Evening star., 1941-09-06

are messy, but one manufacturer has
solved that difYiculty with the intro
duction of fertilizer In tablet form
that can be purchased IN small
quantities.
Vitamins play an important part
in our own health and research has
been conducted to check the effect Of
vitamins on plants. Vitamin Bl was
found TO be beneficial In vitalizing
pot plants when applied in q very
dilute solution. Manufacturers have
put It up both in tablet and liquid
form and it is very simple to mix.
A useful device that can be bought
for Q few cents Is q spray nozzle
with rubber bulb attachment. 1t is
excellent for Stimulating rain when
washing the leaves of plants or when
watering them. 1t, along with many
other useful gardening gadgets, can
be purchased at the Five and Ten.
The same store will yield an
atomizer. This, though originally
designed TO clean windshields, forms
an ideal spray gun for killing plant
lice when filled with nicotine sui
phate mixed in accordance with the
manufactures recommendations.
For those who would like to have
the pleasure of growing plants from
seeds without the bother of messy
wooden seed flats, there Is new
type of metal fiat on the market
which makes a good looking orna-
ment for the window. Made of gall
vanized metal, enameled green, 1t
has q perforated corrugated tray
with an opening in which water is
poured. Excess water can be drained
of in a glass through the drain
plug and the soil will then remain
moist for many days. OF course,
the seedlings will have to be potted
and re-potted during their growth.
For those who wish TO 60 in for
indoor gardening on q somewhat
grander scale there has recently ap-
peared on the market a standard
size, 3-sheh window greenhouse that
sells for S95 and Is attached to
the outside window frame. Glass
sides and top admit maximum sun
light and the window greenhouse
is quite an added feature to any
room, both architecturally and hor-
ticulturally. Heat may be provided
by electricity or by merely opening
the regular house window and al
lowing the heat from the house to
permeate the window greenhouse
In it. spring flowers can be brought
to bloom in January and one could
have a succession Of bloom the year
around.
Mention must also be made OF
chemical gardening although it is
by now quite widely known. Gar
dening in water to which chemicals
are added has brought new zest
to indoor gardening and there are
various containers now on the mar
ket that make this form Of garden
ing less troublesome than with the
old-time containers and far more
interesting. One of these contain
ers comes In glazed pottery OF vsri-
Gus shapes and colors and has
double compartment, one for the
plant and gravel and one for the
nutrient solution. Between these
is q fired porous clay wick through
which the solution passes to the
plant by capillary action. These
containers are designed for single
plants or for group paintings, de-
pending on their size.
Whether one goes in for pot
gardening" in soil or for growing
plants the chemical culture way,
there is a vast amount of real fun
and pleasure to be derived from 1t
in the home throughout the win
ter. Grandma's potted gardening
is with US yet, but a newer, wider
field has opened out which bears
promise of better, healthier plants.