European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 06, 1980, Darmstadt, Hesse Potted vegetable the Greenii my Ifim c of that Balco Friday june 6, 1980 the stars and stripes Impf Wokich Page 19 by Mary Neth if you be taken a look around lately you noticed potted plans popping up on win Dow Sills and balconies everywhere. This is the time of year that Europe goes Bloo crazy and from the congestion at the Garden centers As jammed As the continent s Holiday freeways you d think everyone had a South forty. Not so. More often than no the acreage is Only the end of a narrow Balcony or Edge of a front mini scale gardening however gets Max attention and it s not confined just to geraniums pansies and the like. You d be surprised at All that can be grown and is in these City one High Rise neighbor of mine first ventured from his up to then Standard selection of geraniums by adding a couple of pots of herbs to a window Sill. Then last year he shaded part of his Balcony with a screen of string Beans. This year he s gone All out radishes lettuce tomatoes cucumbers two kinds of berries spinach paprika and a whole new assortment of neighbor leaves the edibles to the local Market place but each year puts out several kinds of climbing roses. Anole or delights in decorating her sky Garden with huge Sun your inclination such apartment gardening is inexpensive fun that does t involve a lot of work. Children especially enjoy watching seeds spout and grow some times almost while they Are looking. Besl of All plans Are Quick pets that need no walking and bring compliments never complaints from landlords and other tenants. For those who d like to try their hand at produce farming Bil Coey scale Here Are some tips from a is. Department of agriculture bulletin for Vertu bus. The House and Garden bulletin no. 163, Stock number 0100-03219 can be obtained for 30 cents from the superintendent of documents . Govern Mcnol priming office Washington . 20402. To Start select the Lype of plans you wish to grow and then pick out containers Large enough to hold them when they Are fully can use plastic or Clay pots a pail a plastic Buckel a Bushel Basket a wire Basket or a wooden Box. Most any Container is satisfactory from tiny pots for your Kitchen window Sill to Large wooden boxes for a Balcony or pots Are satisfactory for chives. Radishes onions and a variety of miniature Tomato will do Well in10-Inch pots. If you have room for them 5-gallon plastic trash cans Are suitable for the larger vegetable plants half Bushel or Bushel baskets also work containers of plastic Metal and Wood Are ready made containers of plastic Metal and Wood ares widely available that it is not necessary to build your own. If you use solid plastic containers allow for four or More a Inch holes spaced evenly along the sides near the Bottom. Don t Drill the holes in the Bottom itself. Then to further help drainage put about a half Inchon coarse gravel in the Bottom of each Container. Wood containers such As a Bushel Basket will last 3 to5 years if painted both inside and out with a Safe Wood can buy a soil substitute or synthetic soil or pre pare your own. To do the latter to one Bushel each of vermiculite and shredded peal Moss add 1v cups of ground Limestone preferably dolomitic one half cup of20-percent super phosphate and 1 cup of 5-10-5 fertilizer. This material should be mixed thoroughly. If it is very dry. Add a Little water to reduce the dust during Success in min gardening will depend partly on the Quality of seed you Plant. . Vegetable iced Enve Lopes Are stamped with the year in which they should be planted in Germany the packets should carry the Date they were filled plus amount of seeds contained name of the handler the Type and category of seed old seed often germinates poorly and docs not grow vigorously. Don t use last year s of Many varieties of each Plant Are available. Miniature vegetable varieties Are Best for possible select Dis Casc and insect resistant Varie ties. Vegetable plants grow better in full sunlight than in Shade. Some vegetables need More Sun than vegetables lettuce cabbage Mustard greens can stand More Shade than Root vegetables beets radishes turnips. Root vegetables can stand More Shade than vegetable fruit plants cucumbers peppers tomatoes which do very poorly m the Shade. Plant your vegetable fruit plants where they will get the most Sun and your Leafy vegetables and Root vegetables in the shakier areas. Planting or transplanting vegetables at the proper time helps insure Success. The but planting Date in one area May be Days or weeks from the Best Dale in another. This is because can differ greatly from one Placebo another even a few Miles apart. Cily Lemper lures for example Are usually 5 to 10 degrees higher than those in the follow planting instructions correctly you need to know the Frost free Date in the Spring and the average Date of the first killing Frost in the fall. The Frost free Date in Spring usually is two to three weeks later than the average Dale of the last freeze. You can give some plants a jump on the growing