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African Violets and Orchids

George Wissell of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has a 10- by 10-foot affair, built for approximately $350.00. He grows only African violets and orchids. The orchids hang from the roof to obtain more light and to help shade the African violets. Two double-shelved benches are at the sides of the house. Fluorescent lights under the first bench adequately light the plants growing on the lower bench, which is about 6 inches above the floor.

In such small quarters, Mr. Wissell does an excellent job of hybridizing and growing. All the plants, except those kept for hybridizing, are sold to local stores or hobbyists. This constant profit promotes his hybridization in a big way.

Meeting Home-Town Needs

In Houston, Texas, Grace Grissom sells African violets from her 15- by 48-foot attached-to-the-dwelling greenhouse. A suspended gas heater keeps the temperature up during the winter months, while an evaporative cooler holds it down during the scorching summer. She attends conventions to procure the newest violets, which she propagates. She is now adding a sales room for potting accessories, materials for flower arranging, and other gardening equipment.

Sales Through Mail

A friend in New York rears her African violets in a prefabricated 10- by 12-foot lean-to and sells through the mail, eliminating the “bother” of having people running to her greenhouse. Much of her trade comes through membership in round-robins (correspondence groups of various plant societies). She advertises her specialties in such publications as The African Violet Magazine, The Gloxinian and The Begonian, with an ad once or twice a year in one of the larger gardening journals. Her hobby pays off well in both cash and fun.

African Violets from a Southern Greenhouse

In humid Louisiana, a hobbyist sells African violets from a 24- by 30-foot free-standing greenhouse erected by local builders. By keeping a heavy shading on the glass and several layers of cheesecloth inside the house, he is able to keep the house cool enough in summer. He raises thousands of violets and, while he sells some locally, his main business is wholesale.

If you want to make African violets your specialty, it will pay you to join The African Violet Society of America, Inc., P. O. Box 1326, Knoxville, Tennessee. This Society issues a well-illustrated magazine, and there are a number of other advantages to membership.

Shrubs need to have good soil. It needs to be well-drained soil as well. You may need to add compost to your soil before you plant your shrubs. Whenever you are ready to plant your shrubs, check the roots to make sure that the shrub is root bound. Loosen the roots with a knife and then you are ready to place the shrub in the hole. Make sure that you give your shrubs lots of water.

Do not worry if your landscape of shrubs looks kind of empty at first. Over time the shrubs will spread out and fill in the loose gaps. That is the best thing about shrub landscapes. You do not need to plant a lot to get a lot. If you want to, you can fill in some of the small empty spaces with flowers like perennials. You will be free to design a look that you and everyone else will enjoy.

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One great border

The key to planting a wonderful border is to design layers of colors and textures, and height. Whatever shrub you decide to plant, they will add color and texture to your home for every different season. Shrubs can grow to be enormous but as long as you keep them trimmed and maintained, they will add beauty and style to any home.

You can also use shrubs to line your property with. If you want to add a borderline between your neighbors’ house and yours, this is the perfect way to do so. Shrubs will divide the space without shutting you in like trees do. Shrubs are a great choice for this project and one that both you and your neighbors will enjoy.

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Watering and Fertilizing

Always water the plants with tepid water. Leaves will be spotted when water colder than the surrounding air hits them. These whitish spots give the plants a diseased look. If you are certain that the plants growing in solid mixtures have a good root system, it is advisable to start fertilizing them about a month after potting up. If you like organic fertilizers, try one of the fish emulsions. Ra-pid-gro, Hyponex, Plant Marvel, Blossom Booster, and others also give good results.

Potting

The size of the pot you use for your plants will depend on how you want to sell them. If you plan to sell small plants, probably not yet in bloom, pot directly from the flat into 2-inchers. Let them grow in the pots for 10 days to 2 weeks; they will be established nicely. Plants being grown for bloom will need to be shifted from the 2-inch pots to 3- and 4-inchers.

Shading

If your greenhouse is devoted exclusively to Saintpaulias, you will have to shade it: Saintpaulias do not thrive in bright sunshine. But if, like me, you grow both shade- and sun-loving plants, the placement of your African violets will require thought. In my greenhouse, they grow mostly in flats under the top deck. Since I do not sell specimen plants but do sell leaves and seeds, I keep most of my “stock plants” growing and blooming in the flats, thus saving space, watering time, pots, and the labor of potting. In these flats of porous soil, watering is needed only once a week during the winter and twice a week in summer. Winter temperature in my greenhouse is 72 to 75 degrees during the day, with the usual 10-degree drop at night. (Some authorities recommend a minimum of 60 at night and 70 degrees or more during the day.)

