Crocus plant is bulbous perennial grass that belongs to iris family (Iridaceae). It is native to Europe, West and Central Asia. Crocus flowers are very impressive and beautiful. Crocuses photos decorate greeting cards, beauty salons are named after the crocus flower, there are also popular tourist routes to the places where crocus (saffron) massively blooms.

Crocus plants usually bloom when other flowers either are not ready to bloom– spring crocus, or already finished blossoming – autumn crocus. These flowers are very popular among floriculturists. After winter is gone crocuses signify spring, and in October they close the season and gladden the eye with their bright colours before long winter. Crocuses are outdoor flowers, but like other bulbous plants they can be forced so that you can have blossoming flowers of crocus (saffron) at home at any season.

Crocus (saffron) is a relatively small  (up to 25 cm) bulbous plant, narrow leaves grow right from the corm together with tubular flowers. Crocus flower’s stem and its leaves are covered with transparent plates below. Crocus flower is unisexual with bright corollaceous 6-cleft perianth. Inside the flowers there are snouts with three stamens of bright yellow, orange and red colour. Saffron flower is pollinated by insects. Saffron ovary, from which there will grow ripe a fruit, is formed underground, but with the time the fruit– triangle fruitcase with seeds – is pushed out by the plant to the groud, where saffron seeds ripen and if they are not picked up they are sown by themselves.

Cleistogamous flower of a crocus (saffron) resembles tulip with its form, it can grow up to 12 cm (depending upon species). Crocus flowers can have warm yellow colours or cold blue and purple colours, you can often see white crocuses, too.

Crocus bulbs are edible. You can boil them, bake or cook it in other ways, but the most valuable part of saffron plant is snout. Snouts with stamens are valuable medicine, seasoning and dye that are produced and sold for big money by industrial saffron cultivators. Real saffron spice looks like fragments of threads of reddish-brown colour, it costs not less than 1$ for 1 gr. (saffron is the most expensive spice). And because of its high price it is often faked. It is especially dangerous to buy saffron in form of powder, because you can easily buy tumeric (curcuma) instead of saffron. Tumeric is also good spice, but it costs incomparably cheaper comparing to the king of all spices – saffron.

Spain is the leader in saffron cultivation. The cheapest saffron comes from India or Iran. There is also saffron from Italy, Greece, Turkey. Among ex-USSR countries saffron is cultivated in Azerbaijan, Dagestan and Crimea now.

Dried snouts of saffron (crocus) contain essential oils, calcium, phosphorus, glycosides, vitamins and water-soluble dye crocin. Saffron dye was used in ancient times, long before Christ, for colouring of clothes into bright sunny colours. As a spice for cooking saffron has also been used quite a long time. It has bitterish-spicy taste and fragrant smell. Saffron spice is added to pastry (0,1 gr for 1 kg of pastry) to give them bright yellow colour and light aroma. Saffron is used for meat, fish cooking and for various seafood, rice etc.

Crocus spice is badly combined with other spices and that is why it is used mostly separately. Saffron is used as a spice in a very small quantity.  It’s enough to add 3-5 threads of this spice. Saffron overdoses spoil the taste of a dish – it gets unpleasant bitter taste.

You can get tempted to pick snouts from all crocuses that grow in the graden, but it is dangerous. Almost all experts in spices warn about crocus (saffron) – saffron can be easily mixed with meadow saffron (autumn crocus, colchicum, Colchicum autumnale), which is very poisonous. That is why it is safer to buy saffron spice in a shop.

Useful features of saffron are not limited with spices. It is also used as a medicine long ago. Recipes of eastern medicine wouldn’t be complete without saffron. Ancient Jews, Greeks, Romans mentioned in their books saffron many times and not only as a spice and perfect dye for clothes and shoes, but in the first place as a medicine against many diseases.

Ancient people believed that saffron helps to recover after serious illness, strengthens and topes up the body, cleans the blood, improves appetite, it is irreplaceable for curing stomach, liver and heart diseases. At present folk medicine also uses saffron as general health-improving, pain-relieving, anticonvulsant and sudorific drug, as a medicine against cold, helping to expectorate during catarrh of the upper respiratory tract.

Medicine with saffron helps ripening of abscess while festering,  it cleans wounds from pus and stimulates scarring. Saffron recipes are very popular among women. Saffron lessens menstrual pain, facilitates postnatal recovery of uterus, cures breast induration during breast-feeding, improves sexual function.

There are many panegyric treatises (and not without reason) in medicine dedicated to saffron, but like the treatment with any other medicine, the treatment with saffron should be done carefully. Expectant mothers and little children should not take it at all, all other people need preliminary doctor’s advice.

CROCUSES. SPECIES.

At present there are known about 300 crocus species. They all are divided into spring crocuses and autumn crocuses. In inddustry there is cultivated only one species of crocus to get saffron for spice or medicine – it is Crocus sativus. This is autumn saffron, and there is no wild analog of this species.

Crocuses that are planted at home are mostly Dutch hybrids – large-flowered species of crocuses. For example: «Gell», «Grand Maitre», «Vanguard» etc.

In crocus catalogues there are various kinds of crocuses – white crocus (saffron), yellow, gold yellow, purple, two-coloured.

CROCUS.  (SAFFRON). PLANTING.

To grow healthy, beautiful flowers you should select quality planting stock. Healthy saffron bulbs, like tulip, hyacinth and narcissus bulbs, should have no signs of mechanical damage or rot. Crocus bulb should have even colour without spots. Bulb plates should be tightly to bulb body. Fundus should have no damages or sprouts.
Depending upon the species and the size of a bulb there can grow one or several flowers from one bulb. Crocus corm can produce up to 5 offshoots in a season. Multipliers are much smaller than parental bulb and they will grow to full-fledged flowers only in a season, when these bulbs will put on weight. In favorable climatic conditions crocuses can grow on one place for several years. Crocuses are propagated quickly and build complete clearings of bright blossoming flowers, but every year the flowers become smaller, because with every season the number of flowers grow, they all require nutrition but the soil is already impoverished.

It is important to find right place for crocuses. Though crocus plants grow in half shadow quite good, they grow better and have bigger flowers on places with much sunlight. The places where water stagnates for long time are not suitable for crocuses.  In such conditions the bulb easily rot. This plant is xerophyte and it better tolerates lack of water rather than excess.

Crocus flowers grow well on any cultivated air-penetrable soil. On heavy clya loam you should add some sand , peat, provide drainage in form of sand or fine gravel. On light soils you should add sod soil, humus. Acidic soils should be limed. The soil for planting should be prepared in advance and simultaneously you should add basic fertilizer there.

Spring crocuses are planted in September-October 5-10 cm deep, autumn crocuses should be planted in July-September 8-10 cm deep. Planting depth is approximately equal to 2-3 diameters of a bulb.  On heavy grounds you should plant higher, on light soils deeper. The distance between bulbs should be no less than 10 cm.

CROCUS. SAFFRON. CARE.

Crocus planting is not very troublesome. This flower is unpretentious. Crocus is cold-resistant. It tolerates low temperatures up to -18⁰C, but in winter you should better cover it with leaves, fir twigs or peat.

Usually crocus is flowering at the time when the soil has enough water from melting snow and you should not additionally water it. Crocus is xerophyte and when water lacks it just has smaller flowers, but if you want to have full-fledged flowering, you should moderately water crocuses when there’s not enough water in the soil.

For good development and blossoming of crocus (saffron) flowers you should add fertilizer to the soil. Best fertilizer for crocuses is decomposed humus or compost soil (8-10 kg for 1 m²). This fertilizer is usually added while preparing the soil for planting.

During the whole season there should be done several dosings with mineral fertilizers. For the first time you should add fertilizers (phosphorus, potassium) early in spring before the snow melts taking 80-100 g for 1 m² in the proportion 2:1. When it begins to actively grow and build buds, you should add the same quantity of fertilizers for the second time with the proportion 1:1. During the flowering of crocuses you should add fertilizers for the third time (30-35 g for 1 m²)  in the proportion в 1:1.

Some gardeners prefer to digg out bulbs every year and store them in a cellar until next planting. It allows sorting out bulbs, remove weak or sick ones, and as a result to get bigger flowers and keep bulbs from mice that like the bulbs very much.

CROCUSES. REPRODUCTION.

Croucses are reproducted by daughter bulbs and seeds.

The easier and quicker way of reproduction is reproduction with multipliers.  Daughter bulbs arise in axils of plates on a mother corm. After mother corm dies out, it is replaced with a colony of new bulbs that should be planted out so that each plant has enough living space. Please refer to PLANTING section to learn how to plant crocus bulbs.

The seeds are picked up and dried out for a week. Then they are sown not deeper than 1 cm, the distance between seeds is 4-5 cm. The seeds are sown sparcely so that they are not pricked out during the first year of their growth,  and this lets the plant form a bulb. The crops begin to blossom during the 3-rd year.

CROCUSES AT HOME.

Planting of crocuses in pots at home (forcing) is fascinating pastime. The aim of the forcing is to get a blossoming crocus plant at home by the fixed date or simply in winter, when it’s still much time until natural blossoming in the garden. Large-flowered spring crocuses of Dutch hybrids better suit for forcing. For forcing a crocus you should select bulbs of the same sort and the same size so that the plants in one pot will have the same length and blossom simultaneously.

The bulbs for forcing are dug out from the ground in August-September if the plant grew outdoors or in spring after the leaves die out if the crocuses blossomed in a pot. After that the bulbs are kept with a room temperature (20-24⁰C) and good ventilation within two weeks. After that they are taken away for storing.

