The florists’ cineraria (actually, Senecio cruentus) dislikes dryness and warmth and insists on cool air (40° degrees Fahrenheit to 60° degrees Fahrenheit) and more moisture than you would dare provide for most pot plants.
Mine seems to like my makeshift hotbed, which is warmed only by air coming out through a cellar window and must be protected from freezing on coldest nights by a thick layer of old blankets.
Not Too Much Sun
The eastern exposure provides some sun, but not too much, and the damp earth on which the pots are set keeps the air humid, preventing the pots’ soil from drying out rapidly.
Closed-in but unhealed porches, excellent attic windows— and cool greenhouses—also provide acceptable growing conditions.
I buy one packet of mixed-color seeds each year, preferably of the dwarf or “nana” varieties, which stay under 8” inches tall but spread to 10” inches across.
Flowers are smaller than the giant exhibition hybrids but equally profuse, and compact plants are more suitable for use as table centerpieces and gifts.
Scanty but successive monthly sowings of these seeds from May through October supply us with blooming plants continuously from Christmas through the latest spring and even some for early summer color in outdoor window boxes.
Planting Seedlings
Seeds are planted ⅛” inch deep in sterilized sandy-textured soil with some humus or leaf mold added in a plastic refrigerator dish or cake pan, which can be covered with sheet plastic to keep the medium moist.
Sometimes I set the containers on top of our new oil-burning furnace, sometimes on the warmest spot atop the refrigerator or TV set.
With this slight warmth, germination occurs in ten days to two weeks. Then, the containers are uncovered and set in a warm and light but not sunny spot until the plants are large enough to transplant easily.
Seedlings can be transplanted into flats or trays or directly into pots. The soil mixture is the same—sandy, for good drainage, with some hummus.
Usually, I put broken pieces of barbecue charcoal in the bottom of the pots to keep the moist soil “sweet.”
The seedlings move into their excellent, semi-sunny growing quarters, remaining until flower buds open.
As the plants grow, they’re forced into successively larger pots, usually ending with the 4” or 5” inch size.
Feeding Fertilizer
Fertilizer is fed infrequently, in weak solution, until buds are formed. Then liquid manure or a soluble balanced fertilizer in strength recommended on the package is used weekly or semi-weekly.
Itineraries are remarkably easy to grow and to grow well. Only once have they disappointed me.
Carelessly, I allowed the soil to dry out for some hours. The larger leaves wilted fast and were lost.
And the top growth then protruded on a scraggly stem without the luscious rosette of green leaves below to tic it down into the pot. That once was enough. I now water regularly and spray the leaves in the morning as often as possible.
This summer, I plan to have cinerarias to use as an accent in my annual flower beds. Their large, velvety green leaves and mounds of dark-eyed daisy-like flowers in striking purples, pinks, lavenders, whites, and combinations thereof should be adequate.
44659 by Bernice G. Brilmayer