....................HELPING
HINTS
Things we hope we can help you on.
SOILS
FOR SEED STARTING HARDY
ANNUALS THE
WATER GARDEN
SOILS
FOR SEED STARTING
It is
one of the many paradoxes in gardening that the best soils for starting
seedlings indoors contain no real soil at all. Ordinarily, weed seedlings
sprout and grow in profusion in any speck of open ground. So what's
the big deal with using some topsoil for starting seedlings? Why
can't we just dig up a little good earth and set it aside for our winter
work?
As simple and as "natural" as that answer might seem, the truth is that using real topsoil brings several problems to container culture and especially to seed starting. Outdoor soil is too heavy and too compact for good air circulation. It also holds too little air and carries too many disease organisms. True soils -- which are mostly minerals with perhaps 5% to 10% organic matter if the soil is very rich -- are heavy, prone to comp action and hold relatively little water. But even more important, natural soils are very likely to harbor the disease organisms that cause damping-off and root-rot diseases in seedlings. If you use real soil, you risk losing your seedlings, unless you pasteurize the ground with heat -- not an easy task and not something you want to do in the house because of the horrible odor invariably produced. So instead the world has turned to soil less mixes. On this point the largest commercial growers and most of the best gardeners agree.
Today's soil less mixes are mostly sphagnum peat moss, plus vermiculite and often a little perlite. The sphagnum peat used in good seed- starting and growing mixes is a very stable organic material that holds a great deal of water and air and does not decompose quickly. Both vermiculite and perlite are natural minerals that at very high temperatures pop like popcorn. Once expanded or popped, they are very lightweight and porous. In a soil mix, they improve both air circulation and water drainage. Perlite retains no water itself, vermiculite a little. All three of these basic ingredients are naturally disease-free.
The movement away from real soil in potting mixes began about 60 years ago, in an attempt to eliminate soil diseases that were plaguing the nursery industry. The first alternatives were mixtures of sand (or very sandy soils) with ground-up (or milled) sphagnum peat. But these still needed to be heat-treated to kill disease organisms that came in on the sand. The effort culminated in the early 1960's in research at Corneal University that produced the "peat-lite" formula.
Classic peat-lite is half milled sphagnum peat and half vermiculite, though sometimes a small portion of the vermiculite is replaced by perlite. Although you can buy true peat-lite mixes from many suppliers, most of their formulations will contain a higher proportion of peat, around 75%, simply because most growing-mix producers are peat bog owners, and they have more of it than anything else.
Firms
that serve the nursery industry, such as Pro-Mix, Fafard or Baccto, may
offer as many as 10 slightly different formulations, all essentially
slight variations on the peat-lite formula. Most variations have
arisen to suit local preferences of commercial growers or to allow the
producers to make use of the resources at hand. These high-peat mixes
work just fine, both for starting most kinds of seed and for growing the
transplants on in larger containers.
All
good growing mixes also contain a very small amount of ground
limestone (usually dolomite) to correct the acidity of the peat and to
help buffer against the varying acidity and alkalinity of local water
supplies. Dolomite supplies some calcium and magnesium to plants. The
mixes also include a wetting agent (tested to be safe for plant growth)
to help wet naturally water-resistant dry peat. Most mixes
contain a very small amount of fertilizer, often referred to
as a nutrient charge, as well. Most of this will leach out
within two weeks after irrigation starts. In fact, many suppliers
recommend that liquid fertilization begin as soon as the first true
leaves appear on seedlings.
What
to Buy
You
could easily get confused with all the choices on the shelf in
garden centers and nurseries. The root of the confusion lies in a fine
old gardening term "potting soil." Many mixes good for seed
starting are labeled potting soil. But other things called
potting soil are not very good at all for seed starting and
are sometimes inappropriate even for container growing.
You can be most sure of what you are getting in mixes labeled "seed starting" or "germinating." The ingredients of germinating mixes are the same as in peat-lite: high-quality sphagnum peat, fine vermiculite and often perlite, a very small quantity of limestone, a wetting agent and enough fertilizer to last through two or three waterings. What defines a germinating mix, beyond these ingredients, is that the mix has been screened to be very fine. Germinating mixes are designed for very small seeds like petunias or impatiens and for filling small-sized containers and plug cells quickly.
