Best Tips for successful window gardening.
1. All plants have a season of rest; therefore discover what season is peculiar to each, and transplant at that time.
2. The best time for taking cuttings is when the plants are in their most active state of growth, and this is before flowering.
3. Profuse bloomings exhaust the strength of plants, therefore cut off all flower buds as soon as their petals fall, and do not let the seed pods mature unless you desire to raise seeds.
4. All bulbs and tubers should be planted before they begin to shoot; if suffered to form leaves and roots in the air, they waste their strength.
5. Never remove the leaves from bulbs after flowering until they are quite dead. As long as the leaves retain life they are employed in preparing nourishment and transmitting it to the roots.
6. Window plants are more liable to be injured by frost than plants in the ground because the fibers of the roots cling to the sides of the pots and are more quickly affected by the chilling air.
7. The faster a plant grows, the farther apart are the leaves, the more distant the side branches, and the more bare appears the stem. The richness of foliage can never be attained when leaves become thus scattered. By keeping a lower temperature, especially at night, there will be slower and more desirable growth, and conducive to the compactness of habits in plants.
8. No plants can bear sudden contrasts of temperature without injury, therefore bring nothing directly from a heated room to the cool open air.
9. By checking the growth of leaves and branches you throw more strength into the flowers; this is why the terminal shoots of many plants should be pinched off to increase their vigor.
10 Avoid excessive heat. Plants often languish in a hot temperature while their owners cannot imagine why they do not grow, forgetting that the atmosphere is already too warm for even human beings.
Suggestions like these will show that although Window Gardens require some skill and experience in good management, yet there is nothing abstruse or difficult to prevent anyone from undertaking the care of one which needs only a reasonable degree of thought and attention to make it a constant delight.
1. Window Gardening Location has much to do with
success.
An exposure or situation where the rays of the sun, from early in the morning until one or two o'clock, is better than any other.
But it must be remembered that there are plants which love the shade as Pansies, Sweet Violets, etc. and must not be placed directly in the sun's rays; then there are some, like Roses, Verbenas, Heliotropes, Geraniums, Daphnes, Azaleas, which must have the direct influence of the light to flourish luxuriantly.
The best exposure is a south, or south-eastern window, next to an eastern, and then a western window. A northern window will do for Pansies and Sweet Violets.
Camelias will flourish in a cool, moist atmosphere with but little sunshine. To most plants sunshine is a necessity of healthy growth; the more they have the better; at night they should be kept in the dark, and as all plants are cooler at night in Summer than in the daytime, those at the window should also be cooler.
It is claimed for plants, that they need sleep or rest from the strong and forcing light and heat of the sun, and this they obtain at night.
It is not proper, therefore to keep the temperature at night too high in a room where many plants are kept; unseasonable light is also exhausting to them.
Neither should plant be allowed to chill. They may be easily protected from frost by newspapers, A medium temperature is best; extremes from a high to a low range are very injurious to plants.
The size of windows is also to be considered. Windows differ so greatly in size, that each person must shape their calculations according to their convenience.
In a great many instances a sill or shelf on the outside of the window will be of great use, and a corresponding one inside is necessary.
If many plants are grown, the larger the window the better, within bounds, of course. Bow windows are the best, and the larger the panes the better.
The size and kind of window depend very much on the selection of plants. Low windows are adapted to climbing vines which may be trained upward over them.
In the general management of indoor plants the following essential rules should be remembered :
1. Give them plenty of light during the day and darkness with a cooler temperature at night.
2. A good supply of fresh air when the sun shines brightest and warmest; in mild days the upper sashes may be lowered a little so that the cool air will blow over the plants instead of directly upon them.
3. Perfect cleanliness, which is very important, for if the plants Are covered with dust they cannot grow, and will frequently die; their leaves are their lungs; frequent syringing will keep the leaves moist and clean.
4. A proper amount of moisture; a dry atmosphere is fatal.
5. A good compost or soil in which their roots can luxuriate, and send forth vigorous branches, leaves, and flowers.
6. Get healthy vigorous plants, to start out with; plants that have been blooming all through the summer or for several months previous will not do well; new ones are best, or plants that were used the previous winter, and have rested during the summer, will also answer, but in general, it is best to get plants.
