Page:The Amateur's Greenhouse and Conservatory.djvu/155

Rh where they can receive no attention; they never break so regularly and well in the spring if they get dry during winter, though it is very little water that they want for three or four months in the dormant season. Well made standards must, indeed, be kept growing slowly all the winter.

Prune the old plants towards the end of February, and stand them in a peach-house which has been started a few weeks before, and as soon as they begin to break take them out of the pots, and remove as much of the old soil from them as you can without injuring the roots, and put them into pots two sizes smaller or in the same pots again, and keep them well syringed from the time they are started until they begin to flower. From 50° to 60° is a good heat for growing fuchsias at all times, but if they are wanted to be in flower at any particular time, they will stand 70° or 80°, but of course the wood is much longer jointed when they are grown in a high temperature. The plants should not be stopped for sis weeks to two months before they are expected to be in flower. If the drainage is good, they will take plenty of water when in vigorous growth, and a dose of weak manure water twice a week will be highly advantageous in promoting the growth and production of large finely-coloured flowers. It is not advisable to shade fuchsias much, though they will not stand much sunshine. It is also not well to play the syringe on them when they are in flower, for the splashing about of the water disfigures the leaves. Any kind of liquid manure will do for fuchsias, if it is not too strong. If you have to prepare it for them there can be no better plan than to put fresh horse droppings into a tub of soft water, and to use the solution quite clear and diluted to the colour of pale ale. It should be of the same temperature as the house the plants are in, or even one or two degrees warmer: colder it must not be.