But a
germinating mix is not the only product offered that will serve
well to start your vegetable and flower seeds. You might want a growing
mix with larger particle sizes. For one thing, germinating mixes are more
expensive. For another, they are not suitable for filling larger containers
for growing through the season. Because they are so fine, they
hold more water and eventually compact more than coarser mixes
do. They stay too wet and hold too little air for good long-term
root growth. (When starting seed in a germinating mix, the
container should be deep enough to allow for at least one and
a half inches of soil, deep enough to keep the topmost layer
dry and aerated and lower layers moist.)
Unfortunately,
some products traditionally labeled potting mix can include
a multitude of ingredients, not all of which are particularly good for
seed germination and root growth. You must read the label to know what's
really in the bag. If the label doesn't say, stay away. The primary
ingredients in the kind of mix you want should be milled sphagnum peat
(typically from 50% to 80%), vermiculite and perhaps perlite. Avoid mixes
containing sand, manure, topsoil or muck peat. These materials are too
heavy and do not have the water- and air-holding properties of a good
germinating or growing mix.
Fortunately, the trend toward clear and useful labeling recently has come to the growing-mix industry. Though neither mandatory nor completely uniform, the labels of most reliable suppliers describe the content of their various mixes clearly. The most common ingredient is listed first (often with the percentage), followed by the lesser ingredients in descending order. Labels do not always indicate whether the mix contains a starter fertilizer, because doing so would subject the mixes to regulations for fertilizers, which clearly the mixes are not.
Soil less growing or germinating mixes are sold in plastic bags. The material will be either loose (in a broad range of sizes from one quart up to a 40-pound bag) or in compressed bales (about 70 pounds). Compressed bales yield almost twice the volume on the label when you dig out the amount you need and fluff it up.
Where
to Buy
You
can buy mixes in three very different places. Superstores with
gardening sections -- Home Depot, Lowes, Kmart, Wal-Mart and
countless others -- will have a wide choice of brand names and will offer
smaller packages. At local nurseries and garden centers, the choice in
brand names will narrow, but there will be a full line of soils,
some of them in larger sizes. At a retail nursery that produces
at least some of its own plants from seed or cuttings, you
have the narrowest but perhaps best choice of all: the mixes
that professional growers use themselves. Very often the owner
will sell a bale or large bag. These materials cost from $8 (for a 40-
pound bag) to $14 (for a 70-pound bale) wholesale. So even if you pay
twice that, you are getting a tremendous bargain if you can find a grower
willing to sell some, and increasingly many growers will do that.
If you keep the bag tightly closed and protected from the rain, the material will keep well for more than one season. The plastic covering on commercial-sized bags and bales is usually treated with ultraviolet light inhibitors, giving the material about a one-year life when stored in the open. But all materials should be kept closed tight to keep out disease organisms and maintain the moisture level of the material in the bag, which should be just very slightly moist.
Where to find a good seed mix: The following companies manufacture high-quality seed germination soil mixes. If you can't find one of them at your local garden center, call or write the manufacturers and ask them to help you find the nearest supplier. Baccto: (800) 324-7328 Fafard: (800) PEAT-MOSS Good Earth Organics: (716) 684-8111 Hoffman: (800) 877-0848 Jiffy Products: (800) 323-1047 Lambert: (800) 463-4083 Premier Pro-Mix: (800) 667-5366 Scotts (same as Peters): (800) 543-8873 Sungro Sunshine: (800) 665-4525
Making
Your Own Seed-Germination Mix
The
quality of professional seed-starting and growing mixes is so
high that there is little reason for anyone to bother with the dusty job
of mixing their own. Still, if you somehow can't find a good
one to buy, the recipe for a peat-lite mix is very simple:
Make the blend between half and three-quarters milled sphagnum
peat moss and the rest horticultural-grade vermiculite. For
maximum air circulation and water drainage, substitute perlite
for half the vermiculite. If the peat is coarse or lumpy, break up
clods and take out large pieces with your hands, or use a 1/4-inch screen.
Mix in some dolomitic limestone, at the rate of five pounds per cubic yard
of mix. It's important to incorporate the lime thoroughly through the mix.
At least one day before you plan to plant, sprinkle the mix with water
to allow it time to permeate the peat. Rather than trying to
mix in fertilizer, it's better to wait until seedlings are
up and then begin feeding with a nutrient solution right away.