7. Keep only a few plants; too many in the window will make close crowding; pots should never be set two or three deep on top of each other.
8. A uniform temperature of sixty to seventy degrees in the daytime and forty to forty-five in the night should be steadily maintained.
9. Different places should be provided for different plants. A sunny window with a temperature of forty-five to fifty degrees will suit Roses, Geraniums, &c., best; Begonias, Coleus, Cissus discolor want a still warmer place of sixty to seventy degrees, and yet but little or no sunlight directly upon them. On the other hand Heliotropes and Bovardias want all the sun possible, with a temperature in the daytime of sixty to seventy degrees.
The plain and succinct directions given upon the general management of Window Gardens, by Mr. WilHams in the work referred to,
are so apposite and useful, that we cannot do better than to adopt them here :
2. Importance of Sunlight in Window Gardening.
Plenty of sunlight is the gardener's first requisite. If the location for this purpose is not right, the plants will not be healthy.
If the plants are well placed in a good light, then the pots must be turned occasionally so that all sides may receive it equally. It will be well also to put flower stands or racks of pots on wheels so that the whole may be changed at once or wheeled away if the room needs cleaning.
Care must be taken to avoid the rapid transition from darkness to light, for sudden and violent changes are as trying to plant life as human life.
Too much warmth will destroy tender leaves nearly as soon as too much cold.
Then again, plants should be placed as near the light as possible; in rooms tar away from the glass window, the plants will be weak, pale, and of spindling growth. If they could receive light directly from overhead, they would be better than from the side.
The ordinary variations of day and night have their corresponding effects on plants since it is said that they inhale under the influences of light, and respire in the dark.
The glass of the window should also be rubbed or washed clean. The most gaily colored flowers will be produced at a south window, but a north window has its advantage, in that it may be used for plants already in bloom, and will keep them much longer in perfection.
For north windows, Camelias, Cytisuses, Primulas, and Alpine Auriculas, will find the cool moisture they need and will bloom in great beauty if properly attended to and kept from frost.
Bulbs, if placed in the sunlight, will have their brilliancy of color greatly enhanced, yet if not changed occasionally in position, their flower stems will bend over and have an unsightly appearance.
3.Temperature has great importance in window
gardening.
The greatest success will be found to come from a uniform temperature of forty-five or fifty degrees at night, and sixty to seventy-five degrees in the day time; eighty degrees is loo hot except for only some plants of semi-tropical character.
Under no circumstances should the temperature go below thirty-five degrees. If your living rooms, where your plants are placed must be considerably warmer than this in the former part of the night, then set the plants on the floor, shade from the light until the time of retiring, and then return them to the window sill or flower stand.
Perhaps from no other cause than this, too great heat, during the day and long-continued at night, our city-grown plants grow so sickly and lanky in appearance.
Once or twice a week will be sufficient for turning pots around. If this little item is not attended to, you cannot grow finely formed plants, and more than half their beauty depends upon their shape.
If a closet or small room opening out of the sitting room can be devoted to plants and yet be well lighted, they will flourish far better than in the common room, for they can have a cooler atmosphere and less dust.
The same object could however be accomplished in a far more tasteful manner by enclosing the window recess with another glass window or partition.
The outside glass protects the plants from the cold, the inside ones from undue heat and gas, while between the two there is a happy mean in which plant culture cannot fail to be successful.
If however this is not done, and the window panes are made of double glass there will be little danger of their freezing on a cold night.
It would be well to have one pane fitted with a hinge, which can be opened to air the plants. But to avoid this a heavy curtain can be placed at the window, and pulled down at night, to protect them from cold air, while newspapers may be pinned around the plants to protect them from the bright light of the evening.
The amateur must also study the characteristics of his plants, for one temperature will not answer for all The Rose needs a cool atmosphere, yet moderately moist.
The Fuchsia is fond of both warmth and moisture but needs occasional shading when the sun is too hot. The Coleus prefers plenty of heat or moisture and would be satisfied never to have the thermometer go below seventy degrees by night or day.