It is not always possible to force a crocus bloom exactly by the fixed date. It depends upon crocus species, the size of a bulb (the bigger the bulb, the faster blooms the crocus), upon external factors (air temperature and lighting), but the approximate time can still be calculated.

To get blossoming flowers for the fixed date the bulbs should have rest with the temperature of  +5 – +9⁰С.,  without planting into the ground. Approximately in three months before anticipated blossoming the bulbs are planted into low earthen saucers with light, neutral, air-penetrated moist soil. The size of an earthen saucer should be so that planted bulbs won’t touch each other and edges of the saucer. The planted crocuses should be again placed in a cold place (+5-+9⁰С.) in cellar, refrigerator or other premise. Within next two (two and a half) months the plant strikes root and sprouts. When the sprouts are 3-5 cm, the saucers with crocuses should be placed into a room with the temperature of 10-15⁰С on a bright place usually on a windowsill.  If the temperature is higher, crocuses will grow very quickly and finish blossoming. If there will be lack of light, the sprouts will stretch, the blossoming is weakened. You should water the plant moderately, when the upper layer of the soil will dry out.

Approximately in two weeks after placing them into a room, if the conditions are favorable the crocuses in pots should blossom and blossoming period should last about 2 weeks. After finishing blossoming the crocuses should be further watered until all the leaves die out. Then you should digg out bulbs from the pot and store them and then the whole cycle will repeat. True, the flowers by the second forcing are smaller and weaker.

Codiaeum belongs to the family Euphorbiaceae. It is native to Melanesia, Polynesia and North Australia. Floriculturists call codieaum more often simply as croton flower. There are a lot of croton species, for example croton mammy or croton mamey, petra croton (or croton petra), croton eluteria, red croton, codiaeum variegatum, croton megalocarpus, croton bonplandianum, croton tiglium, croton norma, croton capitatus, croton alabamensis, croton glandulosus etc. But as a house plant people mostly use Garden Croton (Codiaeum Variegatum pictum).

Croton flower is an evergreen shrub with rigid leatherlike leaves. In the nature croton flower grows up to 1,5 m high. House croton has more descent size (35-70 cm). Croton leaves are bright, have various colours and forms. They can be wide or narrow, mostly they resemble magnified laurel leaves, but they can be ribbon-like, coiled, fancifully cutout. Croton flower looks bright and multicoloured, because its leaves have various colours. Young croton leaves are green and yellowish, they are located at the top of a shrub, but while growing they change their colour and become multicoloured: with rose, red, orange spots. Codiaeums bloom with yellow-white flowers that should be mostly plucked so that plants won’t lose their powers, because their beauty is in their leaves.

Croton flower (codiaeum) perfectly suits to spacious bright rooms, halls, shop-windows.

Croton. CARE.

Croton plant requires quite complicated care. This shrub is quite exigent, it doesn’t like sharp changes of temperature and it is thermophyte. The temperature should be not lower than +17⁰C. It doesn’t tolerate draughts.

The lighting should be bright, but direct sunlight is bad for croton. Croton is a plant that prefers rooms with east or west windows.

The care for croton flower means first of all high air humidity and clean leaves. That is why it is desirable to spray croton leaves every day, to wash them often and wipe them with moist rag.

In spring and in summer when croton plant actively grows and when it is warm, you should water it much. Soft warm water suits best for this purpose. In this time codiaeum should be nourished regularly (once a week) with 0,2 % solution of NPK compound.

In winter you should take care of croton with the same thoroughness. When the temperature lowers down, the watering should be stopped, but the soil should never dry out. If it is warm and dry in the room, codiaeum should be sprayed, but very seldom compared to summer period, and the leaves should be wiped with moist rag quite often to remove dust. From time to time you can wash codiaeum in shower, but for this you should cover the soil with film. At this time croton plant is nourished not less than once a month.

Croton is a house plant that requires no often replantations. Young plants are replanted once a year in spring, and old plants should be replanted when necessary, but not lesser than once in two years. Clay and plastic pots are good for planting crotons, the bottom of pots should be filled with drainage, the drainage should consist of shards and charcoal that prevent water stagnation and roots decay. The most suitable soil for young codiaeum is a mixture of sod and leaf soil and sand in the following proportion 1:2:1. For mature plants you should take more leaf soil.

Croton. REPRODUCTION.

The best way to reproduct croton plant is reproduction with stem cuttings that are cut in spring from ligneous stems. The stems should be 5-10 cm long and before planting you should put it shortly into warm water to wash away the juice that appear on the cut. The leaves should be rolled up into a tube to reduce evaporation. The prepared stem is planted into a small pot with a mixture of minced sphagnum, peat and sand, and after that it is placed into a greenhouse or under a film. Nurslings are sprayed twice a day and are regularly ventilated. The roots appear in a month. The rootage will be better if you treat stems with phytohormones before planting and then apply lower heating.

CROTON. DISEASES.

Any faults in the care affect croton flower bad. The diseases can be caused for example by bad lighting. Direct sunlight can cause leaf burns, and lack of light will negatively affect the colour of leaves: they lose their bright colour and turn pale.

Too much watering and water stagnation in the underpan lead to root decay, and if there is not enough water and the air is too dry, tops of croton leaves become brown and then dry out. To low temperature will cange the colour of leaves – their edges will become brown and the plant will slow down its growth.

Draughts and sharp change of temperature can make croton shed its leaves.

Codiaeum’s juice is poisonous, that is why it is not much popular among pests, but if the leaves are washed seldom and the air is very dry, croton flower will be affected by red spiders and scale insects.

Red spider is a very small red spider. It settles on the lower part of leaves and covers it with thin white web. It can be eliminated by spraying and washing the leaves, especially at the lower part, with water or weak solution of soap and tobacco, by spraying (outdoors) with milled sulphur or you can treat the croton plant with ready systemic insecticides. If you washed leaves with some infusion with soap, in 2-3 hours you should wash the leaves with just some warm water.

Scale insects or armored scales got their name from a wax-like clypeus that covers the body of a mature pest. First young scale insects are barely visible, but they are propagated very quickly and cover stems and leaves with green spots. Mature specimens are still and sit under their clypei, from where larvae creep out and crawl further to cover the whole plant. At this time you should exterminate them by spraying the plant with a solution of soap and tobacco, where you can also add some kerosene or denatured alcohol. Mature specimens should be removed together with their clypei using wet tampons, but in addition to it you should also treat the whole plant with insecticide or soap solution to remove larvae. Such procedures should be repeated.

After you finished working with croton you should wash your hands with soap and you also should prevent domestic animals from eating the leaves. Croton’s juice is poisonous.

Roses are favourite flowers of many people, but they are considered to be outdoor flowers. Indoor planting of roses is also considered to be troublesome, but it’s erroneous point of view! Blooming roses are best decoration of a room. They have beautiful flowers with wonderful shapes, various delicate colouring and extraordinarily pleasant scent, and the care for roses doesn’t require much efforts.

The main task for indoor planting of roses is to make the plant create buds and bloom in winter and in spring (the seasons when there’s no much flowers at all). For this they should be planted in cool rooms, but they need a lot of light to build buds, that is why the roses should be kept on bright windowsills.

You can plant roses in warm rooms, too. But in this case you should spray them with water often. The water should be 2-3 ⁰C warmer than the air temperature. If you use cold water for spraying, you can provoke powdery mildew of roses. The disease doesn’t cause death of plants but spoils their decorative appearance.

For summer period pot roses should be placed on outside windowsills and balconies. If it is possible, you can plant them into the soil with or without pots. At this period spraying the roses with water in sunny days (in the morning and in the evening) will positively affect their growth and development. With this measures you wash away the dust and simultaneously refresh the plant and prevent pests. In a cloudy weather you should stop spraying because it slows down the development of a plant. Roses should be kept outdoors until the frosts and then be brought into the house.

Watering of Pot Roses

The clod with roots should not get dry. You should water it in the morning and in the evening until the soil is fully saturated, but you should in no way water it in the full sun. Excessive moisture of the clod is also bad. Water should have about  20 ⁰C.

For a better ripening of sprouts you should reduce watering gradually by the end of the summer.

In late autumn the rose plant is taken out from the soil and is put on a side with the aim to fully stop the growth. Belated buds should be removed.

The Soil for Roses

The soil for pot roses should be extra nutrient. It is also required because indoor roses should be planted in small pots for better flowering.

A good mixture would be from 2 parts of greenhouse humus, 2 parts of a mixture of clay and sand combined with bird droppings powder. The clay can be replaced with argillic and turfy soil. A good soil would be from a bed of nettles as it grows on soils rich with nutrients.

Pests and Diseases of Roses

Unfortunately pot-roses can be also affected by pests and diseases. Most popular pests are aphides, red spiders and large rose sawfly. To eliminate aphids you should wash the flower with soapy water. This procedure should be repeated every 7-10 days. Treatment of a rose plant with pyrethrum also provides positive results. The solution is prepared in the following way: 200 g of pyrethrum powder should be infused in 10 liters of water during 12 hours, then you should take 50 ml of the infusion, dilute it in 10 liters of water and add 50 g of soap.

A very efficient means of defeating aphids, red spiders abd other pests of roses is water extract of garlic. You should take 50 g of garlic, pound it in a mortar and add a glass of cold water. In 15-20 minutes it should be filtrated and dilluted with water, so that you have 1 l of the extract. Then you should take 1.5 glass of this extract and pour it into a bucket of water and wash the plant in the evening or in a cloudy weather.

In books you can find recommendations against powdery mildew and red spider where you should use granite dust that should be added to the soil in spring, in the middle of the summer and in autumn. Besides you should also sprinkle the soil and the plant with ash. These measures are preventive.