Editor-at-Large
Shep Ogden grows many hundreds of seedlings each year in his
capacity as president and chief evaluator for the Cook's Garden
seed company. "A few years ago," he told me recently, "I did an
absolutely minute analysis of the costs involved in making my own seed-
starting mix. I did time studies and I did it down to fractions of a cent.
And as much as we would all like to make everything from scratch
from a purist's standpoint, there's no way I could justify
mixing my own potting soil." Ogden now uses Pro-Mix for most
flowers and all vegetables.
SOILS
FOR SEED STARTING
HARDY
ANNUALS
THE
WATER GARDEN
HARDY
ANNUALS
Take
advantage of those hardy annuals -- especially Shirley, red corn, and bread
seed poppies; love-in-a-mist, and larkspur -- that reliably return because
the seeds they release each year overwinter until spring. But it's best
to let them do it their way since they are not only rugged, but also cantankerous.
They resent the inevitable root disturbance during transplanting, especially
the poppies, with their tap roots, and often don't make it. They prefer
to start outside, without much help from the gardener.
It may be shaky sociology, but tough love really is best for these tough
annuals. Their seeds can be sown in the fall or early spring right where
you want them, and they will grow stronger and more vigorous than transplanted
seedlings. Fall sowing is problematic because seeds and clear garden patches
are hard to find. Early spring sowing, even right into the snow cover (also
hard to find this year), lets you do some useful gardening without too
much actual work.
These plants' tiny seeds are difficult to sow uniformly and thinly by hand.
To avoid crowding, which produces weak plants, or having to thin ruthlessly,
either mix the seed with sand or use a pepper shaker and a controlled flick
of the wrist. Scatter seed once, carefully, and they will take it from
there. Poppies and larkspur look best in patches, while fragile, ferny
Nigella works better as a weaver, coming up among other foliage.
Part of the music of a living garden is the way your point is answered
by its counterpoint. Year after year, self-seeded volunteers will move
about, finding unexpected places. Over time the pastels of the Shirley
poppies slowly revert to the vivid red of the parent corn poppy, while
the wide range of colors in the bread seed poppies revert to its natural
mauve. Composing a garden should be a joint effort between you and the
plants.
WILLOWS WILL ROOT
Q. A cut flower arrangement I recently purchased includes three joined
twigs of what I believe is Japanese willow. The twigs are light, reddish-brown,
very twisted (almost arthritic!). Similar twigs were almost invariably
part of those large floral displays at major art museums everywhere for
the last 10 years. Before the flowers died, the twigs began to grow roots
and put out delicate, thin, spring green leaves. I kept the twigs in water
and they continue to grow leaves and put out roots. I want to plant it
in a pot and would like advice on growing conditions.
A. The Japanese fan tail willow (Salix udensis Sekka), with its fused twigs,
is a staple in museum floral displays and spring flower shows and at sizable
florists. As you have seen, the twigs will root. Since it's too early to
move them outside, pot them up in a well-drained mix and keep it very moist,
but don't drown them: let the delicate roots adapt to the change from water
to potting mix. Keep it in a cool room in a north window, covered with
a plastic bag to raise the humidity. After a week or two, remove the bag
and begin reducing the water, keeping in mind that willows don't like to
be completely dry. Don't be surprised if the leaves wilt; the plant will
probably survive. Willows are not houseplants. This one can grow 10 feet
tall and wide, so transplant it in May to a nice moist site in the garden.
There are a large number of unusual willows, with a whole range of twig
and catkin color, including the purplish-black stems and catkins of Salix
melanostachys and the rosy catkins of S. gracilistyla. Sources include
Heronswood Nursery, 7530 288th Street NE, Kingston, Wash. 98346, (360)
297-4172, catalogue $5, and Forest Farm, 990 Tetherow Road, Williams, Ore.
97544, (541) 846-7269, catalogue $4.
HOME-GROWN GINGER
Q. Is it possible to grow edible ginger from pieces of the rhizome acquired
at a health food store (presumably the rhizome would not have been chemically
treated to prevent further growth)? If so, how?
A.Health food store or otherwise, all fresh ginger root should grow because
the United States Agriculture Department does not require any treatment
for ginger (Zingiber officinale) imported for culinary use. But of course,
the ginger has its own requirements. As a native of the tropics, it grows
well only with plenty of warmth and humidity.
