FIRST AID TO INDOOR PLANTS

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 418, 28 July 1928, Page 26

FIRST AID TO INDOOR PLANTS

Some readers tell us that they just can't get palms to grow indoors successfully. There are, indeed, several reasons for failure, and fortunately I certain cures can be suggested. In the first instance it is essential that you select the hardiest sorts of palms which alone can be expected to do well in the unnatural atmosphere of a living-room. These are few, as you know. Secondly, was your palm brought up to live a closely-confined life? If you bought it on the doorstep or off the street borrow it probably wasn't. Palms intendsd to be grown indoors ought to be raised quite slowly in a house moderately heated. You stand the greatest chance, of purchasing a j plant grown under these favourable I conditions if you go to a reputable | nurseryman rather than to a hawker, i Abundant water is demanded by pot palms, and even in winter they must not go dry. More palms die of thirst than anything else. Good drainage is also essential; the pot must not sit in stagnanting water. Sometimes an overlarge pot is accountable for a palm’s ill-health. They do much better when crowded for root room, provided you feed them with liquid manure and soot water throughout the summer. Weak and often is the correct method of application. Avoid draughts, or putting your plants too close to the gas light, they will die. Among the commonest and worst of the palm pests are scale and mealy

bug. Don’t rely altogether on sponging to shift them. Use a little bit of wood with a flattenend end. This will shift the pests from their limpitlike clutch instantly. When they have been removed in this way, and the foliage sponged with strong soapy water in which a little paraffin has been placed—this afterwards being washed off with clean water —the affected palm has a chance of recovery.