In order to eliminate  infectious rose diseases (powdery milldew etc.) it is recommended to remove and destroy affected parts of plants. The plants are sprayed with drugs containing sulphur and copper (Bordeaux mixture, solution of soap and copper or solution of soap with soda ash – 40 g of soap, 40 g of soda ash for 10 l of water). This procedure should be repeated in a week.

Rose Replanting

Rose planting from the soil into pots (to get pot-roses) should be done in August. In this case the replanted roses will have time to root and they can bloom next spring.

If you replant roses in spring, they can root in summer and start blooming only in the next year.

For replanting you should take small pots, because in bigger ones the soil dries slowly and can turn sour and as a result the roots can start rotting. Besides big pots with house plants don’t look beautiful. In big pots the plant “fattens”, gives a lot of leaves and few flowers. You should try to grow a rose in a small flowerpot while replanting them into nutrient mixtures of soils and adding fertilizers.

When replanting a rose during its growth period you should not fracture the soil clod in order to keep the roots safe. In this way you can replant a rose during the whole summer.

For a better rooting the replanted roses should be kept in a shadow for 5-7 days. Watering is moderate.

Pruning Roses

Roses are pruned with the aim to form a shrub, to improve blooming in potted plants or with frosts coming, when the roses grow outdoors.

This should be done as follows: first you should cut weak (undeveloped), small and interlaced branches. On a shrub you should leave 4-5 strongest sprouts that are well developed and have medium size. If they have ripe timber, they are pruned so that there should be left only 3 to 6 buds on each sprout. On moderately grown sprouts you should leave 4-5 buds, and on weak sprouts – 2-3 buds. With climbing roses you should only cut dead and excessive branches.

It is better to prune multiflowered dwarf roses with big flowers in spring for 3-5 buds.

Parviflorous kinds have abundant flowering if they are pruned for 2-3 buds. Flower buds on dwarf roses develop on annual sprouts of the 1-st, 2-nd and 3-rd level. They bloom with small interruptions until the vegetation is complete.

Right after the pruning the roses should be taken into some cool premises with the temperature of 10-12 ⁰C. Under such temperature the buds grow very slowly, approximately 12-15 days. When the first leaves appear you should place the rose on bright (better sunny ones) windowsills. You should cut the “fattening” sprouts completely, so that they won’t waste nutrients and won’t stop the development of a shrub. Under such conditions there will be developed strong sprouts and big buds.

The lower the temperature of the premise is, the slower will be the growth of buds and the longer will be the resting of the pruned roses. Outdoor pruned roses should be covered for the whole winter so that they won’t be destroyed by frost. They are uncovered only in spring.

Forcing Treatment of Roses

You can conduct early forcing treatment indoors. For this you should have well ecized potted plants.

Early in spring it is the high time to obtain shrubs of rose cultivars. They should have well-developed roots with a lot of fibrils. These roses should be planted into pots. The soil should consist of 2 parts of agrillic and turfy soil and 1 part of humus and sand.

Then you should make pruning of each branch for 3- 4 buds, by high roses you should leave 5-6 buds. The upper bud should be left on the outer end of the branch. You should also completely cut branches that interlace or grow in parallel.

Roses that are planted in spring can be driven into the ground together with branches for 3-4 weeks for ecizing. At this time you should keep an eye on them so that the buds won’t burst and build white sprouts. An ecized plant should be placed at a bright place and be shaded with paper. In 10-15 days the paper should be removed because at this time roses are already growing very well.

Roses that are pruned and placed into pots also can be dug into the soil on the balcony or a bed for ecizing. The best place for it would be in half-shadow.

When roses will be well ecized, you can use extra nutrition once or twice a week. In summer you should cut weak and excess sprouts to form a shrub. The buds that are constantly appearing should be removed. In autumn, in September the pots with roses are dug out and put on their side. They should be watered only when the leaves will fade. Such treatment provides conditions for ripening of timber, falling of leaves and transition to dormant state. The leaves that still remain on a plant should be removed, and the plant should be prepared for wintering in a cellar. The earlier the plant goes into dormant state, the earlier you can begin forcing treatment.

In the cellar you should winterize the pots so that the roots won’t freeze. You should also keep them from mice that can bite timber. In January the roses can be brought into rooms for forcing treatment.

Upper layer of the soil in pots should be removed and replaced with fresh nutrient soil. The plant is put on its side for 7-10 days, to ensure even nutrition of buds. It is sprayed several times a day with warm water. It is desirable to lower the temperature at night for 2-3 ⁰C as it will promote better growth of sprouts and development of flower buds.

If you plant roses in autumn, you should make no pruning. The roses should be brought into a cellar and winterize pots for better ecizing. For forcing treatment you should bring roses into premises, then prune them and start watering little. For spring blooming you should do it in February.

Rose Reproduction

Cultivation of roses is quite simple. The best methods for rose reproduction are cutting and winter grafting.

Green cutting of roses is conducted in May-June after blooming in cups or pots. Cuttings are sliced from green sprouts, when their timber begins to harden but is not hard yet. Sprouts are cut into pieces with 2-3 buds each. Cuttings ecize better if they are taken with “heels”.

The lower cut of a sprig is done as closer to the bud as possible. The upper cut should be done a little bit higher than the upper bud. The cuttings are prepared from the best abundantly blooming rose shrubs. For ecizing you should take 2-3 cm layer of peat with humus soil and pour over it a layer of 2 cm of clean bank sand.

The planted cuttings (rose seedlings) should be covered with glass cap or jar. First you should protect them from the sun and spray often. In 15-20 days they will ecize and you should start watering them. After they are ecized the cuttings should be planted into small pots. When the roots will braid the clod in the pot, you should replant the rose. All buds that appear on a nursling should be removed.

In the same way you can implant cuttings with hard cortex.

Winter Grafting of Roses

The chosen wildings (dog rose) with a well developed root system should be covered with earth in a cellar in autumn. In March you should take them into premises, cut the top aerial part while leaving 5-6 cm and then plant them into tops. The root collar should not be covered with earth while planting. The roots are cut a little bit, so that they fit into pots, and then they are laid like spiral.

When the dog rose begins to sprout, it is inoculated with green cuttings taken from best rose shrubs that already bloomed before. The cuttings should have one bud and a leaf. You should make an angular cut under the bud. Then you should obliquely cut the dog rose in a root collar, make a cut out and insert the cutting so that the bud of a cutting is placed over the upper cut of a wilding. The inserted cutting is tied and covered with a jar.

The grafted plant should be kept on a window with enough light in a warm room. In 8-10 days the cuttings begin to grow. You should take away jars from sprouts and train them in room conditions. When they will grow up to 20 cm you can take cuttings for grafting from them.

Rose Species

Nowadays there are thousands of rose species available. For planting roses as house plants you can take old proven kinds: from a tea rose group – General Arnold Janssen, Augusta Victorian Rose, La France; from climbing roses – Crimson Rambler, Marshall Neil Rose; from polyantha roses – Levasseur, Gloria Dei, Katharina Zeimet.

Modern kinds can be found in a special literature like a book of Dr. D. G. Hessayon “The House Plant Expert”. Many kinds are offered in the Internet.

A very popular kind for house planting is so called shoeflower or hibiscus. There are polypetalous and single flowers of white, yellow, orange, delicate pink and bright red colour. It likes bright light, but not hot sun. If the plant is placed far from windows, it will have much leaves but no flowers.

You should replant them in spring into a nutrient soil consisting of foliose soil, humus, sod and sand soil. It would be good to add some bird droppings. Right after replanting you should prune branches for one third of their length. This will encourage the growth of young sprouts with flowers on their tops. In summer the plant requires good light, nutrients and frequent spraying with water. In winter you should better keep them in a cool premise and water them just a little bit.

Hibiscus is propagated by cuttings from the tops of young sprouts with warming up the ground or with covering with a jar. Cutting is made in July-August. To form a shrub the stem should be nipped.

Begonia (elephant’s-ear)

BEGONIA (elephant’s-ear) comes from tropical and subtropical areas of Asia, America and Africa. Begonia plant is named in honour of Michel Bégon, a former governor of Santo Domingo (western part of Haiti island), who was very fond of flowers. Begonia family includes about 1,000 species. Begonia flowers are very popular house plants because of a great variety of colours and leaf shapes as well as beautiful flowers.

All begonias have diclinous flowers (pollen suppliers and pistillate flowers). They can be artificially pollinated, in this case begonia plant will have a fruit in form of a boll with very small seeds that can be used to reproduct begonia. Begonia plants are divided into three groups: tuberous begonia that has tubers in its earthnut, which are used for porpagation; foliated begonia with no tubers, but its root is thickened and is also used for propagation; the third group is shrub-like begonia. These begonia plants do not use roots for propagation.

BEGONIA SPECIES.

There are shrub begonias, subshrubs and herbaceous begonias. At home people mainly plant hybrid species. As house plants there are used two begonia species – ornamental flowering begonias and ornamental foliated begonias.

Ornamental flowering begonias are in their turn divided into plants, which leaves fall off and their next generation of flowers is planted from their tubers, or (shrub-like begonias) the plant falls into true dormancy that should be provided for this plant.Another species of ornamental flowering begonias is an evergreen begonia, which preserves its leaves the whole year round. These begonias have less spectacular flowers.

The most spectacular ornamental flowering begonias are tuberous begonias. Their flowers can be double and single and have colours from white, cream-coloured to bright red. Begonia flowers can be about 5-15 cm big. There are Begonias Pendula grown in hanging pots or vases, they have as a rule small flowers.