If you can’t get enough shading on your house to keep violet foliage pleasingly green, you can tack up a few layers of cheesecloth or tobacco cloth to exclude the bright sun rays. Simply string a wire across the inside of the house and another at the top of the sidewalls; then drape the material over the wires.

Light

The late Dr. Kenneth Post, authority on florist crop production, recommended “a maximum of 1500 foot-candles of light, a minimum of 1,000″ for greenhouse-grown Saintpaulias. If you are not familiar with foot-candles as a measure of light, have a friend with a photometer measure the light for you. Aim for 1200 to 1300 foot-candles during the brightest part of the day, and you’ll find your plants budding and blooming without cease.

For growth under fluorescent lights in the greenhouse, keep a distance of about 11 inches between light tubes and the larger plants’ pot rim; 4 to 6 inches for seedlings and small plants. Natural light will vary with the season, increasing in spring, decreasing in fall. As light increases you may have to increase the shading on your greenhouse, and vice versa. I have shading on the outside of the greenhouse and two thicknesses of tobacco cloth inside. The thickness of this cloth is not varied with the seasons, but I add or decrease shade on the outside of the house. Low light intensity reduces the number of flowers and makes for weak growth.

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The African violet (Saintpaulia) first headed the pot-plant popularity polls about twelve years ago and has held the top spot ever since, with each year bringing an increasing number of friends. Varieties of this gesneriad are numbered in the thousands, and it is one of the few florists’ plants which blooms throughout the year. Thus, whatever the time of year or the occasion, if you grow African violets you will always have flowering plants to offer your customers. To you, the greenhouse owner, this constant bloom means extra money in the cash register.

Even though you do not devote your entire greenhouse to African violets, you will find it profitable to reserve at least one corner for a few dozen plants. These need not be pinched to single-crown specimens. Let them grow several crowns and become covered with bloom. Such plants make wonderful gifts.

Soil Mixtures

I doubt if there has ever been a pot plant for which so many soil formulas have been devised. Members of the African Violet Society never tire of coming up with new ones. For greenhouse culture, I like this formula: equal parts of loam, peatmoss, leaf mold, and sand, with a sprinkling of charcoal. I realize, however, that not everyone has access to the leaf-mold and rotted manure commonly mentioned in soil recipes. So, with a little extra care in fertilizing, you can grow your Saintpaulias to perfection in this easy-to-make “synthetic” potting mixture: equal parts of shredded sphagnum, peatmoss, and sand. Plants grown in this must receive applications of liquid fertilizer every week. A monthly application of M teaspoonful of dried, processed, sheep manure worked into the mixture for plants in 4-inch pots will enhance their development. Use less manure for smaller pots, more for larger ones. Some growers like to mix loam, peatmoss, and sand and, to a bushel of this mixture, add one 4-inch potful of superphosphate and one 6-inch potful of dried sheep manure.

Soil or synthetic mixtures should be sterilized. If you are planting in the type without loam it is unnecessary to place drainage material in the pot; with a soil mixture containing loam, drainage is a necessity. About 1/2 inch of pot chips to a 4-inch pot is ample.

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Ruellia

Pretty leaves, pretty flowers, and easy to grow-that’s Ruellia macrantha. With olive green leaves daintily marked in white and rosy-purple petunia-like blooms, it is a real eye-catcher. Propagate through cuttings inserted into light soil or other rooting media. Three or 4 months bring you plants ready for 2-inch pots. Flowers last several days; and ruellia becomes more beautiful if given monthly feedings of liquid fertilizer. Temperatures of 60 to 70 degrees, moderate light, and ordinary soil are the growth requirements.

Samevieria

Called sword plant or snake plant, this tough individual remains high on the popularity list with people who dislike the fuss and bother of caring for flowering plants. Sansevieria is also invaluable for poorly-lighted indoor areas. It grows in virtually any soil, in temperatures from 60 to 80 degrees. Improved forms of the old-fashioned snake plant are numerous. This, however, is another case of a plant in plentiful supply; so check your market first. One gardener made a considerable profit by selling these plants to residents of housing projects. Many of these folks have indoor planters and, while they like to see something growing in them, they cannot afford the more expensive green plants. For such planters a combination of sansevieria, anthericum (spider plant), and Chinese evergreen is hard to equal. All these plants can be offered at a price these householders-mainly young people-can afford to pay. Sansevieria propagates easily from 2-inch cuttings of the swordlike leaves.

