Wooden Dahlia Greenhouse
In wooden houses the polythene film can be easily attached to the glazing bars with drawing pins. Metal houses are more of a problem, but the spring type clothes’ pegs are quite good for clipping the material to the bars. In both types the film should be kept taut whilst securing it in position.
They should be stacked under cover until required for use. New pots must be soaked for a few hours before being used, as otherwise they will tend to dry out excessively quickly. All water used in greenhouse and frame should be free from infection. It is not really good to use rain water, particularly in industrial areas, as so often this has been allowed to stand in a filthy butt or tank for several days or even weeks before use, apart from containing possible harmful chemicals washed from roof and gutter.
Apart from their value as stand-bys, they have certain advantages in their own right, one being the small amount of storage space they take up, and another the perfect cuttings that are produced by them in the spring. Some varieties produce extremely thick shoots from ground roots, which are virtually impossible to strike, whereas the shoots produced by the miniature tubers are of ideal size and strike readily.
It is not advisable to take more than one or two cuttings from them, but if, say, two cuttings are taken, and the tuber is then divided into two, it is still possible to obtain four perfectly good plants-not a bad increase from a tuber which only occupies an inch or two of space in the greenhouse. Then, too, if grown on without taking cuttings, or at best striking only the surplus shoots, they will come into bloom long before plants raised from cuttings.
Mention was made earlier of polythene film for lining the base of an all-glass house. Many growers consider that it is an advantage to line the top also with this substance. There are many points in favour of this practice as it is more or less the equivalent of double glazing. If lined in this way heat losses are reduced as the layer of air between the two surfaces acts as an insulant of quite high order. Thus a considerable saving of fuel costs can be effected. Temperature variations are lessened also.
Disadvantages are the danger of roof drip if the material is not evenly and tightly stretched, and the risk that the atmosphere may become too humid and stagnant, clue to the elimination of the slight air currents through the gaps between the overlapping glass of the roof. The tendency towards damping off may be increased. However a little extra care with ventilation will prevent this.
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