If you have a warm, humid, sunny place indoors you can give it a try, but
don't expect to become ginger self-sufficient. Buy a plump, fresh rhizome
now, when it would normally be getting ready to sprout, and plant it horizontally
about 1- to 2-inches deep, in a well-drained potting mix rich in organic
matter.
Start it on a sunny window, and move it outside to a spot in the garden
with dappled shade when the weather warms up. If you plan on keeping it
inside all summer, use a five-gallon pot, because by fall that cute little
rhizome is going to turn into a four-foot plant with lots of roots, assuming
it likes the conditions (at least 75 degrees, bright light and very humid)
and doesn't suffer too much from spider mites and the various other ills
that affect plants held indoors against their will.
By October, you will realize that this lanky, rangy plant is not particularly
attractive, won't survive outdoors and should probably just be harvested.
Reduce watering, stop fertilizing and wait for the foliage to turn yellow.
In November, dig up the rhizome. It will have grown, although you will
think it should be much larger based on the size of the plant. Ginger is
hard to store without drying out, getting moldy or both, so just use it
in a curry and late next winter buy another piece to plant.
SOILS
FOR SEED STARTING Back
to the top HARDY
ANNUALS
The
water garden
Many people think that water gardening is difficult. Water gardens
look so exotic. But nothing could be further from the truth: I would
recommend water gardening to a rank beginner, although I might think
twice before suggesting growing something as common as roses.
If you follow a few simple rules, it's fall-down easy (except for one major chore: See "The Big Job"). The rules may seem odd because all sorts of garden wisdom gets turned upside down when you're gardening in water. For instance, forget fast-draining soil mixes. Pot things up in the heaviest clay soil you can find.
The Main
Ingredients
You
need a pond or container, water, aquatic snails, fish, and plants.
What about expensive things like pumps and filters? Water gardening
isn't like keeping tropical fish. You don't have to change the water.
After all, you never change the water in a natural pond. Just restore
what evaporates, and the garden won't require pumps or filters
unless you're trying to keep koi, those fancy Asian carp.
Creating a water garden doesn't take much; an old half- barrel or a big pot with a plugged drainage hole enlivens the smallest garden. I've seen ceramic containers about the size of a 5-gallon nursery pot filled with only floating mosquito ferns--also called azolla (Azolla filiculoides)-- add sparkle to the smallest balcony garden. And water gardens are irresistible. Even the tiniest one will draw children and adults to peer into its mysterious depths. Some gardens, mine included, are designed with a water garden as a central feature.
Two Kinds
of Water Gardens
Water
gardens are either still or active. You can garden in the first type
but not the other. Fountains and cataracts add sparkle and splash
to a garden, being noisy and full of flash. Some fountains don't
disturb the water significantly, and lilies can live in water gardens
with them if the splashing isn't constant, or if they are located
away from the fountain. Most aquatic plants prefer calm water, with
the exception of watercress, which seems to prefer moving water.
Quiet pools also have their own romance. They reflect the sky and
ripple in the slightest breeze. I built one of each type side-by-side
in my garden.
Types
of Aquatic Plantings
I've
tried just about all available aquatic plants in the larger pool
but have settled on what I call "floaters." Aquatic plants grow faster
than anything else, and most types will soon choke your pool. Water
lilies, which bloom in my garden from spring to winter, and a few
other aquatics with floating leaves, seem the easiest types to
control. Even the deceptively delicate water irises spread so quickly
that after a year they occupied almost half my pool, though some
kinds are slower spreaders.
Aquatics with floating leaves, water lilies included, also need yearly attention. Repotting is a major project with the hardy lilies. In artificial pools, grow aquatic plants in submerged containers so they can be lifted out and maintained. However, heaving a plastic pot filled with soggy soil is tricky--and messy, too.
Building
a Water Garden
Depth.
The ideal depth is about 18 inches. In many communities, that's also
the legal depth. Any deeper, and some building codes consider it
a swimming pool, which might mean that it must be fenced and that
you'll need a permit to build it.
An aboveground water garden can be shallower than 18 inches. For years, I used half whiskey barrels, after carefully swelling the slats shut by filling and refilling the barrel halves with water. I then graduated to 21/2- foot-wide concrete pots with plugged drainage holes, but the pots were only about a foot deep, the minimum for many aquatics. I managed to grow small water lilies and other aquatics and keep a few goldfish.
My current
pool is 18 inches deep but above the ground, so visitors can sit
along its edge.