The Geranium seems to accommodate itself to all circum- stances, being the most easily grown of all window plants, and apparently needs only plenty of light and air, and average warmth.
4. Plants at Night, — Plants need rest.
Uniform darkness at night with lower temperature, is one of the conditions of treatment, but sometimes there may be a sudden change of temperature in the out- er air, and in consequence, thereof someone or more plants of the window garden may be frozen.
Do not throw them away, but cut the branches back as far as frozen, or near to the soil, then water slightly and do not let the plant get quite as warm as before; if it has any life it will soon show buds and branches.
Plants should be treated very much like human beings; a frosted finger should be warmed gradually, so should a frozen plant. Some plants if frosted, like Fuchsias, will sprout from;n the roots and make a strong growth; others will send out strong, healthy flowering branches from the stem near the roots.
A very simple plan to restore frosted plants is to transfer them at once to a dark cellar and shower them plentifully with water; keep them here for two or three weeks and they will gradually recover their health again.
Another point is often discussed, whether plants are injurious in rooms at night. We think it unwise to have too many in a room; a
few here and there are of little influence, Strong scented plants are injurious to have in the room at night
. The Tuberose, Hyacinth, and Jessamine, are too sweet to be allowed to remain in a bedroom at night and should not be patronized for this purpose by invalids.
The sensations of the individual are often a good guide. After sleeping in a room with plants, the morning finds the sleeper inactive, feeling as if his night's rest had been heavy, the air of the room also does not seem pure, and the perfume peculiar.
All the indications arc sufficient to show the air is vitiated, and fresh air is needed as much by the individual as the plant.
5. Window Gardening and Fresh Air.
Ventilation is absolutely necessary; therefore give it. Whenever the weather is mild open the window.
Too little fresh air and too much warmth are formidable obstacles to success in house gardening.
Plants that are kept shut up in warm rooms become very sensitive and are far more liable to suffer from a sudden fall in the temperature, but if they are frequently exposed to the fresh air they are better able to bear these changes of climate which often occur so unexpectedly.
Those who live in close, heated rooms can never make their flowers bloom in winter with any vigor. Some think that any atmosphere not inconvenient to men and women is good enough for the plant.
It will live just as the human be- ing lives, but it does so in sufferance rather, for it will not grow and bloom in perfect beauty.
A very few handsome flowering vines are much to be preferred to spindling plants, pictures of misery, like their owners, overheated and crowded into the close, unhealthy unventilated quarters.
In our fever to provide sufficient warmth in our rooms against the cold, we stop up every crack in our windows, every crevice of our doors; then with furnaces, grates, or stoves at almost fever heat, we get warmth enough to bid defiance to the chilling at- atmosphere.
Rarely are we satisfied with a temperature in the room of fewer than seventy-five degrees and this must be constantly maintained from early morn till late at night, A draught of fresh air would quicken your blood and put a little more spirit into your countenances; still, you aim to avoid it. Yet for the sake of your plants do it a least, once a day.
Throw open the doors and air the room thoroughly. This can be done at times for meals when it is usually vacant. The windows should not be opened directly upon the plants. Some other windows or doors away from the plants may be opened. It should be done also in the middle of the day when the outer air is mildest.
6. Cleanliness of window Plants.
Here close attention is again required. Plants require regular care. They cannot be watered and cared for once a week and the rest of the time left to themselves, but they demand a daily amount of time to be spent upon them.
Every morning when house cleaning is in order, the plants must be watered and cleaned. You will see how necessary this is if you look at the nature of the plants how they live.
Like our skins, the leaves of the plants are perforated with hundreds of minute pores through which they breathe, exhaling oxygen and inhaling carbon, and also giving out and inhaling moisture.
If these pores are filled up with dust the plant cannot perform these functions and its life either ceases or stands still; it is not possible for it to grow or bloom. The dust of our living rooms is very injurious to the health of every plant.
