In-Door Gardening for Every Week in the Year Part 16

Continue to act in unison with the season, allowing the temperature to decline slightly as light decreases. Although the Aerides, Dendrobiums, &c., will continue to enjoy a temperature of 80 by day and 70 by night, the Cattleyas will require 10 or 15 less to bring them to a healthy state of rest; for if kept in constant excitement they will continue to sprout buds from their pseudo-bulbs, which generally adds to the size of the plant at the expense of the blooms.

Achimenes picta.--Promote their growth by every attention, also _Gesnera zebrina_, which adds much to the beauty of the stove during winter.

Begonias.--Encourage the different kinds for winter flowering by giving them larger pots if required.

Euphorbia fulgens and splendens.--These are also worthy of especial attention, as they contribute to enliven the house at the dullest season of the year when flowers are scarce.

FORCING-HOUSES.

Cuc.u.mbers.--To prolong the season of fine crisp fruit it is necessary to keep the plants clean and healthy by giving them plenty of top and bottom heat.

Figs.--The trees having no fruit likely to come to perfection, and whose leaves are fading, to be kept cool and dry, to induce an early rest. A seasonal rest should also be given by the same means to trees in pots, that they may be in a fit state for forcing early.

Melons.--Continue to maintain a warm, dry atmosphere, to give flavour to the fruit. They will require little or no water after this.

Peaches.--Vacancies to be filled with trees from the walls on the open ground. This is a plan preferable to having young trees from the nursery, which are usually some years in covering the s.p.a.ce allotted to them. Where the lights have been wholly removed, after being repaired and painted, they should be put upon the houses to protect the trees and borders from unfavourable weather.

Pines.--Ripening fruit to be kept in a dry, warm atmosphere, to give it flavour. The swelling fruit to have a warm, moist atmosphere. Water to be given to the plants cautiously; every one to be examined before it receives any, and manure water to be dispensed with altogether. The heat of the dung-pits to be kept up by renewing the linings. The crowns and suckers that are planted in the tan to have no water; all they require is attention in giving air and keeping up the heat.

Vines.--Attention to be given to the young Vines in pots that are intended for forcing, that they may not become soddened, which would injure the young roots considerably. Where netting or any other such material had been used over the lights that open in houses containing fruit, to prevent the ingress of wasps, it may be taken down as little mischief will now be apprehended from their attacks.

Mice are sometimes very troublesome in vineries at this season, and will spoil a whole house of Grapes in a short time if not prevented.

Traps should, therefore, be kept set, and every means used to prevent their ingress from the garden. Cover the border when the trees are planted outside, with a good coat of fern or any other such material before they become saturated and chilled by the autumnal rains, to be laid on thickly in layers, beginning at the front of the border, the whole to be covered with a thin layer of good straw, and fastened down as a thatcher does the straw on stacks.

SECOND WEEK.

GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY.

The plants being cleaned, surfaced, staked, and arranged, they will require but little beyond the ordinary attentions of watering and regulating the admission of air. Plants, when fresh surfaced, sometimes droop without any apparent cause, which generally arises from the roots being very dry; the fresh soil absorbing most of the moisture, and the water escaping between the pot and ball of earth.

This is usually brought on by surfacing the plants when dry: as soon, therefore, as the consequences are observed, the plants should be examined, and sufficient water given to wet the ball of earth thoroughly.

Chrysanthemums.--Treat them without further delay as advised in a late Calendar. An occasional and moderate supply of clear liquid manure will a.s.sist to develope their flowers to greater perfection.

If any indication of mildew appear an application of the flowers of sulphur, when the foliage is damp, will banish it.

Fuchsias.--Encourage the young stock to continue their blooming by the application of a little weak liquid manure. When the flowering is over, and they have lost most of their leaves, they may then be set aside in any corner free from frost for the winter. To be kept moderately dry.

Myrtles.--These and other such evergreen plants requiring protection to be placed in pits or frames, or in any other structure, as near the gla.s.s as possible. To be watered regularly; but, like all other plants, care must be taken that they do not get too much at any time during the winter.

STOVE AND ORCHID-HOUSE.

The plants that have taken their rest should be shaken out, and repotted; pruning back such as require it, and placing them in a gentle bottom heat. The Orchids showing bloom--such as the Cypripediums, _Phajus grandifolius_ and _Stenorhynchus speciosus_--to be supplied with plenty of heat and moisture. Some of the other sorts--such as the Catasetums, the Cycnoches, Lycastes, &c., that are approaching their dormant state--to be accommodated, if possible, with a drier and cooler atmosphere. All fast-growing plants--such as Clerodendrums, Vincas, &c.--that require large pots in summer, to be now turned out of their pots, the soil to be shaken from them, and repotted into the smallest sized pots that will contain them, without pruning the roots much at this time.

Climbers.--Some of the most rambling will now want some pruning, more especially where they obstruct the light in any material degree. The Combretums, Echites, Ipomsaeas, Mandevillas, late-blooming Pa.s.sifloras, Pergularias, Stephanotises, Thunbergias, &c., which are still growing, to be regulated with a more gentle hand, cutting out but little more than barren shoots, and drawing the remainder into somewhat closer festoons, to allow the more free admission of sunlight into the interior of the house.

