ROCK GARDENS

Rock, Marsh, Shrubs in the Garden
Plants 4

It must then be watered, not with a can, but by immersing the pans nearly to their brims, thus allowing the water to soak up from the bottom without disturbing the surface soil. Place the seed pans in a frame or greenhouse in moderate but steady heat (about 60° F.). A sheet of glass should be placed over the boxes, and the glass in turn should be covered with a sheet of brown paper to keep out the light. Each day the glass must be lifted off the boxes so that the condensation may be wiped off, or the seeds will be kept too moist. No further water need, as a rule, be given until after the seeds have germinated. As soon as the seeds are up (in two or three weeks time, except in the case of certain kinds; the primula, for example, may take a year or longer), the glass and paper may be removed and the boxes must be lifted by gradual steps up to within six inches of the lights. If the box is left some distance from the glass, weak, straggling seedlings will result. The young plants must be given plenty of air, but should be shaded from the sun. In warm weather it is wise to water the seedlings in the evening, but in the colder weather the watering must be done before lunch-time, or there may be danger of the seedlings "damping-off." In the case of alpines it is better not to water overhead, but to provide moisture, as suggested above for newly-sown seeds, by immersing the pans almost to their rims and thus allowing the water to percolate evenly through the soil. By this means the foliage is not damped, and the danger of "scorching" and "damping-off" is reduced to a minimum. Depth to Sow. Cover the seeds lightly with fine, sandy soil; the depth of covering required depends on the size of the seed. Minute seeds hardly need any covering at all, a mere sprinkling of sand is sufficient; medium-sized seeds must have a covering a little more than their own size in depth; and large seeds, such as those of the Iris, and those like the seeds of the A. Hepatica and Phlox, which do not germinate for two years after sowing, can do with almost half an inch of soil over them. Few seeds require a covering of more than an inch.

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