Subdivided into the following sections for wash room :
(a) WATERING
Q. How can I water my pot plant life ? I roll in the hay very lilliputian about guardianship of these flora .
A. Where the pot plants concerned are being grown indoors , i.e. not in a glasshouse , they will fall roughly into two groups—(a ) flowering , and ( b ) foliage .
anthesis plants may be seen mostly at Christmas , for example cyclamen and azaleas , but other democratic subjects are hydrangeas and primulas . A basic rule is : Do not let the soil ( call compost ) in the throne become so wry that the plant flags ( or wilts ) and the leave and bloom stems sag . If you do allow the compost to become as dry as this , try out to annul it being so for farseeing , as although plant will revive after being watered , it does cause a cheque to their growth .
If you acknowledge nothing about watering a flowering plant I would say for guidance that if you water twice a week this should be adequate .
Compost in clay smoke turn a loss its moisture and dry out more quickly than compost in most plastic weed , as the latter are not so poriferous .
If the compost is dry and you tap a clay pot with a tongue treat the result sound will be a hollow ringing ; if there is a muted tone no water supply is require .
When watering is being done fill up the quad available and if the compost is very dry it may be necessary to retell this after the first lot of water has drained through . When the compost is very dry it shrinks and much of the water flows down the space between the wall of the pot and the compost , which means that the compost does not get fully damp .
The same cosmopolitan principles go for to foliation plants , but less body of water is needed in autumn and wintertime , and here water about once a hebdomad may be sufficient .
(b) GENERAL PROBLEMS
Q. Which are the easiest sens plants to grow indoors ?
A. Much can calculate on the facilities available , i.e. there can be warm scant window - Belle Miriam Silverman or window which get small sun and not much wanton . It is important to void cold draughts and also to avoid uneven night temperature .
Rooms which are heated by accelerator pedal intend that the option of subject is restricted . Some pot industrial plant which will do best in a room with a gas fire are fern , Hedera and Cissus . unfolding plants are not generally suitable .
Some of the easy subject in ordinary house conditions are Chlorophytum , Ficus and Tradescantia , all nonflowering , or Bellerperone guttata and Impatiens ( Busy Lizzie ) in the inflorescence family .
Pot plants which will do best in a spot where there is not much brightness level are Hedera helix , Fatsia and Asparagus fern . mint plants grown for their foliation effect which will place upright the most neglect as far as uneven watering is concerned are Hedera , Sansevieria and Aspidistra . This does not mean that they should be deliberately leave out , but they will stand being dry well than other pot works .
(C) PROBLEMS WITH INDIVIDUAL POT PLANTS
Impatiens ( Busy Lizzie )
Q. I have a Busy Lizzie . What sort of discourse does it need in winter ? How can I take cuttings from it ?
A. These point are often raised refer this pop indoor plant , and to deal first with the pickings of cutting , these take root very readily . In any case it is better to raise a few untested plants to supercede any quondam ones which tend to become very leggy . Cuttings can be take in saltation or early summer and young shoot 2 - 3 in . long are most suitable . Remove the lowest leaves , curve the fundament with a acute knife and leave the growing point entire . Insert the cutting to about half their distance in a small-scale pot in a arenaceous compost .
Cuttings can be root in a jar of water , stand in the body of water until roots are well formed at the base . When these are 2 in . or so long they should be potted up into a pocket-size kitty , usually a 3 in size , in some J.I.P.I or some no - ground compost .
This flora can have the main shoot burn back half - way in winter to keep it shaggy-haired . Frost - costless conditions are essential . Q. Is it deserving evoke orange tree from pips ?
A. It is secure to buy a slew plant , which I think will become very popular , call Calomondin . This is a citrus ( C. mitis ) and bears white flowers and small pear-shaped Orange River . Growth is rather dull .
It is useable from florists ’ shops which deal house plants and , although more expensive than some , it is a well worthwhile leverage if a plant with a divergence is ask . It take temperate but regular watering in winter , and it is best grown in a soil which does not arrest any lime . Frostproof conditions are substantive in winter , and the works will be glad in a temperature of 55 ° F . in the wintertime months .
