It’s not too early to get seeds and cuttings started for a good show in the greenhouse next fall and winter.
Now, with everything flourishing in the garden, it is hard to realize how slow plant growth can be during the short sunless days of November and December. Plants started this month will be well along to maturity beforehand and ready to burst into bloom from the time the outdoor garden leaves off – and later.
Of course, with vacation trips and so much to do, it may not be possible to start your own plants, but at least try to make your own selection and pay a local florist or bribe someone to start them for you. It’s so much more fun when you choose the varieties, forms and colors yourself. After all, everything needed can be started in a few flats or clay pans. With most of us, isn’t it just a question of getting to it?
Either the greenhouse or coldframe provides excellent protection from the hot, drying summer winds and storms. Several layers of clean, moist cheesecloth stretched over the containers keep the air humid and right for germination. Most seeds come through quickly in the hot weather, but some, such as snapdragons, delphinium, larkspur, cyclamen and mignonette, want a temperature of 50-55 degrees. In many homes, a cool basement may be the best place to set the flats until germination starts. By that time, conditions of light and temperature will be just right for them in the greenhouse.
There are ever so many splendid plants that may be started this month. The home greenhouse gardener has a lot to choose from. The tendency to grow more than the greenhouse will hold is an irresistible temptation. Suggestions include: calendula and stock for January blooms; blue lace flower (Didiscus) for midwinter to spring; and forget-me-nots to bloom in pots by December or along the edges of the benches. Marigolds sown now will flower in January. Select the winter-flowering varieties that do well with less sunlight. Primroses (Primula malacoides) sown now make splendid pot plants by February. These can be followed by large specimens of schizanthus, the beautiful poor man’s orchid, but if you grow them, be sure to fumigate periodically, for they are quite susceptible to insects.
Multiply your favorite plants from cuttings, too, before growth becomes too hard to take up nourishment. Root slips of your best geraniums, coleus, ageratum, Boston yellow daisies and lantana.
Bulbs that can be potted now for early bloom include: freesia, lilies, lapeirousa (Anomatheca) and cape cowslip (Lachenalia).
Bring azaleas into the greenhouse by the middle of the month. Give them more sunlight for earlier blooms.
Remove shade from the north side of greenhouses, especially those running north and south.
Make last pinch on carnations by mid-August.
Do not pinch stevia after August 1 nor poinsettias after August 25 or they will not make bloom by Christmas.
Clean up the greenhouse if you haven’t already done so. Remove all rubbish and dirty pots. Discard dead foliage and plants along with weeds that have grown in the walks or under the benches. Benches and woodwork should be washed. Use a solution of one part 35 per cent formaldehyde in 50 gallons of water. Be sure all living plants have been removed from the greenhouse when using this solution.
If the superstructure needs painting, now is the time to do so. Use a good rust-inhibitive paint on steel. The heating pipes can also be given a coat of rust-preventive paint. Motors should be oiled and ventilating equipment greased. Be sure they are in good working order; if not. return them to the manufacturer for overhauling to have them in good condition by fall.
by C Ernest – 64805