Unless it is removed, you may as well give up all hope of making your window favorites succeed. Frequent washing and watering are absolutely essential For close handling of leaves, a soft sponge is of great service, for it can be used in the parlor without the danger of dripping from the watering-pot.
Wash each leaf separately and see that both sides of it are clean. To shower a plant turn it sideways over a tub of water or a sink; sprinkle it thoroughly with the watering- pot.
If the plants are too large to handle in this manner set the pots or tubs into a larger one and either sprinkle or syringe every branch and leaf. You must improvise summer showers if you would induce summer growth.
It is not enough to water the earth in the pot. The whole plant requires it Frequent waterings are the most beneficial culture that you can bestow upon your plants. To be sure they are not easily given and will entail upon you some work.
When sweeping and dusting your rooms, throw newspapers or a light cloth over them; this will prevent the dust from settling upon the leaves, and help materially toward keeping them clean.
Whenever a warm rain falls, and the temperature stands at fifty or fifty-five degrees, set all the plants out of doors, and they will be greatly refreshed and strengthened.
It does not follow, however, that the whole plant is watered by being thus placed outdoors; the leaves of the plant may be broad and shield the pot and roots; so do not forget to give these a chance also. If the leaves of the plants are very dirty, warm water with a little soap and the use of the sponge or syringe will remove all dirt.
Exposure to the fresh air is not as dangerous as many would suppose, provided the temperature is mild. They are, in fact, benefited by such exposure and become far more hardy and able to resist sudden changes of temperature, much better than if kept constantly confined to the room.
Very few have any idea of how fast the dust accumulates in a
room; it is in fact one of the greatest enemies the housewife has to contend with.
A short time only suffices to see the leaves of a plant covered with dust; if it is not removed, they soon get brown and wither; and it is really delightful, after giving them a good washing, to see how bright and shining are the leaves and how greatly they have been invigorated.
7. Watering Plants and Window Gardening.
When shall I water my plants? is a vexed question, asked perhaps more frequently than any other by the beginner. This depends entirely upon the nature of the plant, for some need more water than others, and yet a soil thoroughly wet is totally unfit for plant-growing.
The real idea each cultivator should aim for is to supply the plants with water, which may drain rapidly through the pots, yet sufficient be retained to give a good moist soil for the plant to live in. If the water passes away rapidly it will need replacing frequently. It is generally a sign of health when the soil is well-drained and the plant uses up the supply of water quickly.
Watering should be supplied with a careful hand, for many parlors
gardeners have an unrestrainable belief in the hydropathic process.
To them|there is only one orthodox rule: if the plants will wither up or are troubled with insects and do not grow as healthy and freely as they might, they drench it with a flood of cold water; so it is a fact, that more plants perish in the hands of the inexperienced, from having too copious a supply than too little.
There are others again more cautious in their applications of water, who are, on the other hand, totally heedless of drainage, and let the water stand in the saucers under the pots, or in boxes without drainage, causing mould and sogginess of soil, rendering the roots weak and unhealthy.
The purposes of watering should be better understood, 1st. Water supplies to the roots fertilizing matter, contained in itself, and 2nd. It converts the nourishment of the soil into a liquid form more readily fit for absorption by the roots. The roots can obtain it only when the soil is dampened.
Never give water when the soil is moist to the touch, but wait until it is dry.
Few plants thrive if the water is around them constantly; yet Lobelias, Callas, Ivies, etc., are very thirsty and like to drink at their own will. Indeed they will not bloom or grow well unless you allow them so to do.
The healthiest plants require water the most frequently; and yet it may appear a contradiction to say that the plants which contain the most watery tissues grow in the dryest places.
The Cacti often supply moisture to the wild cattle of the plains of Mexico; the animals breakthrough their thorny exteriors with their hoofs, and then eat the moist morsels contained within, which quench their thirst.
Water, cold from the well or pump, is not suitable for plants, un- less of a temperature of sixty degrees. Rainwater is best, for this is supposed to contain some little ammonia from the sky.
The best rule in all cases is to use water warm to the hands. Some florists advise water no colder than the atmosphere. We believe it generally best to use warmer. In cool mornings it should be lukewarm, say not under fifty-five degrees.