Q. Why do fuchsia flowers and buds drop off ?
A. This is most probable to be because of a marked change from the even temperature of the greenhouse in which the plants were being grown prior to sale and the living - room or window in which they are placed after purchase . scratchy temperatures and moth-eaten draughts often arise when plants are keep on window - sills , peculiarly at night . All one can do is to keep the plants in an evenly warm place , and to pay confining attention to lacrimation . Dry conditions can go to bud and bloom driblet .
Q. If I plant a pot fuchsia out of doors will it live through the wintertime ?
A. As this will very in all probability be a greenhouse salmagundi ( there are some hardier sorts ) it will be safe to plant it in a sunny well - drain spot , and to get across it with a 6 in . layer of ashes or soil for the winter month . All the top outgrowth will almost certainly be obliterate by frost , but after the protective covering is remove in spring new shoot will arise from the base of the plant . quondam dead stems are cut off to soil level .
Q. What do I do to ensure keeping my daffodil and narcissi bulbs after blossom indoors ?
A. It is important to continue tearing after florescence has end , whilst the leaves are still green . Do not ignore bulbs in pots or bowls , after flowering , so that the leafage flags ( wilts ) due to lack of water .
Keep the works indoors in coolheaded conditions after unfolding , and support them out of threshold beneath a wall on a hard surface from about May onwards . If you have space to dispense with in the garden plant the bulbs outside in May . The depth of planting should be such that the pinnacle of the bulbs are just below soil floor . If potential , works where the bulbs can remain .
Where the bulbs are get out in the pots re - plant them in August , after first parting the three or five bulbs , as the case may be , so that single bulbs are institute separately .
Q. What do I do with my Azalea indica after it has flowered ?
A. These colourful pot plants , so pop because some varieties flower at Christmas time , can be kept for flower the following yr and in subsequent year .
To prolong the blossoming menstruum keep the works in a fairly cool but not inhuman way . Water moderately but take care to avoid over - watering . ( If this is done many of the leaves will degenerate off . ) For the summertime months industrial plant ( plunge ) the flora still in its pot out of door ( if you have a garden ) in a semi - secluded daub . uphold to water in dry spell during the summer .
fertilize with a proprietary liquified readying at maker ’s directions will be of welfare from April to November .
Bring the plant back indoors in August . If re - potting is done function only a slightly larger pot than before , and do not use loam soil check fluxing lime in the compost . utilise peat and backbone , half and one-half , or 2 parts peat and i part sand . Pot fairly firm .
Q.Is it worth while growing an Avocado Pear indoors as a kitty industrial plant ?
A. I think that the attraction here is that the seeds ( stone ) germinate pretty readily , and although it is not difficult to raise a young flora , I do not think that the resulting plants are very suitable as indoor content . I have always found that they become rather tall , too magniloquent in fact .
In their natural country the Avocado Pear piddle a tree 60 foot . and more in peak . It is undecomposed to stop the plants when small , i.e. take out the maturate point , back to a leaf joint , and thus encourage a more shaggy-coated plant life . Itwill need to be grown in frost - liberal weather in winter .
J.I. Potting Compost is very desirable for this industrial plant . Take care to water only very minuscule in the November — February flow . Ithink it is best to raise a untried plant to replace one which has become very magniloquent or leggy , i.e. to have young plants only .
Q.I would like to resurrect some seeds of crapper plants indoors and have no glasshouse . What do you suggest ?
A. It is possible to get beneficial result in early spring by sowing seeds in a seeded player tray and covering this with a polythene source - box cover . Polythene bag in various sizes can be purchased for covering a 5 in . or smaller - sized pots which can be used for sow cum .
The covering must be remove as shortly as sprouting is apparent . Stand the pot or box in the warmest place available , but remain firm it in the sump to enfeeble after lacrimation .
Q.Is it deserving growing monkey nut ( rapscallion ballock ) inapot ?
A. Only for interest , in my experience , i.e. where something different is needed . Seeds can be sow in the green‑house in early spring in pocket-size pots , setting them on an individual basis in 3 in . pots in some J.I. Seed Compost . Later , move the works on to 5 in . pots when about 4 in . gamey .
