Queries

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30804, 16 July 1965, Page 6

Queries

I was tald that tha a«l--tlaa af Trlchlaraphaaomv acetic acM would hasun the root farmatioa In aerial layering. Thia auh■tance appears to he lnSJCble In water and I would like to know If a "odium salt It what It wed "f this It ‘ all off th. beam" would »ou alve m. the name of the aubatanc. uted at Lincoln College, where a specimen ol magnolia canlpbellei has a large number of well-rooted aerial layers. A. B. (Mt Somers). Your Information regardinj (he insolubility tn water of TA A Is correct. However alcohol is a suitable substitute. Aller alcohol has been dissolved. talc should be added * less laborious preparation, much used at Lincoln as a erowth iroot) promoting hormone, is Seradix 1,2 or 3 depending on the type of cuttmj that is to be treated. Seradix s would be required for Magno), ias. There is not a M. campbelh growing at Lincoln.

Can yeu Identify e tre. (or shrub) for me from th. enclosed leaves. When small these are light brown. Also we have two Neriums’ pink, which are very healthy, have masses of buds but not more than one or two flowers. They are in a hot dry spot- Do they need salt air? I have given them lim. in an effort to promote bloom, or is It that reds (tower less profusely than pink? I also have a Camellia sasarqua “Crimson Kingbought In October, 1901, which Is now about three feet high, very healthy but has never had a bloom, and a Kallnia latlfolla, purchased at the same time, which flowered In the first year but net since. Can you suggest what Is wrong with both those plants—the sell around the Kalmia has been found to be alkaline—B. L. (Cashmere Hills). The leaf seems almost certainly to be that of an avocado pear. 1 am unable to provide a definite answer to your othrr queries but would suggest that excessive initial manuring which has not yet been exhausted sufficiently could be responsible for the lack of blooms generally. Kalmlas are resentful of alkaline soil and a handful of iron sulphate or sulphur should be scattered on the soil immediately surrounding the bush, annually if necessary, in order to maintain sufficient soil acidity.