The most popular tuberous begonia species are hybrids of BEGONIA TUBERHYBRIDA. They have big leaves up to 25 cm long and beautiful double and single flowers on sarcocauls. The flowers have up to 10 cm in diameter with pollen suppliers being bigger than pistillate flowers.

There are a lot of sorts of tuberous begonia with a great variety of colours. BEGONIA TUBERHYBRIDA PENDULA are notable for thin pendent stems and leaves. Many sorts of tuberous begonias including Begonia Pendula can be grown from seeds.

Another ornamental flowering begonia species is shrub-like begonia. The most popular plant in this group is BEGONIA SEMPERFLORENS (Wax Begonia). As it is obvious from its name, this sort of begonia has a long blooming period.

These plants are used as garden begonias and as house plants. Wax begonia blooms almost the whole year round indoors, but with the age it looses its ornamentality, so it should be renewed from rods every 2-3 years.

Begonia Semperflorens has sleek leaves of green or reddish colour, small double and single flowers of white, pink and red colours. It can be grown from seeds. One more shrub-like begonia has original flowers –BEGONIA FUCYSIOIDES. Its flowers are held on pendent inflorescences resembling fuchsia flowers.

Ornamental foliated begonias are usually planted because of their ornamental leaves, though some sorts of this begonias can even bloom. A leader in this group is Rex Begonia (BEGONIA REX). Its leaves resemble odd-shaped heart up to 30 cm long. The leaf itself has irregular original colouring from red, brown to dark green. The flowers of Rex Begonias are far not so beautiful as its leaves, that is why it is desired to remove them, so that the plant won’t waste powers for blooming and won’t lose attractiveness.

Other ornamental foliated begonias have leaves of various shapes and colours. Spotty Begonia (BEGONIA MAKULATA) has up to 25 cm green leaves with white spots. The leaves of Cleopatra Begonia (BEGONIA CLEOPATRA) resemble maple leaves. The leaves of Begonia Masoniana with their rough and verrucate surface resemble frog skin.

BEGONIA TIGER is also popular. This plant is for those who wants to save some space, because bushes of this plant grow not higher than 25 cm. Small leaves of dark green colour with bronze tint have light spots on their face side.

Garden begonias are mostly represented by Wax Begonias. They are used outdoors as annual plants. They tolerate sunlight and half-shade very well. Begonia is unpretentious. It gets on with many plants very well, blooms long (from July and until the first autumn frosts). With the first frosts they can be planted into pots and be used as house plants.

BEGONIA. CARE

Begonias are quite unpretentious and resistant to diseases. But they need right treatment to be well developed and to have beautiful look. The most important here is air humidity. All begonias need high humidity of air. To provide needed humidity we recommend to place the top on a wet peat or a tray with water, but the top itself should not be in the water. For this you can place some pebbles into a tray or turn over a saucer and put a pot on it.

It is desired that the air around begonia is sprinkled, but you should keep the flowers and leaves from water drops. Temperance is the main requirement for such a plant like begonia. Good conditions for begonia mean moderate temperature (in summer it should be near +20 ⁰C, and in winter the temperature should be above +15 ⁰C), bright scattered light with no direct sunlight.

In winter you can put begonia to a place well lighted by the sun for several hours in the morning and in the evening (the only exception is Begonia Semperflorens. It tolerates shadow and bright sunlight very well). The watering should be also moderate. The soil should be moist, but not wet. From spring to autumn during its growth and blooming you should water it when the soil gets dry, and in winter you should reduce watering.

During the vegetation period it is reasonable to nourish begonia at least twice with full mineral fertilizers. To make begonia bloom longer (especially tuberous ones) you should remove pistillate flowers as soon as they appear (pistillate flowers are not double ones with three-lobed seed capsule under calyx lobes). To improve tuber growth with tuber begonias you should remove new buds in September so that the plant won’t waste its powers for blooming.

BEGONIA REPRODUCTION

All begonias are propagated good by stem and leaf cuttings and by division. Tuberous begonias are propagated by tubers or seeds. Tuberous propagation of begonias is made as follows: in autumn you should digg out the tubers, cut off stems, remove the soil from them and store them under the temperature of +8-10 ⁰C in the sand or peat so that the tubers won’t get dry.

The tubers are planted into pots from February to May depending upon when you would like to have blooming plant. For sprouting they are planted into small pots with sandy soil, the tubers are driven into the soil by halves. You should water them moderately. Sprouting goes slowly (it takes up to several weeks). First there appear rootlets and only after them appear sprouts themselves. As soon as there appear sprouts, the tubers should be sprinkled with some soil and the pot should be put to a light warm windowsill.

Seedage is quite a troublesome process. The best term for seeding is from December to March. The seeds are sowed into earthen saucers with leaf soil, mixture of such a soil with peat and sand, or right into the peat. Begonia seeds are very small, that is why they should not be dug into the soil but just be pressed down slightly. Sprouts appear in two weeks. They should be dived 2-3 times.

Grown up begonias are planted with a soil clod into small pots. In July-August these plants are blooming and until winter they manage to build tubers. Foliated begonias are easily propagated with leaf cuttings or by division while replanting.

For leaf cuttings you should take a leaf at the bottom of the plant. The length of this cutting should be not less than 5 cm. The rootage will proceed better if you use phytohormones. The cutting should be stuck into the soil so that the leaf won’t touch the ground.

The soil should be moistened and crushed around the cutting. Stem cuttings are implanted in the same way as leaf cuttings, but stem cutting should be not less than 7 cm long. The cuttings should be planted as soon as possible so that the slice won’t dry. The bes time for cutting is spring and early summer.

BEGONIA. DISEASES AND PEST

When there are mistakes in begonia care it can shed leaves and buds. The reason for this is most probably the lack of moisture in the soil or insufficient air humidity around the plant. In this case the tops of leaves become brown and the leaves begin to fall off if you won’t resume right watering.

Pale colour of leaves indicates the lack of light. If there is excessive moisture or the temperature is lower than needed, begonia can be affected by blueberry blossom blight. With this disease the leaves get light mold, which is caused by a fungus. The affected parts of the plant should be deleted, and the rest should be treated with fungicide. Powdery mildew also belongs to fungus diseases. If your begonia suffers from this disease, its leaves will be covered with farina.

Dryness of air, sharp changes of temperature and draughts facilitate propagation of powdery mildew. The affected plant should be sprayed with milled sulphur or colloid sulphur diluted in water. The solution should have the concentration of 1%. You should spray the plant outdoors. The outdoor temperature should be +25 ⁰C and higer. You can treat the plant with fungicide as well.

The most common pests that affect begonias are red spider mite (glasshouse spider mite), aphid (very small insect) and tick. Tick and aphid live at the lower side of a leaf and feed on a plant juice. The tick can be eliminated by spraying and washing the bottom of leaves with diluted solution of soap and tobacco or a solution of soap and Dalmatian pyrethrum. You can treat the plant with drugs containing pyrethrum or insecticide. The tick spreads quickly in a dry air with high temperature. The aphid can be also eliminated with drugs containing pyrethrum. The treatment should be conducted until the pests are eliminated.

Anthurium (sometimes also misspelled as Anturium, Anterium or Antorium) is a very beautiful, splendidly flowering house plant. Its native habitat is Сentral and South America. Anthurium plants are expensive and fastidious, its flowers have magnificent shape and colour and tower above large smooth leaves. Anthurim’s flowers contain an anguine curved or straight cop (spadix) that sticks up from a big flamboyant and slightly creasy bract like a caudicle.

The cop can have various colours from yellow to red, and bract colour can vary from white to ruddy. Shops mostly offer Anthuriums with ruddy bracts. Anthurium flowers are extremely elegant and beautiful and they are worth efforts spent for planting them.

Anthurium. SPECIES.

Florists know many species of Anthurium, but only few of them can grow indoors, so we’ll mention only those ones.

First, it’s Pigtail Anthurium (Anthurium scherzerianum). This is the most suitable Anthurium flower for indoor gardening. Anthurium scherzerianum can be 30 cm high. Its dark green leatherlike and oblong leaves are about 20 cm long. Its flowers have flamboyant reflected bract about 5 cm long and a volute cop.

Second, it is Flamingo Lily (Anthurium andreanum or Anthurium andraeanum – both spellings are currently used), which is much bigger than Pigtail Anthurium and can grow up to 1 m high. Its heart-shaped leaves are large (20 cm long). The flower is also bigger, the bract is up to 10 cm long and the cop is straight or slightly curved. Anthurium adreanum is less suitable for indoor gardening and is much less popular than Anthurium scherzerianum.

All Anthurium leaves are beautiful, but there are Anthuriums with especially beautiful leaves – this is Crystal Anthurium (Anthurium crystallinum), which is handled as an ornamental deciduous plant. The leaves of Crystal Anthurium are small, velvet and change their colour with advancing age. Young plants have reddish leaves and the grown-up ones have dark green leaves. Each leaf has silver symmetric streaks, that are clearly visible and determine ornamental value of a plant.

Anthurium. CARE.

Anthuriums are flowering from spring ‘till autumn if they have a good care. A good care means first of all right thermal conditions. Anthurium plant is thermophyte. Room temperature should be moderately warm in summer, and in winter it should be +18 ⁰C and higher. You should also keep Flamingo flower away from drafts but ensure access for crisp air.

Anthuriums like bright light, but don’t like direct sunlight, so you should shade them. In winter they also need bright light. Most appropriate places for Anthurium plants are eastwards or westwards windowsills or stands.

Good care also means right watering for Anthurium. The water should be soft and well settled, or better boiled but in any case it must be warm. You should water Anthurium regularly, but with small portions, so that the water won’t stagnate in the underpot. It is required to regularly wash away the dust from Anthurium’s leaves and it is desirable to spray them often.

