CYCLAMEN.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20233, 17 February 1934, Page 23 (Supplement)

CYCLAMEN.

AN ESSENTIAL PLANT FOR SPRING. Cyclamen should be kept growing slowly from the time the first leaf shows from the seed until the plants are in flower. Shade and moisture and a soil largely composed of leafsoil is necessary. When sowing the seed, make the surface of the seed pan smooth and firm, pick up the seeds one at a time and pu&h them into the soil with the ball of the thumb, put each seed about an inch apart, and cover with a little sand. When seedlings have made two leaves they should be pricked out. After making three or four leaves they should be potted into small pots. As the plants progress they should be potted into larger sizes, but never over pot. The point is right from the seed onward to keep the plants growing, never to let them have such a mass of soil around their roots that it gets cold ©r sour. Keep the bulbs just below the

surface until the final potting into the flowering pots, when the crown should be kept slightly above the surface, so as to prevent water lodging among the flower stalks. The best manure to use throughout the early stages should any be wanted is a pinch of sulphate of ammonia. When in the flowering pots and the buds are beginning to form, give frequent applications of weak liquid cow manure. Insect pests throughout must be carefully watched, and at first signs of aphis, thrips or red spider, the plants should be fumigated or syringed with nicotine. Aphis is now recognised as the carrier of many of the so-called virus diseases. Hence the elimination of aphis means more to plant health than the mere killing of a few green flies.