HOLIDAY INSTRUCTIONS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 852, 21 December 1929, Page 38

HOLIDAY INSTRUCTIONS

Now that school holiday time is here and everybody is rushing about from place to place, indoor plants suffer more than at any other period of the year. With the house shut up and the windows closed all day and the sun beating down on the iron roof, many deaths are caused in the plant life. Perhaps the most popular of drawingroom plants are the palms and aspidistras. These are really not hard to grow, although many complaints are often made by people who do not understand their treatment, and invariably neglect accounts for many palms dying off. A few short hints on the principal facts of indoor pot culture may prove helpful. The most important thing to remember when buying a new palm is to be sure that you procure it from a reliable shop or nursery man; beware of hawkers or auction rooms, as invariably palms and plants picked up cheaply are diseased and not properly established. Every three or four months an application of liquid manure or clay fertiliser, weak solutions, could be used with advantage. This should be sufficient to give the foliag6 a nice green, healthy appearance. Palms require fairly small pots and wdth the help of a little manure they should not need repotting for at least two years. Pot plants should not be allowed to become dry or caked hard. The best way is to plunge the pot in a pail at least twice a week and leave to soak for half an hour.

Scale often takes its toll on palms, attacking the foliage. A weekly sponging of water will keep the leaves clean and reduce the likelihood of disease. Never expose the foliage to the sunlight, as the warmth turns the leaves yellow and often scorches them.

If these few simple hints are remembered, the loss of palms should be greatly reduced.