With a soil prepared as directed in the first part of this chapter, there will be very little need for using any other of the fertilizers, until plants have been shifted into their last pots and have filled them with roots. When this stage is reached the use of liquid manures as described later will frequently be beneficial. If, however, a plant for any reason seems backward, or slower in growth than it should be, an application or two of nitrate of soda will often produce results almost marvelous. Be sure, however, that your troubles are not due to some mistake in temperature, ventilation or watering, before you ascribe them to improper or exhausted soil.
Now, having had the patience to find out something about the conditions under which plants ought to succeed, let us proceed to the more interesting work of actually making them grow.
One of the ways of getting a supply of plants for the house is to start them from seed. With a number of varieties, better specimens may be obtained by this method than by any other. Most of the annuals, and many of the biennials and perennials, are best reproduced in this way.
Simple as the art of starting plants from seed may seem, there are a number of things which must be thought of, and done correctly. We must give them a proper situation, soil, temperature, covering and amount of moisture, and when once above ground they need careful attention until lifted and started on their way as individual plants.
The number of plants of one sort which will be required for the house is naturally not large, and for that reason beginners often try starting their seeds in pots. But a pot is not a good thing to try to start plants in: the amount of earth is too small and dries out quickly. Seed pans are better, but even they must be watched very carefully. A wooden box, or flat, is better still. Cigar boxes are often used with good results; but a more satisfactory way is to make a few regular flats from a soap or cracker box bought at the grocer's. Saw it lengthwise into sections two inches deep, being careful to first draw out nails and wire staples in the way, and bottom these with material of the same sort. Either leave the bottom boards half an inch apart, or bore seven or eight half-inch holes in the bottom of each, to provide thorough drainage. If they are to be used in the house, a coat or two of paint will make them very presentable. Of course one such box will accommodate a great many seeds--enough to start two hundred to a thousand little plants--but you can sow them in rows, as described later, and thus put from three to a dozen sorts in each box.