During the growth period Anthuriums should be fed every two weeks with mineral or organic fertilizers.

Like most plants Anthurium’s flower has a rest in winter. In this period, when the temperature is lower, watering and feeding of the plant are considerably reduced, but the soil in your pot should never dry out.

Anthuriums are replanted in spring into wider and lower pots with well drainage. The pot should not be big, otherwise Anthurium will bloom weakly. You should carefully treat leaves and brittle roots. While replanting Anthuriums should be planted a little bit lower than they grew before. When growing up further there will appear roots over the soil. They should be covered with moss, and that moss should be regularly watered, otherwise Anhturium will dry out.

Best soil for Anthuriums would be a mixture of fibrous leaf soil, pieces of log moss and light humus. You should not firm the ground too much, because roots need air. Anthurium plant doesn’t tolerate alkali neither in the soil nor in water. The soil should have acidic reaction, and the water should be obligatory soft.

ANTHURIM’S REPRODUCTION.

Blooming species of Anthurim are propagated by fissiparity or separation of laterals with roots. Usually this procedure is combined with replanting. The rootage better progresses in a greenhouse.

Caulescent species of Anthurium are propagated by rods taken from tops of a stem. The rods are rooted in a wet sand or moss. The most favourable temperature for them is +24-25 ⁰C. The rods should be regularly sprinkled and the soil should be always wet. Anthurium’s nurslings should be planted into permanent place after rooting.

ANTHURIUM. diseaseS AND PEST.

Healthy Anthurium plant has lustrous bright flowers and leaves. If Anthurium plant is treated right and well, it blooms the whole summer, but if the optimal treatment is not kept, Anthurim turns yellow and withers.

Anthurium plant is a thermophyte. When the temperature falls lower than +18 ⁰C, the problems begin. The leaves get small dark spots which later grow to bigger ones. If you can’t find warmer place for the plant, you should immediately reduce watering it.

When Anthurium is exposed to direct sunlight, the leaves may get sunscald, so that they will turn yellow and wither. You should shade Anthurium plant and keep it away from direct sunlight.

If the leaves turn yellow in winter, they lack light, in this case you should place it closer to the window, so that the plant gets enough bright light.

The above text told you how to treat Anhturium. Here are the main requirements: Anthurium doesn’t tolerate drafts, lowering of a temperature, water stagnation, soil drying up, shading and direct sunlight. If the soil allows the air to access roots, and the water for watering is soft and warm, your Anthurium won’t turn yellow and wither, it will be healthy and beautiful.

Anthurium can be affected by plant louse and scale insects.

Scale insects or armored scales got their name from a wax-like clypeus that covers the body of a mature pest. First young scale insects are barely visible, but they are propagated very quickly and cover stems and leaves with green spots. Mature specimens are still and sit under their clypei, from where larvae creep out and crawl further to cover the whole plant. At this time you should exterminate them by spraying the plant with a solution of soap and tobacco, where you can also add some kerosene or denatured alcohol. Mature specimens should be removed together with their clypei using wet tampons, but in addition to it you should also treat the whole plant with insecticide or soap solution to remove larvae.

Plant louse is a bug that can be green, grey or black. It settles at the lower side of a leaf and feeds on a plant juice, and as a result the leaves wither and get rolled up. It propagates quickly but can be exterminated by drugs that can be obtained in shops or alternatively by solutions containing nicotine-sulphate, water and soap in the following proportion: 1 gram of nicotine-sulphate for 1 liter of soapy water.

In 24 hours after the treatment you should cover the soil with polyethylene and wash your Anthurium plant carefully. The treatment should be repeated if needed.

It is enough to regularly wash the leaves with water so that your Anthurium plant won’t get affected by pest (plant louse and scale insects).

The tulip has received its name according to a similarity with an eastern headdress and comes from Persian ‘toliban’, that means the turban. This flower basically is intended for flowering in a garden, but it is possible to make to blossom these plants and in room conditions. This process refers to – turning out of the tulips.

The best conditions for turning out of the tulips can be created only in hothouses, but, with efforts, tulips can be grown up and in rooms with a success. The best tulips are sellected. Turning out will be successful if you carry out a number rules.

It is necessary to know, that in first half of winter after the turning out of the plant it will blossom worse, and it will blossom more likely and more magnificently closer to spring. it is necessary to prepare plants for turning out in advance. Usually the early sorts with shorter dormant period are selected for the turning out. Despite of it, by freezing, drying, using warm baths, etc. while this period can be reduced and then the plants can be put on turning out during the desirable time.

BULBS of TULIPS

Tulips duplicate by seeds, bulbs and juniors. At duplication by seeds flowers turn out in the fifth year, therefore such way is used only for obtaining of new grades, and the one take bulbs for turning out. For this purpose it is necessary to take healthy, large (not less than 3,5 see), dense bulbs which are recommend for cultivation in room conditions. The bulbs can be held in the bottom part of a refrigerator or in not freezing through cellar up to the turning out.

TULIPS. PLANTING. (turning out)

Tulips do not demand big pots. Flat dishes in diameter 13 cm will do. The soil approach should be friable and sandy. For a mix take the turfen ground 30%, humus 40%, and sand 40%. Also can be taken the special soil for bulbous plants which could be bought in shop. It is necessary to do planting 1,5 – 2 months before planned time of flowering. Plant early grades earlier, and then plant the later ones.

Usually 3 bulbs can be plant in one pot. The bulbs should not adjoin with each other and to walls of pots. Tops of the bulbs should be above a surface of the ground, they shouldn’t be filled up. Usually bulbs are planted in September- the beginning of October. After that period the tulips passes a stage of rest. Pots with bulbs should be dogged in a sand a layer 5-6 cm in a cellar with temperature of 4-6 degrees or in a garden under a layer of peat nearby 10 cm.

The pots can be placed in a dark package, but it is necessary to watch, the temperature did not raise above 4-6 degrees and the ground did not dry up in where pots with bulbs contain. In such conditions bulb take roots well and form extended flower arrows.

TULIPS. LEAVING In a period of GROWTH

When the runaways appear, flat dishes can be brought in a room. It is desirable, that the temperature was about 12 degrees and a place where tulips are situated is shaded. Tulips can’t stand the direct solar beams.

The place for tulips should be far from batteries of a central heating. Plants should be also preserved against drafts. To prolong flowering, tulips should be put in cooler place for the night.

Tulips should be watered with crane water which was precipitated during 1-2 day, until the chlorine will evaporate. Boiled and rigid well water does not correspond for watering. The water with a temperature of 5-6 degrees, is very badly absorbed by roots, therefore maintain temperature of water about 20 degrees. The soil should be constantly damp. Not harmfully to feed up tulips liquid fertilizers at this time. When the tulips’ blossom is over, the leaving shouldn’t be stopped as it is necessary to enable the bulbs to ripen.

You should continue to water and fertilizing the flowers until its leaves will wither, after what the bulb should be dogged out, dried and put in  a store in a cool place. These bulbs can be plant in a garden next year. But for turning out they do not suit any more.

GRADES of TULIPS

Totally there are 15 classes of tulips, and the quantity of grades is not even possible to count. Especially Holland has a plenty of grades of tulips, it sells the tulips and bulbs worldwide. In Turkey this flower also has some special attitude where annually hundred thousand tulips blossom.

Tulips can be double, fringed, similar to a lily, from white up to dark blue color. There are multi-colour tulips.

Grades Hamilton, Lambada, Greus are very beautiful. The undersized hybrid grades of early flowering are better for turning out. These are a common early tulip, a double early tulip, tulip Kaufman, tulip Greig. Tall tulips do not correspond for turning out.

The Pelargonium is widespread in room culture. It comes from Southern Africa. These are rather unpretentious grassy or bush-kind plants which blossoming since spring till autumn and even the winter, therefore them still name “blossoming Geraniums”. All kinds Pelargonium which grow up in the house, are united by one name – a room geranium. A room geranium has close wild relatives which are an ordinary geranium which grows as a weed on kitchen gardens and roadsides and a meadow geranium, growing on glades in a wood, meadows and on the slopes of mountains.

KINDS of Pelargonium

In room floriculture zone Pelargonium is quite widespread (before it was called in russian klatch). On its leaves the Zone Pelargonium has dark concentric circles transitive colors which divide a leaf into zones, as has formed the background for the name of this kind. The flowers are bright, simple and double, of white, pink, crimson and red colors, usually they are collected in a spherical figure resembling an umbrella.

This plant usually grows up to 30 – 60 cm in height, but some species happen to grow up to 1 meter. The zone pelargonium has strong thick stalks and dense leaves which have a strong smell. The geranium red, especially grown up from seeds of hybrid grades of the first generation (F1) is very beautiful: these are pelargonium RED ELITE, RINGO DEEP SCARLET, CHEERIO SCARLET, SPRINTER. Series of pelargonium grown up of seeds are offered in catalogues, these are “Multicet” – scarlet, pink, salmon, series, “The LUSTER”, “BLACK VELVET”, and others.

The royal pelargonium (a royal geranium) is a very impressive plant, it possesses rough jagged leaves. It has larger flowers, than at zone pelargonium, therefore has a name of a large flower pelargonium. Its flowers have wavy edges, brighter coloring and diameter of 4 – 6 cm.

It has rather short flowering – from the beginning of spring up to the middle of summer and that is a strong disadvantage of this sort. The plant can grow up to 30-60 cm height. Lot’s of grades are offered for cultivation: “EASTER GREETINGS”, “AZTEC”, “GRAND SLAM”, “GRANDMA FISHER”, “ELSIE”, “HICKMAN”, etc.