Lining.
You can also excavate an inground pool and use a special pond liner
made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or ethylene propylene diene monomer
(EPDM) rubber. Or, build a pond out of materials such as railroad
ties, and line the inside.
Some nurseries stock liners and preformed ponds that you simply bury. Or, you can order materials by mail.
Planting
a Water Garden
Where
to find plants. Once you have the pond, shop for plants. Many nurseries
carry them only in the summer, but many mail-order sources are also
available (see page 70). Suppliers' catalogs have information about
installing a garden, pond-making supplies, snails, and plants. However,
if you know someone with a water garden, you can probably get all
of your plants free. They multiply quickly, and every spring, gardeners
compost many divisions.
Containers.
Most aquatics grow best when planted in wide, shallow containers
that you submerge in the pond. I use old plastic nursery cans and
cheap plastic washtubs. Water lilies' containers must be about 18
inches wide and 10 inches deep. Plants with shorter stems and smaller
root systems can grow in smaller containers. Unlike aboveground
containers, these pots don't need drainage holes. If the pots have
any, cover them with two layers of newspaper so soil doesn't leak
out. (Newspaper takes years to decompose under water; even pulp pots
last a long time, like the timbers of a sunken ship.)
Soil.
Forget
what you've learned about potting soils. Avoid regular potting mixes
and soil amendments. They contain elements that will rot, pollute,
or float. Aquatics grow best in containers filled with ordinary garden
soil. The heavy clay garden soil that you regularly curse over is
fine for aquatic plants. Dig some up, and break up clods to use
it as aquatic potting soil.
Some people cover the soil with sand or pebbles to keep it from muddying the water and to prevent fish like koi from digging up the plants. I don't. After planting, I simply soak the soil in the container and then set the container in the pool. It's heavy enough not to float, and the water clears in about a day.
Fertilizer.
At planting
time, add a little aquatic-plant fertilizer, especially for lilies.
Cover the fertilizer with soil, or it will escape and feed the pond's
algae. I use tablets made for aquatic plants, and place them next
to the roots.
Stocking
the Water Garden
Fish.
Fish control algae and mosquito larvae. Ordinary goldfish control
both, though tiny, guppylike mosquito fish eliminate mosquitoes completely.
(Mosquito-control agencies often give these fish away.) My first
goldfish came from an elementary-school carnival where my kids
won them by tossing little white balls into cups filled with the
hapless fish. Pet stores sell them, often as "feeder fish" for snakes
and other reptiles (imagine your fishes' delight when they find themselves
in a water garden instead!). If you like aquatic plants, don't keep
koi in the same pond. They'll eat everything (though lilies
usually survive).
Pest
note.
If your
neighborhood includes raccoons, they're likely to climb into the
pond, dig things up, and try to eat the goldfish. In this case, the
less attractive mosquito fish are better bets than goldfish. To keep
raccoons out, you must install a single-wire electric fence, which
greatly detracts from the pond's beauty. However, not much else deters
them.
Aquatic
snails.
Water
snails don't eat living plants, just decaying vegetation and algae.
Many garden rules are reversed when you start water gardening: You
don't want good drainage; instead, you use crummy soil, and you
actually encourage snails.
Keep about 75 percent of the water's surface covered with vegetation in the summer to inhibit algae growth. Algae are a natural part of pond life, and some forms always coat the pond lining. Some shade minimizes algae. They cover my pool's sides, but the water stays clear. Annually, after I repot the aquatic plants, the pool briefly turns green as the algae eat stirred-up nutrients. That's why you must never change the water. If you do, the pond must achieve its natural balance all over again.
Some
Favorite Aquatic Plants
In my
garden, water lilies (Nymphaea) start blooming when the weather warms
and last long into the fall. Their starlike flowers are bright and
magical as they float serenely on the water's surface. I grow tropical
and hardy water lilies.
Tropical
water lilies.
Most
flowers are lavender, purple, or fluorescent pink. Some bloom at
night. Most tropical lilies spread widely. Small ones are available;
my favorite is 'Edward D. Uber', with purple flowers. In my garden,
this variety stays in the pool all year. I repot them only every
few years because they don't spread like the hardy lilies, though
they bloom just as profusely. Where winters are cold, treat tropicals
as annuals.
Hardy
water lilies.
