Gardening Galore- Bring the Outdoors Inside: Terrariums, Bonsai, Hybrids
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Gardening Galore- Bring the Outdoors Inside: Terrariums, Bonsai, Hybrids GARDENING started with the Gar- den of Eden. Undoubtedly it will con- tinue as long as there is a civilized way of life. In fact, the more sophisticated and advanced our culture becomes, the more we seem to need the relaxation of growing our own plants. Gardening can be an easygoing hobby, a scientific pursuit, an opportun- ity for exercise and fresh air, a serious source of food to help balance the family budget, a means of expression in art and beauty, an applied experi- ment in green plant growth, or all of these things together. You may be a city dweller whose yearning for green plants is satisfied by minigardens in the house or patio. A shut-in who can enjoy container grown plants. A homeowner in the suburbs whose garden is a basement. Or you may be someone in the wide open spaces who is letting loose his full yearn for creativity. Gardening has no bounds, no space limitations, no requirements that can- not be met readily in today's world. Not really needed are power tools, large areas of sunshine-bathed land, or even a strong back. A gardener is not restrict- ed by any age limitations, training requirements, or any social background from doing "his thing." And many phy- Imloor gardens can beautify many areas of sically handicapped persons can garden. a home. Here are a few ideas on gardening for fun and health. any room in your home from basement You can grow plants or seedlings in to attic. Cool, efficient fluorescent light- ing has made gardening inside feasible. AUTHOR AUGUST E. KEiiR is Staff Scien- Through indoor gardening, plants can tist, Vegetables and Ornamentals, National live from the small germinating seed to Program Staff, Agricultural Research Ser- full maturity without once seeing the 72 Estimate of light requirements of some common plants: Low Medium Most fems Schefflera English ivy Dumb Cane Pothas Rubber plants High Very High Norfolk Island Pine Most flowering plants Citrus All vegetable plants Coleus Begonias Caladium African-violets Orchids Illumination in foot-candles at various distances from two or four 40-watt standard cool-white fluoresent lamps: Distance Two Four lamps mounted from lamps 2 inches apart lamps (Used 200 Used 200 New (inches) hours ) hours lamps Ft.c Ft.c Ftc 1 1,100 1,600 1,800 2 860 1,400 1,600 3 680 1,300 1,400 4 570 1,100 1,300 5 500 940 1,150 6 420 820 1,000 Indoor lighting of a container garden with 7 360 720 900 a circular fluorescent light. 8 830 660 830 9 300 600 780 10 280 560 720 11 260 510 660 But it is in the basement that garden- 12 240 480 600 ing indoors has really blossomed. Plants 18 130 320 420 may be grown in a wide range of struc- 24 100 190 260 tures in the basement. One man grows seedlings successfully in an old refrig- Here are a few rules that must be erator. He merely placed a discarded observed to grow most plants indoors: 14 cubic foot refrigerator on its back on • Provide proper light equivalent. four cement blocks. Lights were in- • Give the plants light for 14 to 16 stalled in the door. hours each day. For indoor gardening, the light level • Provide a temperature of about 60° determines the type of plants you can to 65°F. for the dark period and 70° to grow. Plants can be classed in four 75 °F. during the light period. groups of light requirements: low (50 • Keep the plants on the dry side- to 200 foot-candles), medium (200 to avoid overwatering. Plants sufiFer more 500 foot-candles ), high (500-1,000 from too much water than from too little foot-candles ), and very high (over water. 1,000 foot-candles) A foot-candle of • Underfeed rather than overfeed. Pre- light is the measure of light intensity ferably use a slow release fertilizer given ofF by one candle at a distance or organic fertilizer.' of 1 foot from the point of light. • Use an artificial soil that can be The tables may be helpful to you in purchased. These artificial soils are determining light requirements and how usually 50-50 peat moss and perlite or to meet them. vermiculite. 