The thyroid pelargonium is a pelargonium hybrid and has thin hanging down runaways, (up to one meter in length), that allows to grow up it as ampel plant.It has ivylike, juicy leaves of bright-green color sometimes with beautiful white border on edges.

It has both not double, and double flowers with a color from white, gentle-pink, salmon, and up to  bright-lilac. Lately at is very popular thanks to its full long flowering, a plenty beautiful, bright leaves and simple seaving. It can be grown up and as stamb tree.

A fragrant geranium is a grassy plant, with a lot of branches and leaves. It has fine leaves with a strong smell. Often this smell resembles a lemon, but there are fragrant geraniums with a smell of a rose, mint or nutmeg and even with a smell of an apple and an orange. The flowers of this kind of a geranium are fine, pink or lilac, collected in umbrellas. This plant is usually chosen not for its colors, but because of odorous leaves. They can be used instead of fragrant leaves in any fragrant small pillows and as spices.

DUPLICATION

All pelargonium duplicate by stem shanks practically all year long but better in the spring, or by seeds which also are better for sowing in the spring. Shanks should be cut off from lateral and top runaways. The length of a shank should be 5-7 cm and have 2-3 leaves.

Before planting the shank is better to dry up a little bit for few hours and then they should be powdered and cut with  a pounded wood coal. It can be planted directly in a constant pot which should be of a small sizes otherwise the flowering could be weak. The soil can be a usual garden one with addition of sand or not a sour purchased ground. It is also possible to implant shanks in coarse-grained sand with the following replanting in a constant place in pots or containers.

The soil for planting should be slightly damp, instead of wet and after it should be watering cautiously in edge of a pot, trying to not get on a stalk and leaves as shanks easily catch rot, especially at a low temperature. The best temperature for rooting of shanks is 20-22 degrees. It is unnecessary neither to cover shanks with glass banks or polyethylene packages it is not necessary, nor to use and fithohormons.

LEAVING

One of the most unpretentious plants is a geranium. Care of them does not demand any significant efforts. The basic rules are moderated watering, during the winter period the ground should be practically dry, and in the rest of the time it is necessary to water the soil is dry. It is not necessary to spray it. These flowers are exacting to illumination. They prefer a sunlight. Only in the hottest days they should be slightly cover from the sun.

The young runaways should be fixed when there are 4-5 pairs of leaves. It should be done for increase of runaways’ quantity and better flowering. The plants are usually cut round in autumn, with some bottom leaves left (not less than two). The cut off branches can be implanted. If while winter period it strongly extend, the plant should be cut off in the spring, excepting the large flower, royal pelargonium.

They usually blossom in the second year after planting and the ones not cut off blossom more plentifully, than when they are. The blossomed flowers and turned yellow leaves must be deleted. Thus leaves are better for cutting off, instead of breaking off, to not cause rotting of a stalk. The best temperature for a pelargonium dormant period which comes in winter is 10-15 degrees at minimal watering.

The Pelargonium do not like replacing. They can be replaced only if the pot became obviously too small.

Use the potash fertilizers for the geraniums. If it is ready flower fertilizer, it is necessary to watch that in it there was a small quantity of nitrogen. Otherwise there will be a lot of foliage and few blossom.

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ILLNESSES And WRECKERS.

The basic troubles at cultivation pelargonium are concerned with too humid ground, especially while low temperatures. Thus the leaves are languid, there can arise aqueous small pillows and rusty spots, on them, sometimes there is a grey mould on leaves which is caused by a fungus. In all these cases it is necessary to remove sick leaves, and to process a plant with fungispher, to reduce watering and to give fresh air an access to a plant.

The shanks’ the basis can darken – that is black decay of a basis. Such plant should be thrown out, the ground – sterilized or replaced and henceforth to not fill in a plant with water. The pelargonium is steady enough against wreckers, but sometimes it is also stroked with ticks, a plant louse, puctivetrisand Aleyrodidae. Ticks, puctivetris, grey decay is destroyed by fungicides, and a plant louse and Aleyrodidae are afraid permit containing preparations. Ticks can be destroyed, washing leaves (especially carefully from the bottom party) with tobacco mixture or a chemist’s camomile with green soap. In 2-3 hours the leaves should be washed with water once again.

It is especially difficult to struggle with Aleyrodidae. In this case processing of a plant is necessary to be performed once to three days. All sprayings should be made outside of premises.

You‘re like fragile flower of orchid

Calling by cleanliness of the lines

Leaning on strong glass of your seat

You blossom with no loving signs

… The Edge

ORCHIDS.

Totally there exist more than 35 thousand kinds and grades of orchid flowers (including the well-known vanilla) in the nature they are widespread in both hemispheres, but only an insignificant part of the variety could be considered as room orchids. Thus some orchids can quite easily adapt for room conditions and do not demand special leaving, and some orchids demand experience and special knowledge for their cultivation.

An orchid flower is very curiously ‘arranged’. An orchid has a special thickening on a stalk which the pseudo-potatoes to create stocks of water and nutrients, it can be spherical, the cylindrical or it may have the form of an egg. The pseudo-potatoes is usually situated right down on a rhizome. From a top of a pseudo-potatoes leaves and blossom bringers, where there are settled down the flowers of all kinds, despite of a variety of forms and colors, they have an identical structure: there’s a lip – the bottom petal, on each side from a lip there are two lateral cup-petal, above them there are two more lateral petals and a flower is crowned with a top cup-petal.

CARE of ORCHIDS.

Each kind of orchids demands its own conditions of the maintenance, but there are general requirements which need to be carried out for all room orchids.

Orchids are the photophilous plants, so they need the bright diffused light not less than 10-15 hours per day, therefore they require an additional artificial illumination in the winter. In the summer, on the contrary, orchids should be preserved against direct solar beams. These plants are also thermophilic, therefore the desirable temperature is 20-25 degrees in the summer, and in the winter not below 17 degrees. At night the temperature can be on 2-3 degrees lower.

There are some special requirements to humidity of air and soil. Orchids demand high humidity, but in the same time you should control thetemperature of air. At surplus of moisture in a substratum, in a combination to low temperature, a rhizome rots easily. Tiny species of orchids are good for growing up in and aquariums and terrariums. In this case, owing to the big stock of water in pseudo-potatoes, you can practically not water a plant, but air periodically.

Orchids do not stand closeness and too warm air at all, that’s why you should often air the premises where they are situated, at if possible to put plants on the fresh air, but thus to watch, that there is no cold drafts to ruin a plant.

For the majority of plants the mix of the ready flower ground with sand can serve as a soil. Also you can successfully use the special ground for orchids which is sold in shops. You can use little stones or fragments of polyfoam as a drainage. Plant an orchid in the low pot filled thus. To look after these plant using the described above advices, not forgetting to feed up in the summer 2-3 times complex fertilizers for flowers which it is recommended to dissolve half.

Find out what is your flower’s habitat of dwelling and if the orchid usually lives in a forest laying of a tropical wood, fill its pot with a fresh moss, substratum from a pine bark of average fraction and a moss or a substratum on the basis of peat. You can place this mix in an aquarium or to bigger jar and to grow up an orchid there, but in this case you will have constantly to feed up the plant with fertilizers in little dozes with the small maintenance of nitrogen.

But orchids feel themselves all better on a tray with a pebble with water so that the pot isn’t shipped in water. Orchids require close pots for better blossom. You can replace flowers only when the growth stops.

Orchids more often duplicate by division of a bush. Thus you should try to divide a bush so that in each part remains not less than three shanks. You can also try to implant a shank, but thus you should take a ground which consists mostly of sand with addition of the ground for flowers, and to watch the humidity of ground that shanks not rot.

KINDS of ORCHIDS.

Doctor D.G.Khessajon in the book “All about indoor plants” recommends 10 kinds of orchids for cultivation in room conditions. It is Catlea which grow up in glass capacity, its flower has a diameter of 10-15сm, it demands a heat and humidity of air, Celogina with a flower of 5-10сm, Zimbidium is the tiny orchid with a flower of 4 cm in diameter, Likasta has yellow flowers, 10 cm in diameter.

The flower Miltony is similar to a violet. It is a very beautiful flower which does not fade about 4 weeks, it also has many hybrids. This orchid does not stand any fluctuations of temperature. Odontoglossum has a flower with a diameter of 15см in. Paphiopedlum (Venerin shoe) has the flower with a lip in the form of a bag. Falenopsis on bent flower bringers has inflorescences with flat flowers up to 5 cm in diameter, Vanda is a high orchid with air roots and large flowers, Vilestekeara is a cultural hybrid, a flower is up to 10 cm, it demands good illumination, high humidity of air and a dormant period in the winter.

Let’s also add Dendrobium noble, it has gentle, white-pink flowers, after flowering, before a dormant period (temperature of the maintenance of 10-12 degrees) it loses leaves, Gemaria (differently Ludisia) is appreciated for the beauty of its leaves, it can stay in an aquarium. Madodeks is the tiny orchid which does not love differences of temperatures too, it demands high humidity, it suitable for an aquarium too.

The cactuses are considered to be extremely easy for cultivation without none difficulties and there is an opinion that it is better for these plants, if to not look after them at all, but it not so. Cactuses are peculiar plants. They grow well in deserts among the sand heated by the sun. These plants got used to reserve a moisture in stalks during rains and to spend it during droughty time.

Cactuses, with few exceptions, have no leaves; the function of leaves is carried out by thickened green stalk of the diversified forms. The cactuses can have smooth, ridge, hilled, wrinkled with nipples or dredging stalks; rigid cuticle with wax fur covers them outside. The leaves at cactuses are modified in prickles, bristles and filament of various form and painting which grow from felted small pillows.