These
plants are hardy from zones 3 to 11, but whether you must move them
indoors depends on the pond or container they're planted in and the
extremes of cold in your area. In very cold-winter regions, you must
take in hardy lilies growing in small tubs; store them in a garage
or basement. In milder cold regions, a deicer that you float in the
water and plug into an electric outlet will keep the water from freezing.
You must take in lilies grown in containers in small inground water
gardens also. Cover them with wet newspaper to keep them moist while
dormant.
These
lilies survive in natural outdoor ponds if the crowns and rhizomes
are not in frozen earth under the ice in winter. The flowers, stems,
and leaves die back, but the rhizomes remain alive. Find out the
extreme maximum ice depth in your area. If your pond is deeper than
that, your plants are probably safe. If you're not sure, take them
in.
These
lilies come in wonderful shades of pink, white, red, and yellow.
During a season, the tuber will creep from one side of the pot to
the other and, if the pot is too small, grow right over the edge.
To contain them, repot when the weather warms in spring (see "The
Big Job").
After water lilies, my favorite additions to the water garden are (in order of preference):
Yellow snowflake (Nymphoides cristatum). Flowers on this aquatic plant are frilled like a snowflake. Its leaves are like a lily's but extensively marbled with green and burgundy. It's considered hardy from zones 6 to 10. In cold-winter areas, protect it as you would tropicals.
Water poppy (Hydrocleys nymphoides). This aquatic also has floating leaves, and it's adorned with clear yellow poppy flowers. North of zone 8, it's grown as an annual. Though quite hardy in my garden, it nearly disappears during the winter, like most aquatics.
Water hawthorn, also called Cape pondweed (Aponogeton distachyus). In my zone 10 climate, this aquatic takes the water poppy's place in winter. Its floating leaves are long and narrow. The white vanilla-scented flowers are floating racemes (flower spikes) that bloom in winter. The whole plant vanishes below water in summer and reappears in autumn. In cold climates, this plant blooms only in summer.
Parrot's feather (Myriophyllum aquatica). This reasonably well-behaved aquatic has feathery green foliage that floats on the surface between the lilies in my pond. The "feathers" stand about 6 inches above the water and add vertical form to the pond. If I let them, they would take over, so I hack away at them through the season.
Floating
plants.
All
of the above aquatic plants grow with roots submerged and tops floating
on the water, but some aquatics actually float, roots and all, like
little boats. You could call these "nautical" plants. The lavender-blue-
flowered water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes) is the best known but
is far too weedy in my zone, quickly forming an armada. I like the
gray-green leaves of water lettuce (Pistia stratiodes), another boatlike
floater, and the tiny fronds of Azolla filiculoides, a fern that
happens to float.
Submerged
plants.
A few
plants, called oxygenators, grow completely submerged. Supposedly
they add oxygen to the water for the fish, but actually they absorb
extra nutrients that might increase algae levels. I grow only the
fluffy fanwort (Cabomba caroliniana), and must remove lots of it
every few weeks because it grows very fast.
Bog denizens.
Bog
plants grow with their roots just under the water's surface. I've
planted water irises, azure pickerel weed (Pontederia cordata), and
the tall and stately red-stemmed thalia (Thalia dealbata). I have
even added cannas, which do better in the pond than they do in
my garden. All have quickly overgrown, so now I stick to the well-behaved
water lilies and their friends.
The four
rules of water gardening
1. Ponds
need aquatic plants, fish, and water snails for ecological balance.
2. Grow
aquatic plants in their own pots, in ordinary garden soil.
3. Keep
75 percent of the water surface covered with vegetation.
4. You
should never need to change the water.
The Big
Job
Hardy
water lilies must be repotted every spring in a process that's similar
to potting them up initially. With a serrated knife, saw off several
inches of the growing end (the end with the leaves). Also, trim back
roots so you end up with a block of root-filled soil about 8 inches
square. The old soil will have turned jet black. It stains
everything, so quickly wash spills off paving and other surfaces.
In a
container wide enough to allow room for the roots to spread, plug
any drainage holes with two layers of newspaper. Then plant the chunk
of roots and leaves in ordinary garden soil at one edge of the container
so that it can grow across the container. All water lilies need
fertilizer at planting time and later in the season. Little tablets
specifically for aquatic plants are the easiest to work with if you
follow label directions.
SOILS
FOR SEED STARTING HARDY
ANNUALS THE
WATER GARDEN
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