BETTER CARNATIONS

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 65, 9 December 1938, Page 20

BETTER CARNATIONS

How To Grow Them If you want to get the best out of your carnations, you must give special attention to them .now. The first point needing consideration is support, and if your carnations arc grown mainly for garden decoration and, perhaps, for the provision of cut •blooms, there is nothing better than some brushwood, placed among the stems. Now consider the important operation of disbudding. Here again much depends upon what you requite, whether you want a display of colour produced, by a mass of flowers, or a limited number of really high-class blooms. If you prefer merely a bold displayless disbudding is necessary. Simply remove the weak and crowded buds, including, those placed low on the main stem, and retain two, three, or even more good buds a stem, the exact num - ber to Ibe dictated by the strength of the plant and stems, and. by the variety. For all ordinary decorative purposes each stem 'may be permitted to carrytwo or three blooms. If you want first-class flowers —perhaps for exhibition —you must retain only one flower to each stem, and usually the bud at the apex of the stem is the strongest and will develop the best flower. The remaining buds must be pinched out tv-hen quite small. The surface soil must be frequentlyhoed or lightly pricked over with a hand fork, to conserve moisture and encourage the formation of valuable surface roots. Do this often, for the plants will respond in wonderful fashion. If you have any reason to suspect a deficiency of lime, hoe in a dressing of slaked lime. Carnations are veryfond of this material, and lime in some form is vital to their welfare. Feeding must not be overdone, for a too rich diet may cause split calyces and coarse flowers. Two or three doses of a good proprietary fertilizer, just a mere sprinkling once a week hoed and watered in, will do much good. It is best applied when the buds are swelling, and feeding must cease when the flowers begin- to open.