Cactuses can grow as a big column or a small dwarf blossoming, giving fine flowers of various size, form and painting. Flowers at cactuses are of both genders, crater-kind, tubular, more sedentary. At some plants they blossom only at night. There are very fragrant flowers. It is possible to achieve continuous flowering of these plants at a correct selection of a collection and corresponding leaving in the house conditions.

Cactus Species.

Cactuses are divided on two groups. Desert cactuses, whose habitat of dwelling is a hot semidesert and forest cactuses, for what tropical woods is the native land. The requirements of the leaving depend on a version of the cactus.

Deserted cactuses feel themselves well in the direct solar to light. They can be placed at southern windows and in the winter practically to not water. Forest cactuses can be placed at east and northern windows, and in the summer they should be shaded from direct solar beams. In the winter you should limit the watering.

Room cactuses.

The dwarfish cactuses are suitable for room cultivation as they don’t occupy much space. You can grow few dozen of them on the one window sill. The room cactuses are also divided on desert and forest sorts.

The desert cactuses for rooms are cereus Peruvian, hypnosis, ehinocerius of Knippel and the edge one, aphoracatus  whipkind, espola woolly, echinocactus of Gruson,  a prickly pear, a parody goldenneedled and a parody bloodyflowered, nothocactus, rebucia dwarfish, persekia (a unique deserted cactus which has leaves which remind leaves of citrus), etc.

All these kinds of cactuses can blossom at correct leaving in room conditions. Some of them blossom at young age, and others blossom only after taking the age of 3-4 years, but then they blossom every year.

Wood cactuses grow on trees or under trees and their leaving should essentially differ from the care of desert cactuses. The zigocactus (decembrist), epiphillum, rhipsalidopsis are good for rooms.

The following kinds of cactuses are good for room cultivation. The phyllocactus has leaf-kind fleshy leaves. The large flowers appear on stalks and could be variously painted in white, red and lilac. The fruit of cactuses which is formed after the flowering has a pleasant taste.

These cactuses can duplicate with seeds and shanks. The soil should be composed of the sheet, easy turfen ground and sand. It prefers a light site. It demands a good watering and spraying in the summer. It blossoms since April till June. At good care it can blossom once again in the autumn.

The cereus differs by stalks in the form of columns which have the various forms. It demands enough of solar light and enough watering during the summer period. If there’s a strong growth in the summer, you should shorten a little bit the tops of plants. In the autumn you should gradually reduce the watering, and in the winter, during the period of the rest, the watering is better to be seldom and moderately. It should be grown up in small pots and rarely replaced in 3-4 years for better flowering. It grows better in an earthen mix of the leaf, turfen ground and coarse-grained sand.

Epiphillum, perhaps, is the best among the room cactuses. It is very hardy, has the fine flowers originally placed on a stalk of dark-red, violet-red, white and other painting. In the summer you should keep the epiphillums in the light places, but at the same time they should be protected from direct solar beams, it is good to water them and occasionally to spray. If you don’t do it, the plant will dump buds in dry air of and don’t blossom. After flowering the watering usually is gradually reduced.

It is better to replace the plant before the beginning of its growth – in April. The soil should be prepared from the leaf, light turfen ground and sand. The epiphillum duplicate by shanks which easily take roots. You can grow up plants with a crone. For this purpose you should impart them in stamb a leaf cactus (peireskia).

Cactuses Leaving.

Cactuses, as well as many indoor plants, demand a dormant period, for them it comes in the winter. Therefore there’s a goal of cactus leaving, that is not to admit its growth in the winter, as in the winter they extend and change their usual outlook.You may keep the cactuses on window sills in the winter. Put the pots put on a support for not cool the roots.

The leaf-kind cactuses usually demand the most lighted places, but other cactuses prefer bright light too. It is desirable to maintain the temperature of 15-18 degrees in the winter. Deserted cacti can maintain downturn of temperature up to 5 degrees and they can stay unheated premises in the winter in. In the winter, during the period of rest, the watering should be once in 7-10 days. Take warm water, 2-3 degrees warmer the temperature of air. While watering the water shouldn’t get the stalk of a cactus, especially during the winter period. Water can run in imperceptible cracks on a stalk and causes its rotting.

When the spring comes the plant requires more often watering and a spraying one-two times a month. In the summer cactuses should be preserved against sun burns and shaded. Not to overheat the pots put it in the boxes with peat or ground. It is possible to bear the boxes with the plants on a balcony. It’s better to plant the particularly big types from the pots in a garden, better on stone hills. In the middle of August replace them back to the pots for taking roots till the winter. Plant them in the same soil where they grew in the summer, but add some sand. In the autumn when the temperature decreases to 6-8 degrees, take all cactuses out from a garden and a balcony to indoor.

The cactuses’ watering depends on a season, the size of a pot, age of plants and the temperature of rooms. In the spring and summer, during the growth of cactuses, it is necessary to water them daily. The bigger is the pot, the more rare watering demands the cacti.

Old cactuses are watered less often as they have bigger stocks of water. Especially valuable watering is required in the summer. The evening is better for watering. The less is the temperature, the less watering is required, because cactuses evaporate less water. The watering is gradually reduced in the autumn, and it becomes seldom in the winter. If to water cactuses often in the winter, they do not pass a dormant period, become exhausted and do not form any flowers.

The best time for cacti’s replacing is in the spring when they start to grow better. Few days prior the watering stops, to make the ground so that easier lag behind roots. Plants covered with thick paper strips or with a thong and pulled out from a pot. The dead and decayed roots should be cut off up to a living tissue. Sprinkle all cuts with a coal powder. At the majority of cactuses usually at replanting root neck is sprinkled with sand that plants did not rot. Young plants should be replaced annually, and 3-4 years’ old ones it is possible to replace once in one-two year.

All the cactuses, which blossom in the early spring (forest), demand replanting right after flowering. They are usually not watered in two-rub days after their replanting. The new pot should be a little bit bigger then the old one. The ephillum is an exception. The close pot stimulate its flowering, therefore annual change is not necessary to it.

Duplication of cactuses.

The seeds of cactuses or stem shanks will do for duplication. You can duplicate cactuses by inoculation.

Seeds of cactuses

The seeds of many cactuses ascend to 5-7 day, but the some of them give shoots only in a month. It is better to crop in April and in the beginning of May. The flat dish with the seeds should be put on heating with a constant temperature of 25-30 degrees. It is possible to use room hotbeds and hothouses.

The capacity for crop necessarily should have big drainage holes to cover them with crocks.

Fill it above with a drainage layer from rubble, crocks, charcoal and river sand on which fill the ground so that there was one centimeter left up to edge of a pot. The seeds should be strewed with the ground and pressed with a plate. Small seeds don’t need strewing.

Put the flat dish with crop in warm water (on 2-3 degrees warmer than the temperature of air) that water acted through drainage apertures and humidified the ground. Cover the crop with glass and put in a warm place. When there will be shoots, transfer the crop in a light place, avoiding direct solar beams. The germination of the seed requires the temperature of 18-20 degrees. Reduce the watering after the occurrence of shoots and remove the glass. Dive the shoots after the appearance of the first prickles. Do not pinch the roots and do not shake off the ground from them.

The shoots of the cactuses is very small, therefore they require diving 2-3 times for a summer. S hade the diving and hold them one day without watering and two-rub days without airing. Loose and strew with a powder of charcoal the soil between the shoots. If the soil was soured, replace the plants in other good soil.

Shooting of the cactuses

The shooting of the cactuses passes well in the spring and in first half of the summer. The top and lateral runaways, and leaves for leaf cacti, can be used as shanks.

Fill a drainage layer on a bottom of a pot, a layer of the leaf-peat ground with a sand in 2 centimeters and from above 3 cm of coarse-grained river sand. Cut off the shanks with a sharp knife and dry in a dry premise of 7-10 days. Thus cuts become covered glass-kind taint. After that put them in a sand of 0,5-1 cm depth. Fix the shank to a peg for stability. Cover the planted shanks with a jar. Dry the cut on a parent-plant on the sun, grease it with spirit and strew with a coal powder.

Only humidify the sand in the pots with shanks, and when the plant is taken, start to water. You can prepare the shanks since autumn and keep them in dry sand till the spring. In the spring they will take roots well. Cactuses can duplicate by juniors which appear on a parent stalk.

The inoculation of cactuses

You shall make the Inoculation of cactuses for acceleration of growth and plentiful flowering, for the best growth of plants with a weak root system, for obtaining of interspecific and interpatrimonial vegetative hybrids of extraordinary forms, at rotting of roots and the bottom part of a plant. Make inoculations in a warm season. The inculcator and a stock should have the smae diameter and to be equally juicy.

First quickly cut off a stock with a sharp knife; if the plants have bigger diameter cut off an edging aslant around of a stalk. Then as well cut off a thin layer of a stock, and leave it on a stock to prevent drying of a cut while the inculcator will be prepared. Prepare the inculcator as well as a stock. Impose the prepared inculcator on a cut of a stock, preliminary having removed the left taint on a stock so that their centers have matched. Put a cotton wool on a top of the inculcator and adhere the inculcator to a stock crosswise under a pot with an elastic band.

The temperature of a premise should be 20-25 degrees. Put the inoculations under a jar and in a light place. Don’t spray it first. The bandage can be removed in 7-8 days.

Illnesses of cactuses.

More often cactuses suffer because of the soil watered above, especially in the winter. Thus various kind with decay strike them. To cure it take a plant from a pot,  wash out its roots under a jet of water, dry it, cut off all the darkened and soft roots, all stalks and leaves with traces of decay, then process its roots with an antiseptic tank and plant the cacti in a new pot, don’t water until it start growing. Hold it in a light place, but not on the sun. Cactuses can be damaged by wreckers: mealy warm, the web tick, a panelboard plant louse.

