Greenhouse Checklist for November

Avoid overwatering Christmas cactus this month; toward the end of November put in sunny window and give more water and start regular feeding with a well-balanced plant food.

On the 1st and 15th give a feeding of fertilizer to budding cyclamen.

Plant some geranium seeds. Germination is rapid, the seedling are varied and they bloom in a few months.

Keep clivias dry at 55 degrees this month and next.

The crown of thorns (which blooms almost a year) and fuchsias should be rested until January. Reduce water, keep barely moist and cool. Repot and prune if the plants ungainly.

If cuttings from shrubs are put in moist sand and stored in a cool, dark place and not allowed to dry out during the winter, they will be ready to plant by spring.

Paperwhite narcissus for holiday blooms should be planted by the 20th. Allow three weeks in cool darkness for root formation; then two weeks in a sunny window for Christmas-time bloom.

Keep African violets moist, watch for insects, and keep in good condition by removing old or withering leaves and snipping off old blooms. Supply enough sun to keep growth flat and a healthy color. Turn the plant in the window each week to promote symmetry. Cross pollinate several blooms; see pods ripen in about four months. Seedlings will flower in five months.

Take cuttings of impatiens ( sultana), coleus, philodendron, favorite geraniums and begonias. They will be rooted by December. Pot in small clay pots, and give them to shut-ins. The cuttings can be rooted in water, or a damp mixture of peat moss and sand, or vermiculite.

These rooted cuttings can be planted into a small terrarium (except geraniums – they don’t like the close, humid atmosphere). Terrariums provide an ideal place for growing plants in an apartment. If just a few hours of sun is available, the tarrarium will flourish and perhaps provide a few blooms.

In the greenhouse, these seeds should be sown for next spring’s bloom: calendula, larkspur, snapdragons, stocks and sweet pens.

Plant seeds of achimenes, gloxinias, tuberous begonias. They are tiny, dust-like particles and should be sown on top of screened sphagnum, vermiculite, or a mixture of peat moss and vermiculite. Keep constantly moist ina warm place (75 degrees). When growth appears, move to a very light place where some sunlight is available. They will bloom next summer.

Plant amaryllis bulbs. Keep in a cool, dark place until roots are established; then move to a sunny window, or a warm bench in the greenhouse. Set up a feeding program as soon as the leaf growth is active.

Plant some bulbs of Gladiolus tristis, concolor and blandus in a bulb pan, or bench in the greenhouse. February blooms. Grow cool with lots of sunshine.

If window space or greenhouse is overcrowded, check for plants that could be thrown out. Don’t waste valuable space on plants that aren’t productive.

Related Articles Of Interest:

• August Houseplant and Greenhouse Checklist
• Greenhouse Checklist for October
• Greenhouse Checklist for September
• Cyclamen Bulbs and Flowers