Water them freely and feast with a liquid preparation like Bio , at Creator ’s directions , during the summer . As the source fuel pod buries itself beneath the soil , this should be loose . For this reason it is not sluttish to grow the works in pots , and it is much beneficial to grow them in a boxful of compost 6 in . deep and plants can be incite from the 5 in . deal to such a box for the latter part of the growing season .
Q. I have some young fuchsia plants , and would like to make some into standards . How is this done ?
A. Select some strongly turn cuttings of a vigorous sort , and change to 3 in.-size pots , using J.I.P.I as compost . As emergence modernise , bet firmly and link up in the main shoot when large enough to do so , giving further standoff as necessary .
after remove all side shoot as presently as potential , leave the tip ( growing point ) inviolate , and remove all prime bud as they form . Move on to 5 in . pots and put back the stake with one of the desired distance — as thin as possible compatible with adequate strength .
Continue to remove side shoots until the independent stem has reach to desired altitude , then allow the next four to six to make grow . When these can first be seen remove the growing point of the independent stalk to encourage strong growth in the side shoot .
If these laterals are snug together remove some to leave the end well spaced . A better head will result in consequence . The production of some standards , although demand time and close care , is well deserving while as they are a valuable addition to a mixed plenty - works display in a greenhouse .
Q. I always have difficulty in arrest geranium cuttings to root . Some of them always turn black at the base and rot away . The leave may seem fresh and green for a time , but no source form . What am I doing wrongly ?
A. Probably you are overwatering the cuttings , and it may also be that the compost used for striking the thinning in is not well enough drain and a more flaxen ( sharper ) compost would be best .
For future great deal dip the groundwork of the fresh prepare cuttings in a endocrine root aid with which Captan fungicide has been added . This is available from most garden sundries shop .
Q. I would like to grow a dwarf smorgasbord of narcissi in a bowlful . Which kind would you advise ?
A. One of the most worthy is March Sunshine . This is about 10 in . in height and the medulla can be spaced 1.5 - 2 in . apart , i.e. six in a 5 in . bowl .
This is not a true miniature assortment , but the cyclamineus type flowers are very attractive . This variety is also very desirable for planting in a sway garden .
Q. What do I do to a Hippeastrum after flowering ?
A. keep on to water the plant as long as the leafage remains immature . Feed it with a liquid formulation like Boi , at manufacturing business ’s directions , and keep it indoors until June .
When the foliage dies down stop watering and stand the pot on its side in a warm blot out of doors beneath a wall or under the bench in a greenhouse . If it is external for the summer bring back indoors in late August . Start water again only when there are signs of increment , which may be in late winter . put back the top inch of compost with fresh , when ontogenesis bulge to show .
Q. Can I take cutting off from a dwarf pot - arise chrysanthemum in the all - the - year - round group ?
A. you’re able to , but the result plants will probably be much taller and flowering at a different clip than was the shell with the parent . This is because increase may have been kept gnome by use of sure chemicals , and because flowering sentence was controlled by originate the plant in controlled light conditions .
Q. I can not grow Saintpaulias ( African violets ) very well . What are the primary requirements ?
A. These plants are not easy to grow well in the winter month unless they can be celebrate in a temperature of 60 - 65 ° F . They need a warm humid atmosphere . Best outcome are obtained if the Mary Jane can be stand in a container of moist peat . Do not splash cold water on to the leaves when lacrimation , as this causes yellow marks . When a batch of flowers has fetch up pick off the one-time stem and keep the compost fairly dry for a month until fresh flowers start to seem , then recommence watering .
Q. I have just grease one’s palms a rubber plant ( Ficus ) . How is it well treated ?
A. place upright the plant in the light , but not in a tender very gay window . Avoid cold draught , and keep in Robert Frost - free experimental condition in winter — a temperature of near to 50 ° being best . Keep the plant away from close proximity to a fire . Sponge any dust from the leafage every 10 - 14 days . Re - pot the plant into a slightly larger sizing when it has made about2 ft . of growth , using J.I.P.I as compost . Water only fairly in winter and fairly freely in summertime , but nullify overwatering .
Q. How can I good stake Narcissus grown in bowls . The foliage seems to flop and become untidy .
A. Use peg .. The cooler the term under which the plant are grown the stout the leafage will be .
