Stream Corner

Some plants provide us with runners bearing young plants at their tips. These young plants can easily be rooted and when growing well severed from the parent plant to begin a new existence on their own.

And finally there is the slightly more difficult and delicate method of increasing or resuscitating your plants by means of layering. Some layering can be carried out at soil level, again as one might do in the garden, and sometimes we use a process known as air layering, where by using various aids it is possible to root a new plant high on the stem of the old.

There are several ways we can grow our own plants and each method will be discussed separately. We can grow many of our plants from seed in exactly the same way that we grow plants for the garden.

Seeds for popular plants such as primulas, cinerarias, impatiens and cacti can be obtained from almost any seedsman anywhere, but seed for some of the more exotic or unusual plants must be obtained either from a specialist or from a firm such as Thompson & Morgan of Ipswich, which probably has the widest ranging seed list of any organization in the world.

Many plants can be raised from cuttings, either taken from your own plants or begged from friends or neighbors. There are two types of cuttings: leaf and stem, and it is important to decide which method to employ. Lists will be found here to suggest the best means.

Probably the easiest and most foolproof seed compost readily available is the Levington mixture, peat based and answering all these rcquirements. It can be bought almost anywhere in small or large quantities and although it may be a little more expensive, it is wise to buy it in small bags as you need it rather than to have a large, half-used sack lying about in the shed, garden or green- house into which pests, disease spores and weed seeds can find their way.