FORCING-HOUSES.

Cuc.u.mbers.--The plants for a winter supply of fruit should now be making progress. Keep the vines thin and use every means to keep up a good heat, with liberal admissions of air at all favourable opportunities, to get them strong and vigorous against the winter months. Stop mildew by dusting the leaves with sulphur.

Mushrooms.--Succession-beds to be made according to previous directions. Give a good sprinkling to those in bearing, to produce a genial humidity; and turn the covering material occasionally, to keep them sweet and free from mouldiness.

Peaches.--When the trees in the early house are pruned, it is advisable to cover the cuts, when dry, with white lead, to prevent the admission of air and water to the wound. Wash the trellis, whitewash the flues and walls, and make every part of the house clean. Dress the trees with a mixture of soft soap and sulphur in hot water; to be well rubbed in with a brush or sponge.

Vines.--Continue to look over the ripe Grapes, cutting out any decaying berries. If the fruit is to be kept for any length of time, and if any plants, through want of other accommodation, must be kept under the Vines, they should be watered in the morning, using a little fire heat in the day, with air, to expel damp before night.

Whatever system of pruning is adopted, whether the long-rod or spur, it is advisable, when the brown scale is visible, to take off the loose bark, to wash them, and the wires and rafters, with soft soap dissolved in hot water, using a hard brush, being careful not to injure the buds; afterwards to apply hot lime, made to the consistency of thick paint.

THIRD WEEK.

GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY.

The decline of temperature and less watering must go on progressively, more especially in dull weather, with free ventilation at all favourable opportunities. If the weather be cold, use a little fire-heat occasionally during the day, especially where there are many plants in bloom, that ventilation may be given to expel damp and stagnant air.

Cinerarias.--Plants that have filled their small pots with roots to be s.h.i.+fted, according to their size and strength, into larger pots.

The compost to be one part turfy loam, one part peat or leaf mould, and one part rotten horsedung. They delight on a cool bottom, and will thrive tolerably well in a cold pit, protected from frost during the winter. They should be placed on a dry bottom of coal ashes, and kept as near to the gla.s.s as possible.

Heaths.--They may, if there is no room for them in the greenhouse, be kept in a cold pit, or frame, during the winter. Water to be given carefully on the forenoon of a fine day. Frost to be excluded by mats, or other covering; but they can be grown sufficiently hardy by free exposure to bear a few degrees of frost without injury if they are shaded from the sun's rays until gradually thawed.

Mignonette.--Sow, to come into bloom about the end of February. The soil to be rich, light, and the pots to have a good supply of crocks at the bottom, as the success of growing this favourite plant through the winter will depend in a great measure upon the drainage and keeping the plants dry and untouched by frosts. Those who have a hotbed frame will find it useful to start the seeds by moderate heat. Others who have no such convenience may place their pots in a cold frame in a sheltered situation, and upon a floor of rough stones overlaid with ashes.

Pelargoniums.--The more dormant they can be kept during the winter the better. Therefore, only a very moderate supply of water should be given to keep them from flagging, and a liberal supply of air at all favourable opportunities.

Verbenas.--To be placed on swing or other shelves as near to the gla.s.s as possible. They require plenty of air, the extirpation of green fly, and a moderate supply of water to preserve them in a healthy condition.

STOVE AND ORCHID-HOUSE.

Ferns.--Sow the seeds, or spores, when ripe. A convenient sized pot to be filled with sandy peat, finis.h.i.+ng with a few rough lumpy pieces to form an uneven surface. The seeds to be shaken over the tops and sides of these pieces of soil, by which there is more probability of some of them vegetating than if they had been sown on a level surface where the whole of the seed would be subjected to the same kind of treatment, which might with ordinary care be either too wet or too dry. The pot to be set in a saucer that contains a little water, which will feed the whole ma.s.s with sufficient moisture without a drop being required on the surface of the pot.

The seedlings succeed best in a cool part of the stove where evaporation can be most effectually prevented; but they do not like to be continually kept close under a bell-gla.s.s.

FORCING-HOUSES.

Cuc.u.mbers.--Top dress the plants in pots or boxes with leaf mould, supplying those that are rooting freely with an abundance of atmospheric moisture, and free circulation of air, stopping at every second joint, and setting the fruit as the blossom expands.

Strawberries.--It is usual, when the stock of plants in pots is large, to lay them on their sides on the south side of a wall or fence, packed in dry coal ashes, and topped with boards, or any other such covering, to protect them from heavy falls of rain until they are wanted for forcing.

FOURTH WEEK.

GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY.

As fresh air is indispensable for the health of plants, and as fogs occur about this time, it is essential to apply a little fire-heat during the day, to expel damps, and to cause a desirable activity in the circulation of the air. Attend to cleanliness, picking off dead leaves, and the destruction of insects.

Bulbs.--Pot Hyacinths, Narcissi, Tulips, &c., to flower late in the spring; also the Ixiae and Gladioli, and various other Irideae; and also Oxalis, Lachenalia, &c. They delight in light open soil composed of peat, loam, and sand, and rotten leaf mould as an addition to, or subst.i.tute for, the peat.