Green Tree Flower Gardens 
Potting and Soil 
Thoroughly wash and dry in the sun all pots 
before using them. They should be soaked in 
clean water just before using, otherwise they ab¬ 
sorb moisture from the soil, which should be avail¬ 
able for the roots. In all pots above 3" in size, 
place a layer of coarse gravel or broken pieces of 
pots in the bottom of the pot—if the plant should 
be overwatered this will prevent the roots from 
laying in water. 
There are many formulas given for potting soil 
for Begonias; the following has given us satis¬ 
factory results: % sand (river bottom or builders), 
Ys oak leaf mold, % well rotted cow manure and 
a generous sprinkling of tobacco dust and bone 
meal scattered over the pile before mixing it 
thoroughly. A word as to leaf mold when spoken 
of in relation to Begonias: it means leaf mold, not 
peat moss, not humus, not super-humus, nor 
sphagnum moss, but leaf mold gathered prefer¬ 
ably from an oak forest. If oak leaf mold is not 
obtainable, leaf mold from any forest (except a 
pine or evergreen forest) can be substituted, as it 
is usually acid. If you cannot obtain well rotted 
cow manure, dehydrated or dried cow manure can 
be used in these proportions: 3 parts leaf mold, 
2 parts sand, 1 part dried cow manure and a gen¬ 
erous sprinkling of tobacco dust. If there seems 
to be no other way than the use of peat moss for 
or in place of leaf mold, be very watchful, as it 
becomes water-logged very easily and decomposi¬ 
tion of the roots begin and your precious Begonia 
plant passes out before you realize it. Partic¬ 
ularly is this true in the Eastern part of the U. S., 
where you live below 35 degrees of latitude, be¬ 
cause you have a much longer season for your 
plants to be out of doors, and a heavy rain would 
bring about the condition described above unless 
the pot was set on top of the soil and in a well 
ventilated location. 
The component parts of potting soil in the dif¬ 
ferent locations naturally differ, so experiment a 
little and you may find a formula that will give 
you better results than the above. One suggestion 
is to substitute sandy loam for the sand; another 
to make sure the sand you are using is not al¬ 
kaline. But bear this in mind, that your soil 
must be porous and well drained, and nothing has 
been found to take the place of the virgin leaf 
mold. Keep your potting soil or compost heap 
(if you have one) moist at all times, and be care¬ 
ful to water with rain water, not hard water or 
water loaded with chlorine (which is usually pres¬ 
ent in the water supply of large cities). Plain 
leaf mold is always a welcome addition to the top 
of the soil in your potted Begonias. Many of 
the Horticultural Societies in the east have a 
Committee which does soil testing for their mem¬ 
bers—if you have access to something like this 
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