Shrimp Plant (see Acanthacea)

Vines and Trailers

Potted vines and trailers, particularly those of easy culture, are among the best sellers. Several forms of cissus (treebine), closely related to the grape, are rapid growers and have good-looking foliage. The most familiar one is Cissus rhombifolia, the grape ivy. The peacock of the tribe is C. discolor-often confusingly called trailing begonia because leaves rival the coloring of Rex begonias. Foliage is green and silver above, reddish purple beneath the leaves. C. antarctica is the popular kangaroo vine. It requires some 8 months to produce salable plants from leaf bud cuttings, about 2 to 4 months from stem cuttings or basal shoots. A minimum temperature of 60 degrees, subdued light, and ordinary potting soil are the growth requirements.

Walking Iris

Another plant of most interesting growth is Marica northiana, the walking iris, whose leaf fans resemble garden iris. The flower, rather like a spuria iris, emerges from between the leaves. The “stem,” an elongated irislike blade, continues to grow. After the flowers have completed their blooming, this blade will be bent toward the earth. If it touches a growing medium, roots will soon form and dig firmly into the soil. This is an old-timer still loved by collectors. It grows in any kind of soil, in a cool to warm greenhouse, and needs little attention. Propagate through plant division.

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Prayer Plant

Of interesting foliage and growth habit is Maranta kerchove-ana, the prayer plant. The leaves of soft green are blotched with dark brown. At night maranta folds its leaves upward as if in supplication-thus giving rise to the common name.

Grow this one in peatmoss, loam. Give it plenty of drainage and a warm greenhouse. Propagation is by plant division.

Rivina Humilus

Among the prettier of the rapid-growing house plants is white-flowered, red-fruited Rivina humilus, the rouge berry plant. Successive plantings of seeds or cuttings will give you plants with flowers and fruit for easy sale through the year. It is an especially good seller for fall and winter holidays. Seeds germinate in about 10 days, and the plants will flower and fruit 4 months after seed sowing-in 2 to 3 months from cuttings. A warm house of 70 degrees is to their liking; they grow in sun or slight shade. Symmetry can be produced by pinching out tips on older plants. Pot directly from the flat to 2-inch pots, a valuable time-saver.

Royal Poinciana

Although not strictly classed as a pot plant, the royal poinciana

60, 61. There’s a cluster of ready money in this multiple-crowned African violet plant (top). With careful dividing and slicing, retaining all possible roots, you may get as many as a dozen small plants or a half-dozen sizable specimens from it, and most of these will be all ready to be potted and sold. (Photographs by Author)

tree (Delonix regia or Poinciana regia) is so easily grown from seed into a ferny little shrub that it is a splendid subject for the dish garden. It will stay small enough for indoor use for some time.

Seeds resemble large beans. Plant them in any good soil; they pop up in a week or less. Their chief requirement is water; if you forget this, the leaves will fall all over the place. These plants have the intriguing habit of folding their leaves toward evening.

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Landscaping plants are plants that will be easy to care for yet beautiful at the same time. There are all sorts of plants that you can use for your landscaping design. It really depends on the area in which you are landscaping. You will need to take a few things into consideration before you decide on what plants to use for your creation. You can find landscaping plants at any home and garden center or green house.

Considering what types of plants to use

When you choose to use plants for your landscaping, you are going to have to think about what plants will grow better in the area in which you are planting them. Different plants need different things to grow. When it comes to the cost of the plants and the risk you are taking when you decide on plants before knowing what you need, it pays to research your decisions.

Think about the amount of sun and shade that you will have in your landscaped area. Choose plants that can live in the conditions that you are working with. Be sure that you are using plants that compliment your ideas and ones that are compatible with your other ideas for the project.

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When it comes time to do your project, make sure that you have help with the heavier items. This is especially a good idea if you are moving items in your yard to make room for your new landscape plans. If your landscape plans are large, then you may want the additional help to get the job done a little faster.

Once you have the right location, all the materials that you need, and some additional help if needed, you will then be on your way to adding a great improvement and investment to your property. Your new creation will be a landscape that your entire will enjoy for years to come.

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Gather ideas and designs for your landscape plans

In order to get ideas on what you want for your yard, you can look in magazines and books. You will usually find something that will fit your personality and the how to for doing the work. Some of the articles will give you step-by-step instructions.

Plants and flowers

It is a good idea to make a list of the plants that you like and want to use in your design. Figure out the conditions of your soil and atmosphere and decide what plants will grow best. Make note of how much sunlight your yard gets and what the drainage conditions are. Pick plants and flowers that compliment each other and enhance your yard.

Keywords: Greenhouse Gardening, Landscaping, Plants, Pool, Gardener, Landscape, Trees