73 Water gardening, can be fun. From left to right are English ivy, aluminum plant, and peperomia. Water gardens are easy and satisfy- arrangements are aucuba, ivy, grape ing. A simple water garden for a sunny ivy, peperomia, philodendron, and window is a vine grown from a sweet- pothos. One arrangement was cleverly potato. Merely suspend the bottom half worked into a small bird's nest, with a of a sweetpotato in a bottle filled with colorful toy bird on the nest. water. The bottom of the sweetpotato is More venturesome gardeners might the half which has no stem scar. Roots try growing mushrooms indoors in cool, will form rapidly on the bottom half and dark basements. The propagating mate- sprouts on the top half. rial used to grow them is called spawn, Another simple water garden is the and the pasteurized organic material is stem end of a carrot, cut with about 1 called compost. inch of the carrot, and placed in a In recent years a few nurserymen shallow container of water. The stem and seedsmen have been ofiFering for will sprout into a beautiful green sale trays containing mushroom compost growth that will be a welcome sight in especially prepared for home use, which a bright, sunny window at any time appear to be the solution to many of the of year. problems of growing mushrooms at You can grow attractive water gar- home. The trays include spawn. dens by sticking cuttings into various It is recommended that the amateur forms or shapes of styrofoam, and plac- grower purchase these prepared trays ing the arrangement in a shallow con- instead of attempting to make his own tainer of water. You may want to add mushroom compost. They are prepared wisely chosen colorful or attractive for the nurserymen and seedsmen by dried material to the living plants. commercial mushroom growers who are Plants that can be used in these equipped to compost manure economi- 74 cally on a large scale, to pasteurize the compost eflFectively, and grow spawn in the trays. Full directions for growing mush- rooms are furnished along with the trays. If the directions are carefully followed, and the trays placed in a cool, damp location, moderate yields can be expected—usually between a half pound and a pound per square foot of tray space. Once the mushrooms begin to appear on the trays, they will continue to develop for about 60 days. As mushrooms do not need light for normal development, they can be grown in a basement room or shed where it would be impossible to grow green plants. Growing space must be available in which the temperature can be main- tained under 65° F., and the humidity of the air kept moderately high. Some ventilation is necessary, but the number of air changes normally occur- ring in the average basement will usually be sufficient for a few square feet of mushroom bed. Indoor container gardening is another activity you might like. Growing plants in containers can be fun for youngsters as well as the not so young. Containers that may be used are limited only by your imagination—aquariums, old bot- tles, canning jars, plastic toys, china pottery, or concrete tubs on a patio. Vegetables can be grown in pails, tubs, baskets. They may be grovsoi on doorsteps, balconies, porches, carports. You need only your choice of a con- tainer, artificial soil, and seeds. Artificial soil is free from disease organisms and Top photo, plants going into a water gar- den should he cut on the stem just helow the node—the point where a leaf originates. Center photo, arranging pothos leaves in florists foam in a container. Each node .■ihould be inserted into the foam so the preformed root can develop rapidly. Bottom photo, cut flowers have been added to the arrangement of pothos leaves. They should be watered every three or four days to maintain freshness. 75 Plant, using sticks, wires, or any other convenient tools to put the plants in place. Avoid getting dirt on the inside glass walls or the plant leaves. Water lightly if needed and cover with glass or plastic to close the container. Once planted, the terrarium rarely needs water, only indirect sunlight or artificial light. Gardens in miniature are fascinating, and provide opportunity for expressing your artistic leanings. They run the gamut of miniature rock gardens, land- scapes, portable rock gardens, miniature herb gardens, miniature roses, cactus gardens, and miniature bog gardens with insect-catching plants. Even well chosen woodland flowers can be devel- oped into a small wild flower garden Mums are excellent plants to supply color for a city dweller. for container gardens, either in minipots or The Brooklyn Botanic Garden has in larger containers with other plants. published a handbook on miniature weed seeds, and is very lightweight and gardens which gives detailed instruc- portable. tions for this very satisfying activity. It Tomato or leaf lettuce plants grown can be obtained by requesting "Hand- in a suitable container will not only be book on Miniature Gardens," Manual decorative and fun to grow but result No. 58, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 1000 in great salads. Onions, peppers, and Washington Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y. even a cabbage plant may also be grown 11225.