Page:The Amateur's Greenhouse and Conservatory.djvu/137

Rh pretty when grown in pots under glass, but for conservatory decoration are less useful than petunias.

For the purpose of laying a good foundation, in the month of March, take the tops off the healthiest autumn-struck plants, and strike them in a good bottom-heat. They will begin to grow freely as soon as furnished with roots, and this will be the best indication the cultivator could have of their being ready for potting off. Prepare a compost by mixing together two parts of turfy loam and a part each of leaf-mould and old hotbed manure, and about a sixth part of sand. Put the compost in the house a day or two before required for use, and then put them singly in three-inch pots. They should remain a few days in the propagating pit after they are potted off, and then be removed to an intermediate house, where they can be kept rather close until the roots become established in the new soil. They must not be coddled, but it would check the growth too much to take them to the greenhouse, where they would be fully exposed to a free circulation of air. If there is no choice about taking them direct to the greenhouse, then place them in the warmest corner, and keep the ventilators near them closed for a few days.

When they are established in the small pots nip out the growing points, to cause them to produce side-shoots, and when the latter are about two inches in length, stop them by nipping out the points. They will probably require to be shifted into larger pots before they are stopped a second time, but very often it is better not to repot until afterwards. It is a golden rule to shift when the pots are well filled with roots, but before they become potbound. Specimens in six-inch pots will be quite large enough for ordinary decorative purposes; but if they are required extra large shift them into eight- or nine-inch pots as soon as they are well established. Training must be proceeded with after the second stopping, and the simplest form possible should be adopted. All balloon or other wire trellises should be avoided, and a few neat stakes only be employed. From the time they are established in the small pots until they begin to bloom, a cold frame or greenhouse, where they can be placed near the glass, and enjoy a fresh circulation of air, will be the best position. Water liberally, and after the pots in which they are to bloom are well filled with roots, use rather weak liquid manure alternately with soft, pure water. Syringe them overhead