Congenial Conditions To The Healthy Growth of Plants Part II
After a lot suggestions regarding the possibility of making conditions right for the growing of plants in your home, the unskilled reader will naturally would like to know what these conditions are.
LIGHT
Plants without adequate light never ever make a typical, healthy development; the stems are long, weak and slender, the foliage has a semi-transparent, washed-out appearance, and the entire plant falls a simple victim to illness or insect opponents. Even plants grown in the complete light of a window, as everybody with any experience in handling them understands from observation, will draw towards the glass and end up being one-sided with the leaves all dealing with one method.
As a guideline the blooming plants, such as heliotropes and geraniums, need more light and sunlight than those grown for foliage, such as palms, ferns and the ornamental leaved begonias. It is nearly difficult, throughout the winter season, to provide any of them excessive sunshine and where there is any threat of this, as in some cases occurs in early fall or late spring, a drape of the thinnest product will provide sufficient security, the need being not to omit the light, however just to break the direct action of the sun’s rays through glass.
A terrific range of plants might be grown in the regular window garden, for which the sunniest and broadest window offered must be picked.
There are 2 approaches of dealing with the plants: they might be kept as specific specimens in pots and “meals” or “pans” (which are absolutely nothing basically than shallow flower pots), or they might be grown together in a plant box, produced the function and typically basically ornamental in itself, that will balance with and trigger the appeal of the plants.
The latter approach, that of growing in boxes, uses 2 unique benefits, specifically where there is most likely to be come across expensive a temperature level and ensuing dryness in the air. The plants are more quickly looked after than they remain in pots, which quickly dry and require regular altering; and results in organizing and unified design might be had which are not easily protected with plants in pots. On the other hand, it is not possible to provide such cautious attention to private plants which may need it as when they are grown in pots; nor can there be a lot re-arrangement and modification when these are needed– and what excellent house cleaner is not a natural born scene shifter, every when in so frequently rolling the piano around to the opposite of the space, and moving the bookcase or altering the huge Boston fern over to the other window, so it can be seen from the dining-room?
If the plants are to be kept in pots– and on the whole this will normally be the more acceptable approach– a number of racks of light, smooth wood of a practical width (6 to twelve inches) must be securely put, by ways of the typical iron brackets, in each window to be utilized. It will assist, both in keeping the pots in location and in avoiding muddy water from leaking down to the flooring or table listed below, if a thin, narrow strip of wood is nailed to each edge of these racks, extending an inch or 2 above them.
This is better than making use of pot dishes, specifically for little pots. Where a bay-window is utilized, if cut off from the space by glass doors, and even by drapes, it will assist considerably in keeping a damp environment about the plants and avoiding dust from picking the leaves when sweeping or cleaning is being done.
It ought to be 6 to 10 inches large and 6 to 8 inches deep. If a plain box is utilized, it will be needed to bore inch holes every 6 inches or so through the bottom to supply for bring off of any excess of water– although, with the technique of filling the box explained in a later chapter, those holes would barely ever be called into service. Plants in the home in the winter season, nevertheless, are as most likely to suffer from too much water as from too little, and for that reason, to avoid the disagreeable possibility of having unclean drain water running down onto numerous feet of flooring, it will be practically as simple, and far much better, to have actually the box built with a bottom made of 2 pieces, sloping a little to the center where one hole is made in which a cork can be kept.
or pitcher by getting the cork. The information of building of such a box are displayed in figure 1. It will be best to have package so positioned upon its supporting brackets that it can be altered periodically end for end, hence keeping the plants growing equally, and not allowing the blossoms continuously to turn their backs to the within the space.
With the above easy arrangements one might benefit from all the light to be had in a regular window. Periodically a much better location might be discovered all set to hand, such as the bay-window showed dealing with page 8 or such as that explained in the preceding chapter, or those discussed in the very first chapter of Part II (page 146). The effort required will constantly be paid back sometimes by higher ease and higher success in the management of plants, and by the larger scope allowed.
Plants without adequate light never ever make a typical, healthy development; the stems are long, weak and slender, the foliage has a semi-transparent, washed-out appearance, and the entire plant falls a simple victim to illness or insect opponents. The plants are more quickly cared for than they are in pots, which quickly dry out and require regular altering; and impacts in organizing and unified decor might be had which are not easily protected with plants in pots. On the other hand, it is not possible to offer such cautious attention to private plants which may need it as when they are grown in pots; nor can there be so much re-arrangement and modification when these are needed– and what excellent house cleaner is not a natural born scene shifter, every when in so typically rolling the piano around to the other side of the space, and moving the bookcase or altering the huge Boston fern over to the other window, so it can be seen from the dining-room?
If the plants are to be kept in pots– and on the whole this will typically be the more acceptable technique– a number of racks of light, smooth wood of a practical width (6 to twelve inches) ought to be strongly positioned, by ways of the typical iron brackets, in each window to be utilized. Plants in the home in the winter season, nevertheless, are as most likely to suffer from too much water as from too little, and for that reason, to avoid the disagreeable possibility of having unclean drain water running down onto a number of feet of flooring, it will be nearly as simple, and far much better, to have actually the box built with a bottom made of 2 pieces, sloping somewhat to the center where one hole is made in which a cork can be kept.