Favorable Conditions For Healthy Plant Growth Part Ii

By Author: Carlos Whitney
Total Articles: 5
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After so much advice on the possibility of creating the right conditions for growing plants at home, the inexperienced reader will naturally want to know what these conditions are.

LIGHT
First of all, almost all plants, whether they flower or not, must have plenty of light, and many require sunlight, especially during those dull winter days. Plants without enough light never grow normally and healthy; the stems are long, lanky and weak, the foliage is semi-transparent and discolored, and the entire plant is an easy victim to disease or insect enemies. Even plants grown in full window light, as anyone with experience in their handling knows by observation, will approach the glass and become one-sided with the leaves facing to the side. Therefore, even in the best conditions, it is necessary to turn them in half every few days, preferably every time they are watered, so that they can maintain a uniform and well-formed growth.

As a general rule, flowering plants such as geraniums and heliotropes require more light and sun than those grown for foliage, such as palms, ferns, and decorative leaf begonias. It is ...
... almost impossible, during the winter months, to give them too much sunlight and when there is any danger of this happening, as it sometimes occurs in early fall or late spring, a curtain of the finest material will give them ample protection. being necessary not to exclude light, but simply to break the direct action of the sun's rays through the glass.

A wide variety of plants can be grown in the ordinary window garden, for which the widest and sunniest window available should be selected. There are two methods of handling plants: they can be kept as individual specimens in pots and "plates" or "pans" (which are neither more nor less than shallow pots), or they can be grown together in a plant box. made for this purpose and usually more or less decorative in itself, which will harmonize and highlight the beauty of the plants.

The latter method, box growing, offers two distinct advantages, especially when too high a temperature and consequent air dryness are likely to be encountered. Plants are more easily cared for than in pots, which dry quickly and need frequent changes; and harmonious grouping and decoration effects can be produced that are not easily achieved with potted plants. On the other hand, it is not possible to pay as much attention to individual plants that may require it as when they are grown in pots; Nor can there be as much rearrangement and change when required, and what good housekeeper is not a born scene changer, occasionally rolling the piano across the room and moving the bookshelf Or changing the great Boston Fern? through the other window, so it can be seen from the dining room?

If the plants are to be kept in pots, and in general this will be the most satisfactory method, several shelves of light, smooth wood of a suitable width (six to twelve inches) should be firmly placed by means of the iron supports. common, in each window to use. It will help both to keep the pots in place and to prevent muddy water from dripping onto the floor or table below if a thin, narrow strip of wood is nailed to each edge of these shelves, extending an inch or two above from them. . A couple of coats of exterior paint will also add to the appearance and lifespan of these shelves and will also tend to prevent any bothersome drips from draining the pots. Such a shelf will be further enhanced if an inch or two deep is covered with coarse gravel or fine pebbles.

This is much better than using pot saucers, especially for small pots. When using a bay window, if it is separated from the room by glass doors or even curtains, it will be of great help in maintaining a humid atmosphere around the plants and preventing dust from settling on the leaves when sweeping or dust is removed.

A planter can easily be made from inch planed pine boards, snug and firmly attached. It should be six to ten inches wide and six to eight inches deep. If a simple box is used, it will be necessary to drill one-inch holes every six inches or so through the bottom to facilitate removal of excess water, although, with the box-filling method described in a later chapter, those holes would hardly ever be put into service. However, the plants in the house in the winter are just as likely to suffer from too much water as from too little and therefore, to avoid the unpleasant possibility of dirty drain water falling several feet off the floor, it will be almost so easy, and much better, to build the box with a bottom of two pieces, slightly inclined towards the center where a hole is made in which a cork can be stored. A false bottom of tin or zinc, with the required number of holes, cut, and supported by three- or four-inch strips of wood running the length of the box, supplies the drain. These strips, of course, need to be cut in half to allow all the water to drain off. The false bottom will take care of any ordinary excess water, which can be drained into a watering can.

or jug ​​removing the cork. Details of the construction of such a box are shown in figure 1. It will be best to have the box placed on its supports so that it can be occasionally switched from one end to the other, thus keeping the plants growing evenly and not allowing flowers. continuously to turn his back to the interior of the room.

With the simple arrangements above, you can take advantage of all the light you have in a common window. Occasionally a better place may be found within easy reaches, such as the picture window on page 8 or the one described in the previous chapter, or those mentioned in the first chapter of Part II (page 146). The effort required will always be rewarded many times by greater ease and success in plant management, and by the greater scope allowed.