plants when the room is being swept. This, at all events, would 
save some labor in washing them later. 
Moisture is supplied plants in two ways — watering and by the 
moisture in the air. Too much or too little of one or the other is 
bound to be fatal. Watering in the case of newly potted plants 
must be done with caution until the roots have taken hold of the 
new soil. No fear of over-watering need he entertained if the 
plants have been rightly potted and the drainage carefully placed. 
Do not allow pots to stand in plates or saucers of water. When 
the pots have drained empty the saucer. One of the most prac¬ 
tical devices to maintain the proper amount of moisture is by the 
use of a self-watering pot or box. It is made in two sections, the 
inner containing the plant; the outer is decorative and contains the 
water which is applied to the plant by the means of a sponge set in 
the bottom of the inner box. The sponge draws up the water 
slowly and feeds the roots of the plant in exactly the right amount 
to make the life and growth of the plant a certainty. 
Over-watering is the most common cause of failure in plant 
cultures. The amount of water to give depends upon the weather 
and the season of the year, plants requiring far less water at this 
season than during the summer, and in dull weather less than in 
bright. In winter just sufficient water should he given to prevent 
the soil from becoming dust dry. Cold water fresh from the 
tap is apt to be 
injurious. Luke- 
The first signs of the magical flower growing—Lilies The twentieth day sees the leaves beginning to un- A week later the leaves will take shape and the 
of the Valley at the end of ten days in the sunlight curl and the first sign of the flower stalks flower heads show the semblance of white 
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