Some cultivators say they have used hot water for sickly plants heated to a temperature from two hundred to two hundred and fifty degrees, and have believed this to be the cause of their subsequent luxuriant growth and production of flowers of the greatest beauty, but trials like this are not to be encouraged, and warm water of seventy-five to one hundred degrees will do just as well and have far less danger from scalding. Over one hundred degrees is neither necessary nor safe.
8. Role of Soil in Window Gardening.
The Soil, — The most easily available material for compost by the ordinary gardener, will be rich loam, sand, and thoroughly decayed cow manure.
This should be mixed in the proportion of one-half of the loam to one quarter each of the sand and manure. Leaf mould is also another grand material that every plant loves to grow in, and it will pay to secure a good quantity of it.
The older and more decomposed the manure and leaf mould, the better they arc, and every plant grower should keep a well-prepared compost heap for his plants.
A good compost, when all the material is handy, is composed of one-fourth of the above elements of leaf mould, sand, loam, and manure.
To those who live in cities and can not get this conveniently, it is best either to buy your plants already potted, or go to a good florist and buy a good quantity of right compost; he can usually supply it at a cheaper rate than it can be purchased anywhere else.
Keep this heap well filled, and no one must fail to bear in mind that the soil of every one of his pots needs changing and replenish- ing, or else it becomes exhausted, and the plants dwindle and languish for needed food.
Garden loam is often used by those in the country and found to answer, but if it should contain any clay, a little sand must be added. The sand itself is of no fertilizing effect but is valuable in assisting the aeration of the soil and helping the drainage.
Well, rotten turf is another handy and valuable material, containing a considerable quantity of vegetable mould. If used, put the coarser pieces at the bottom along with some pebbles or broken pieces of crockery, then fill in the finer mould to about half an inch from the surface. The soil must not be allowed to cake up, but be occasionally stirred up deep, so that air may have access to the roots.
For drainage purposes, put in the bottom of each pot either a layer of powdered charcoal or small broken pieces of brick or old mortar to the depth of at least an inch; over this, there may be a slight sprinkling of sand: still, it may be omitted if it has previously been well incorporated in the compost.
In general, it should never be less than one-fifth of the whole material of the compost, and one-fourth will be best in most cases.
9.Fertilizers for Stimulating House Plants.
All plants will grow much finer if stimulants are given, say at least once a week.
A very fine liquid fertilizer can be made out of horse and cow manure. Take an old bucket for the purpose, put into it several shovels full of manure, to which add one pint of charcoal dust, this neutralizes its odor, add to it plenty of boiling water, let it cool, and apply to the plant. It should not be given too strong, but about the color of weak tea. The bucket can stay filled up with water for six weeks or two months as it is needed, then throw away its contents and begin again.
Guano water, a decoction of Peruvian guano, makes a good stimulant. It should be applied once a week to the roots, taking care not to touch the leaves with it. To one gallon of hot water, add one large tablespoonful of guano; stir until it is dissolved. Hen manure may be substituted and used in about the same quantity.
When used carefully, either is excellent and gives the plants a bright vigorous green.
Ammonia water stimulates growth very satisfactorily. Dissolve one-fourth ounce of pulverized ammonia in a gallon of water, and it will prove more grateful to the plants even than rainwater which also contains ammonia. A teaspoonful of aqua ammonia added to a gallon of warm water will be of the same efficacy. Flour of bone, when it
can be obtained in the form of powder, easily soluble in water, is still more suitable, for it contains other elements of plant nutrition.
Used in moderate quantities, not over a tablespoonful to a gallon of warm water, it will give the plants a healthy impetus; give a sufficient quantity to wet the whole ball of earth and pour off the surplus water that runs into the saucer.
A special fertilizer used to advantage by some, is composed as follows: take of sulfate of ammonia four ounces, nitrate of potash two ounces, white sugar one ounce, add one pint of hot water; when dissolved, cork tightly and add a teaspoonful to every gallon of water used for watering; six or eight drops of this liquid can be poured into the water of a hyacinth glass, and the flowers will be much finer.