To destroy the plant louse spray a plant with soapy-tobacco broth with addition of a little bit kerosene, thus you have to scratch out carefully plant louses’ cymes with developing larva under using a dental brush.

You can remove the mealy warms using a damp tampon, if the plant is strongly stroked process it daily with the insecticide.

The web tick is destroyed by spraying or washing with water, with a weak tobacco mixture of green soap either infusion of chamomiles or insecticide. In 2-3 hours after the processing wash a plant using warm water.

The BEGONIA comes from the tropical and subtropical areas of Asia, America and Africa. The plant received the name after Michel Begona – the governor of Sait-Domingo (the western part of an island Haiti) which was the notable appreciator of the flowers. Totally in the family of begonia there are about 1000 species. The begonia is extremely popular as an indoor plant because of the big variety of leaf’s painting and form, also beautiful colors.

All begonias have unisex (male and female) flowers. They can be pollinated artificially, and then from ovary there will turn out a fruit in the form of a box with very fine seeds which can be used for cultivation of begonias. Plants of a begonia can be divided in three groups: the tuber begonia in an underground part of a plant has tubers which are used for duplication; the leaf begonia has no tubers, but its rhizome is thickened, it is also used at duplication and the third group is sectional begonia. At these begonias the rhizome can not be used for duplication.

Species of BEGONIA.

Begonia can be a bush, a half-bush and a grassy plant. In house conditions more often you can find hybrid grades. There are used two kinds of begonias as a room begonia; these are decorative blossoming begonias and decorative leaf begonias. Decoratively blossoming begonias, in its turn, can be also divided in plants with a dying off foliage, and the following generation of blossom is grown up from tubers or (at sectional begonias) the plant runs into a condition of deep rest with which it should be provided. The other kind of decoratively blossoming begonias is evergreen begonia which keeps its foliage the year round. These begonias have less effective flowers.

Among the decorative blossoming begonias the tuber begonia is the most effective. These begonias can have double and not double flowers from white and cream up to brightly red color. The size of the flower is from 5 up to 15 cm. There are ample begonias they usually have small flowers.

BEGONIA TUBERHYBRIDA (a tuber begonia) is the most widespread hybrids among the tuber begonias. It has large leaves, up to 25 cm. in the length, the edge of a leaf resembles a nailfile, and it also has beautiful double and not double flowers on fleshy stalks. The size of the flowers is up to 10 cm. in diameter. Thus male flowers are large, and female flowers are smaller. Tuber begonias have a lot of flowers with a varicosity of colors.

Ample grades of a tuber begonia (BEGONIA TUBERHYBRIDA PENDULA) characterize with thin hanging down stalks and leaves. Many grades of a tuber begonia including the ample forms, can be grown up from seeds.

Another kind of decorative-blossoming begonias is Bushy begonia. The most popular grade in this group of begonias is BEGONIA SEMPERFLORENS (an ever flowering begonia or blossoming begonia as it can be incorrectly named). Its name can already tell about the long period of blossom. These flowers can be used as a garden begonia and as a house plant as well. In the room conditions the ever flowering begonia blossoms almost the year round, but with the years loses the decorative effect, therefore it requires to renew the plant each 2-3 years from the shanks. The ever flowering begonia has glossy leaves of a green or reddish coloring, fine double and not double flowers of white, pink and red colors. It can be grown up from seeds. Another bushy begonia differs with original colors, it is a fuchsia-kind begonia (BEGONIA FUCYSIOIDES). Flowers at it are collected in the inflorescences hanging down resembling the flowers of a fuchsia.

The decorative-deciduous begonias are usually grown up for the decorative leaves though some kinds of these begonias can even blossom. The leader of this group is the royal begonia (BEGONIA REX). Leaves of these begonias resemble a heart of a little bit wrong form and have up to 30 cm. in length. The leaf itself has a non-uniform original coloring from red, brown up to dark-green. Royal begonia has flowers far less beautiful, than leaves and consequently they should be removed for not to spend plant’s force on the flowering and not to lose good look of the plant. Other decorative-deciduous begonias have the leaves of the diversified forms and colors. For example a spotty begonia (BEGONIA MAKULATA) has green leaves in a white speck and a length up to 25 cm. Cleopatra begonia’s (BEGONIA CLEOPATRA) leaves remind leaves of a maple. Masons begonia has leaves with a rough, warty surface and resempbe a leather of a frog. The tiger begonia (BEGONIA TIGER) is popular too. This plant for those who wants to save a place as little bushes of this plant grows no more than 25сm. Small leaves are of dark-green color with bronze outflow, there are light specks on the external party of a leaf. Garden begonias are usually presented by an ever flowering begonia. They are used in the open ground as an one-year plant. They grow well both in the sun, and in a penumbra. It is unpretentiously. It is well combined with many plants, it is long blossoms (since June up to frosts), and when first frosts take place it can be replaced in pots and be used as an indoor plant.

BEGONIA’S LEAVING.

Begonia is quite unpretentious, this plant is steady against illnesses, but for good development and beautiful appearance it requires a correct leaving. First of all it concerns humidity of air. All begonias demand high humidity of air. To provide the necessary humidity it is recommended to put a pot in a damp peat or on a tray with water but the pot shouldn’t be in a water. For this purpose fill a tray with a pebble or put a pot on turned plate. It’s better to spray the air around of a begonia, but thus you need to watch, that drops did not get on flowers and leaves.

Moderation is the basic requirement for such flower like a begonia. Its leaving includes a moderating of temperature, preferably about 20 degrees in the summer, and in the winter not below 15 degrees; also it is desirable a bright diffused light, but not straight solar beams. While winter in the morning and in the evening you can put your begonia to the place shined by the sun for few hours. (The ever flowering begonia is an exception. It well transfers both a shadow and a bright sunlight). The watering should be moderated too. The ground should be damp, but not wet.

Since spring till the autumn during the growth and flowering you should water in process of earthen lump drying, and in the winter the watering should bу  reduceв. The plant is expedient for fertilizing during the period of vegetation not less than two times with full mineral fertilizers. You should delete female flowers right at the beginning of their development To prolong terms of flowering of a begonia (especially tuber species). (Female flowers not double with 3 blade  seed box under cupleaf). It is necessary to break new buds, in September to improve formation of tubers at tuber begonias that the plant did not spend force for flowering.

DUPLICATION of the BEGONIA.

All begonias duplicate well by stem or leaf shanks, and by a division of a bush. Tuber begonias duplicate by tubers or seeds. The begonia duplicate by tubers in the following way: you should get the tubers from the ground in the autumn, then cut stalks, clear them from the ground and store in the sand or in the peat so that tubers did not dry up, at the temperature of 8-10 degrees. You should plant the tubers in pots from February till May, depending on when you would like plant to blossom.

To shoot, they have to be put in small pots with the sandy ground where tubers should be deepened only in a half. You should water it very moderately. Germination goes slowly (about several weeks). First there come the roots and only then runaways. As soon as runaways could be seen, you should cover the tubers with the ground and replace it on a light warm window sill. The duplication by seeds is troublesome enough. The best term of crop is from December till March. You should sow it in flat dishes with the leaf ground, with a mix of such ground with peat and sand or directly in a peat. Begonia’s seeds are very small, so you don’t have to dig them and can only slightly press them down. The shoots appear in two weeks. You should dive 2-3 times.

The grown up begonia should be planted with the earthen lump in a small pot. Such plants blossom in July-August, and by the winter have time to form tubers. Leaf begonias easily duplicate by leaf’s shanks or bush’s division at replacing. For a leaf shank you can take a leaf from the basis of a plant. The desirable length of a shank is not less than 5 cm.; the rooting will go better if use fitohormones. Dig the shank so that the leaf not touches ground. Then the ground needs humidifying and pressing around of a shank. The stem shanks and the leaf ones are implanted in the same way, but the stem shank should be not less than 7 cm in length. The shanks need to be planted in the ground as soon as possible, don’t let a cut to dry up. The best time for shanking is the spring and the early of summer.

BEGONIA. ILLNESSES And WRECKERS.

At errors of leaving the begonia can dump leaves and buds. The most likely reason of it is a lack of a ground moisture and air humidity around your plant. Thus tips of leaves first become brown and, if the watering isn’t regukated, start to fall down. A pale leaves’ painting testifies that illumination is not good enough. At excessive humidity, especially at the lowered temperatures, the begonia can be stroked with grey decay. Thus there is a light mould on leaves which is caused by a fungus. You should remove the stroked parts of a plant, and process with the fungicide the remained part. The mealy dew is also a fungoid disease. Because of this disease a white taint covers the leaves. Distribution of mealy dew is promoted by dry air, sharp fluctuations of temperatures and drafts. You should pollinate the stroked plant by the ground sulfur or spray with the collide sulfur dissolved in water.

A mixture should be of 1 percent concentration. It is necessary to process a plant on an open air. The temperature of air should be not below 25 degrees. It is possible to process a plant with fungicide too. The most widespread wreckers who settle on a begonia is the web tick (red spider) and a plant louse (very small insect) both the tick, and a plant louse live on a underside of a leaf and eat its juice. The tick can be destroyed by spraying and washing the bottom part of leaves with a weak soap mixture of tobacco or with a soap mixture of dalmatic chamomiles. It is possible to process a plant with the preparations containing pyrethrum or insecticide. The tick extends quickly in warm dry air. The plant louse can also be destroyed by the preparations with pyrethrum. Processing should be repeated until the complete destruction of wreckers.