OPERATIONS FOR THE WEEK

Otago Witness, Issue 2241, 11 February 1897, Page 8

OPERATIONS FOR THE WEEK

; Greenhouse and Frames.— All plants of pelargoniums should now be pUced outside in the full sunshine, so as to ripen the growths before : cutting back, and the early batch of plants should I now be reaay for cufcliug down, if not already ! done; the plants will require careful wateiing ' t after tbe operation until they are gi owing again '■ freely. Keep a sharp look out for thrip and red i spider; theso two insects increase very quickly in hot and dry weather, and if precautions are not taken to destroy them much injury is done to the leaves. Dip the plants affected in rather HtroDß tobacco water or gum-leaf water, made by boiling blueguin leaves till a stro g decoction is produced, and keep the syringe going twice a day upon the leaves, taking care to thoroughly wet the imder sideß. A few young plants of the fibrous-rooted begoniae, potted up now into a light rich soil and kepb in a shady moiet part of the house or warm frame, will make use- , ful plants for winter flowering, and all trusses of bloom should be picked i-ff for some time. Coleus and foliage begonias should now be at their best, and it a little care i* taken in water1 ing and keepiDg clean, will continue to make a 1 good display up till the end of April Begonias i require moiv shade than the coleus. which require I plenty of light to bring out their _coloui\«. £mvardias are excellent plants for winter flowerings and are of eaay culture, providing they are kept clean. If young plants are potted on now and grown outside, keeping the point 3of -the leading shoots pinched back from time to time, strong plants can he had which, will, if lemoved under cover in May, produce a large quantity of flowers throughout the winter. A later sowing of cineraria seed sh<jfuld / now be made for furnishing plants for the spring flowering ; also a, small sowing of c»lceolana should be made this inouih, and kept in as cor-l and shady a position as possible. Great care is necessity with such, fine seeds as ihs latter, or they are lost in the water ; if carefully treated by covering with a sheet of brown paper or whitened glass, the pan should not require any ' water until the seedlings appear, if a good watering has been given before sowing the seed. I Kitchen Garden. — Cabbage and cauliflower planta should be kept growing, as any serious check to thair growth often cause* cauliflowers to ! " button " or turn in prematurely, and favours I the increase of the aphis, winch should be kept down. Strong soapsuds, into which a little kerosene oil has beeu mixed, sprinkled over the plants will keep them in a cleau condition. In watering, always give a good soaking instead of j a mere surface application. A good degree of moisI ture should be kept up about the roots of vegetable j marrows, cucumbers, kidney beans, celery, 4c. j balads of all kinds should be sown and transplanted in small quantities at short intervals ; if a good surface mulching is r-pplied to theso a much better growth will result. Cabbaee and cauliflower plants recently sown for the suppljr in lats winter will give some trouble in keeping them clean during the next few weeks They should be dressed as ad vised for older plants, or they will fail entirely. Tomatoes should be stopped from miking any further growth, as any fruit set after this date will not be likely to ripen, the early frost* preventing this, therefore the whole strength of the plant should go towards peifecting the fruit now set and swelling. Flower Garden.— January and February are very trying months to many plants in the open borders, particularly such as were planted late in the tpring and have noS as ye 1 ; become well established with roots in the subsoil. These and ericas, azaleas, ana camellias should have a good watering applied with the watering-can till the whole mass of soil has become soaked. jlany of these have very fino thread-like root*, and cannot i withstand eveo a short drought. "\Ve have fre- ! queutly pointed out the value of the ericas for garden decoration, and where a proper selection is made some can always be had in bloom just now. , Those of the Bowieana type are flowering for the • second time, and nothing can be more beautiful than well-grown plants of these ; as they go out j of flower any long shoots should be cut back 80 as ' lo keep the plants compact, and never allow the roots to become dry. Carnations should be layered as soon as possible, or cuttings taken and inserted iv very sandy soil. Continue to sow seeds of the various hardy annuals for spring flowering. They Bhould be sown on clean j soil. l>ut not heavily manured, as it is not | desirable to have a soft rank growth, plants of this kind not standing the winter well. . >