All these special stimulants roust be used with caution, be well diluted, applied not oftener than once a week, and once in three weeks will be sufficient for the hyacinth.
10.Moisture of Atmosphere.
The atmosphere of our houses, as we have intimated before, is not only too dry for successful plant culture, but it breeds insects of various kinds which will injure their growth.
We have noticed that plants kept in kitchen windows where the air is charged with moist vapors from the boiling of water over the stove or range, and where the outside doors are frequently opened, and fresh air supplied, will often develop into surprising luxuriance and beauty.
It is the moisture in the air that tends to restrain and drive away such disagreeable intruders. The heated air of the house can be kept moist by placing an evaporating pan upon or in our furnaces, and over our stoves we can place a large fire-proof dish that must be daily filled with water.
If the surfaces of the soil in pots are covered with moss, it retards the evaporation of water; this practice is generally advisable only for those plants which require much water, such as Calla Lillies, Fuchsias, Camelias, &c.
Pots that are imbedded in moss are always kept moist, and if a table is constructed just the height of the window, with a rim fastened around each side three inches in-depth, and the whole lined with zinc, the pots can be set in it, and the moss Stuffed in on all sides. When watering is needed, set it back from the window and sprinkle it with a fine watering pot.
11. Fertilizers for Stimulating House Plants window gardening.
All plants will grow much finer if stimulants are given, say at least once a week.
A very fine liquid fertilizer can be made out of horse and cow manure. Take an old bucket for the purpose, put into it several shovels full of manure, to which add one pint of charcoal dust, this neutralizes its odor, add to it plenty of boiling water, let it cool, and apply to the plant.
It should not be given too strong, but about the color of weak tea. The bucket can stay filled up with water for six weeks or two months as it is needed, then throw away its contents and begin again.
Guano water, a decoction of Peruvian guano, makes a good stimulant. It should be applied once a week to the roots, taking care not to touch the leaves with it. To one gallon of hot water, add one large tablespoonful of guano; stir until it is dissolved. Hen manure may be substituted and used in about the same quantity.
When used carefully, either are excellent and give the plants « bright vigorous green.
Ammonia water stimulates growth very satisfactorily. Dissolve one-fourth ounce of pulverized ammonia in a gallon of water, and it will prove more grateful to the plants even than rainwater which also contains ammonia. A teaspoonful of aqua ammonia added to a gallon of warm water will be of the same efficacy. Flour of bone, when it
can be obtained in the form of powder, easily soluble in water, is still more suitable, for it contains other elements of plant nutrition.
Used in moderate quantities, not over a tablespoonful to a gallon of warm water, it will give the plants a healthy impetus; give a sufficient quantity to wet the whole ball of earth and pour off the surplus water that runs into the saucer.
A special fertilizer used to advantage by some is composed as follows: take of sulfate of ammonia four ounces, nitrate of potash two ounces, white sugar one ounce, add one pint of hot water; when dissolved, cork tightly and add a teaspoonful to every gallon of water used for watering; six or eight drops of this liquid can be poured into the water of a hyacinth glass, and the flowers will be much finer.
All these special stimulants roust be used with caution, be well diluted, applied not oftener than once a week, and once in three weeks will be sufficient for the hyacinth.
12. Pinching is important for Plants in window Gardening.
Plants should be kept in good shape by pinching off their shoots &om time to time, so as to avoid an outward spindling appearance; straggling branches can never be handsome; but if their shoots are nipped or pinched in every month or so, they will grow bushy and have more blossoms and leaves.
Fuchsias and Pelargoniums are generally stopped once or twice before they flower. When the shoots have grown about three leaves their ends arc pinched out; this gives three or four shoots instead of one, and increases the proportion of blossoms, but keeps the plant dwarf.
The training of plants is also a matter of taste, usually, the form of a half-circle is most preferred. Fuchsias trained to single stakes and allowed to droop down are natural objects of beauty. Every gardener has his fancy.
Nothing is so pleasant as to see a rose trained to stakes in pots bent completely back to the pot, in the shape of a semi-circle — every branch covered with buds just ready to bloom.
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