CARE OF POT PLANTS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 780, 28 September 1929, Page 32

CARE OF POT PLANTS

| Tiie care of plants in rooms may be considered to be most primitive of all forms of gardening, though it is 1 by no means the easiest to carry i through successfully. It is true that | the plants chosen for this purpose are j characterised by long suffering under j adverse conditions, and are able to I survive where many others would die. . i But there is a great difference bei tween room plants that merely exist I and others that thrive. The latter ! have the glow of that brings ! pleasure to the cultivator; sickly ! plants are more trouble than they are j j worth. It is only when one comes i | across a really' well-grown specimen ! i that one realises with what great sue- i j cess some plants can be grown in j i rooms. I have recollections of a spleu- j ! did plant of the Norfolk Island Pine j j (Araucaria excelsa), quite sft high, in j a 7in.-wide flower pot, and furnished j with tiers of exquisite leaves from j top to base. I have recently heard of a decorative Asparagus (commonly ’ though erroneously referred to as Asparagus Fern) that was 6ft. high, and had been grown in a pot in an ordinary living room for 15 years. Such examples as these convince one that : gardening in rooms can be brought i to the highest perfection. Success is fairly sure if one begins well with the right plants, and employs common-sense methods subsequently. It is far better to start with small plants; then one can make sure that they have the right soil, and are grown hardily from their youth. It is useless buying a grown plant that probably has been forced to make rapid growth in a heated glasshouse, and I think many of the failures and much of the disappointment may be traced to this cause. The best soil | tor room plants consists of two-thirds loam, one-third leaf soil and a fair j sprinkling of sand. Spring Is the best j : time to make a good start, for then I ! growth is becoming active, and one I I has a good chance of getting, the plants established before they are called upon to face the inimical conditions of room life during winter. It is best to buy a bag of suitable soil from the local nursery if none is at hand, for with careful management many a plant will live for years in a six-inch flower pot, so that the importance of a good start is obvious. Repotting is likely to be the first j operation that calls for attention. In | potting always adapt the pot to the j size of the roots of the plant; the pot ! should be large enough to admit of j one inch cr so of fresh soil being placed all round. Potting does not mean in all eases the shifting of a plant Into a larger pot, as many' seem to imagine. Before using a pot, see that it is perfectly clean and dry. Press the j soil moderately firm when potting, for j plants never thrive in a loose root run; ! if they grow, the shoots are long and j soft, and the water passes through j the soil as through a sieve. Leave about one inch of space for water in a pot of six inches diameter. A piece of broken flower pot is placed over the hole at the base of the pot, hollow side down, then covered with pieces of the same material broken rather small, the whole being covered with a layer of moss, leaves or fibrous soil i in order to prevent the compost mingj ling with the drainage and clogging it.