Just as Memorial Day is the signal for the relegation of house plants to the porch, the shrub border, or some special corner in the garden, so is Labor Day, the time for preparing the plants for their return to the house.
Preparation means repotting with new soil in good clean pots, cleaning the saucers and trays, and refilling them with a thin layer of fine gravel.
Your Potting Soil
For healthy plants, the soil mix is vital. Geraniums will take any good garden soil in which a little bone meal has been incorporated.
Ivies, philodendrons, the Christmas cactus (Zygocactus truncatus), crassula, hypoestes, crown-of-thorns (Euphorbia splendens), and sansevierias will all be happy in this mixture.
For begonias and ferns, add leaf mold and a little well-rotted cow manure. If cow manure is not at hand, processed manures under various trade names are available.
A piece of broken pot over the hole to ensure good drainage and a bit of charcoal for cleanliness complete the growing medium for the plants.
Cacti grow best in a soil mix with as much sand as loam, with added bone meal and ground limestone.
The importance of early preparation and removal of the house cannot be stressed too strongly. Do not wait until the weatherman broadcasts frost warnings to hustle the plants indoors. Move them inside while windows can still be left open.
Watering, Feeding, and Spraying
Once the plants are in the house, a regular watering, feeding, and spraying schedule is advisable.
Morning is the best time to water since it leaves the rest of the day for any water on the leaves to evaporate.
Then too, the plants will not be in a damp, cool condition as night approaches. It is not necessary to water every plant daily; water only dry plants, but give plenty of water to those needing it. When water appears in the saucer, your plants have had enough.
Do not let the water stand in the saucer. Pour it away. Every plant has individual needs, and careful observation will show which ones need water frequently and which will grow on the dry side.
For instance, cacti require very little water; geraniums will grow on the dry side, although they take more than cacti.
Begonias require different amounts according to variety; Begonia foliosa, for example, needs very careful watching and sometimes will take water twice a day since the leaves are very delicate and fragile, and the instant the soil becomes dry.
On the other hand, every other day may be sufficient to water begonia, Mrs. Townsend. African violets are a study in themselves. It has been found that filling the saucers with hot water every morning suits them very well.
As fall passes into the winter with fewer hours of sunshine, watering may be lessened; on cloudy days, it can be entirely withheld. This is especially true if there is a succession of dull days.
Careful observation and study of the various house plants will teach one the correct watering methods.
Any bulbous plant, like amaryllis, needs water daily since it is very easy for the flower bud to blast without water. Too much watering is as bad as too little watering.
A Shower for House Plants
Plants also enjoy an all-over bath as often as it can be managed. With just a few plants, spraying under the shower is easily managed every week or two, but a collection of a hundred or more plants presents more of a problem.
It may not be possible to spray them all each week, but by selecting a small group regularly, they will all eventually be taken care of. Then start over again.
Feeding Your House Plants
The feeding schedule should be started before the plants look as if they need it. Do not let them get tall, thin, and “leggy,” as they are apt to in the house where they do not have overhead light; keep them pinched back and well-fed so that they will be compact in form.
A feeding of thin manure water alternated with the feeding of a good commercial plant food (recommended for house plants) will keep them growing well.
If the plants are all repotted in good soil a short time before they are brought into the house, the feeding should be started about a month later and repeated monthly.
The Insect Problem
The hunt for insects must be constant. The shower bath helps eliminate insects, and the feeding keeps the plants healthy and less susceptible to insects and disease.
However, it is a good plan to spray everything about once a month in case any insect life starts. One of the small hand sprayers is very useful and easy to operate. For the house, a nicotine spray of any standard brand is recommended.
While regular spraying or syringing should take care of mealybugs, a small jar of denatured alcohol equipped with a cotton-tipped pick will take care of any remaining ones.
Heat, Light, and Gas
As interest in house plants grows, each new kind and variety of plant presents a challenge to the plant lover, but houses have their limits. Few plants tolerate hot, dry air and illuminating gas. They may survive, but poorly.
Cacti, philodendrons, and ivies have the best chance. Without the gas, the choice is broader and can include geraniums and some begonias. With a temperature not over 700 at the highest and some humidity, you can test your ability to grow unusual material.
At that point, the question of light will conic into the picture; other conditions being taken care of, the amount of light, will determine the success or failure of the plant to survive.
44659 by Ruth Pierce Merry