season by starting them indoors on windowsills thai have plenty of sunlight. Then after the weather gets warmer you can transplant them into larger containers and move them your plants in Small aluminium baking pans plastic trays pots or cardboard milk read made peat pellets or peat pots. Clean containers with hot soapy water rinse them Well and fill with the make a planting Hole to the Correl depth for the Type of seed you Are planting. Put in two or three the seeds with peat Moss and moisten with water. Then enclose the Container in a plastic bag until the seedlings emerge. If More than one seedling comes up pull out the less the seedlings to larger containers when the first two leaves Are fully developed. Water them thoroughly. Be careful not to disturb the roots. Plants should be gradually toughened for two week before moving outdoors. This is done by withholding water and lowering the temperature. Lettuce cabbage and Many other plants can be toughened to withstand Frost others such As tomatoes and peppers one level Teaspoon of fertilizer per Square fool of soil about three weeks after the plants have reached the two Leaf stage and again every three weeks. Mix the fertilizer into the lop one half Inch of soil and water thoroughly. Vegetables need a water Supply equal to about one Inch of rain every week during the growing season. Since you Are gardening in containers you can easily. Water each time the soil becomes dry Down to a depth of one eighth Inch. Over watering will slowly kill your plants. During hot dry weather you May need to water three times a you use a sprinkler can do not water so late in the evening that the leaves of plants stay wet at night. Wet leaves encourage Plant is important to fill the Bottom of Plant containers with gravel or similar material. This allows for Good drainage. Besides the pamphlet on min gardens for vegetables the . Department of agriculture offers a pamphlet on selecting and growing House plans Home and Garden bulletin no. 82, Stock number 001-000-00863-3 which is available through the superintendent of documents is. Government printing office Washington . 20402 for $1.10.and there s one on growing tomatoes in the Home Garden for 90 cents available from the consumer information censer dept. 177h, Pueblo. Colorado 81009.houseplants from throwaways you d like to have some houseplants Button t have them figured into the budget. No need to buy. For years you be undoubtedly Bee throwing away the possibility of numbers of Leafy decorative plants. Every time for example you prepare fresh fruit and toss away the seed filled Core you be More than Likely also tossed away the Chance for a Blooming Balcony or House Plant. Recycling plants from Kitchen waste can be a particularly fascinating project for the younger members of the family. Here Are some possibilities one of the prettiest and most popular do it yourself House plants is the Avocado. To gel such a tree started first Wash the seed in warm water and Peel off the Loose skin. Then let in sprout in a Glass of warm water. Place toothpicks in the sides so the seed is lifted partly out of the Bottom or larger end should just be covered. Place the Glass in a warm dimly lighted place being sure the Waler is always Kepi Al the same , patience is called for. It will take a while for the seed to sprout from three to eight weeks. Once it docs the Plant should have More Light. When the roots Are Well formed Plant the Avocado in pot of a Sandy Earth anyplace in a warm sunny area. If you wish a Fuller Plant Cut about three fourths an Inch from the the plan Oul of drafts and never Lei the Earth become completely dry. During the summer Plant food should be Given about every three weeks. Mango Lychee Plum plants can be grown in the same Way. Other do it yourself possibilities include the Orange Lemon pomegranate Pear Cherry and nuts such As Walnut and Acorn. The seeds of the fruit can be planted in pots the Earth should be kept moist and the pots kept in a warm place. The sprouting of Fleshy seeds like those of Peasand Beans can be seeded up by soaking them overnight. The sprouting of hard covered seeds such As walnuts can be seeded by partially opening or cracking the shells. Be careful however nol to damage the inner from Hearty Alpine Type plants and Trees must be tricked into idea is to somewhat duplicate the Winter like Cli mate of their natural environment nature. To do so place the seeds in Sand in a shallow bowl and leave them for iwo to four months until they begin to sprout in the refrigerator. If you be purchased a whole fresh pineapple you have the beginnings of a Plant that eventually will shoot up an attractive Flower with fruit of its own. To Start growing such a Plant Cut off the Leafy lop about an Inch or two Down. Spoon away the soft flesh leaving the hard Core in the Middle. Lei this dry for two or three Days then remove the lower leaves and plan in a Sandy Rich soil in around a six to ten Inch the plan in a warm Light place. See that the Earth is not too wet bul water regularly and Wilh Luck the pineapple s roots will grow
