Water must be at room temperature. Plants can be injured by using too cold or too warm water.
Plants started as bulbs should always be watered from the bottom. Place them on a saucer filled with water.
Avoid over watering. If the top soil feels moist hold off watering. Most houseplant failure is caused by over watering.
Water in which eggs have been boiled provides a good source of minerals. You can also add 3 or 4 crushed eggs shells to a quart of water a day before you water. Egg shell water will spoil, so don't store for an extended period of time.
If you have an aquarium, save the water when you change it and use to water your plants.
Watering Plants While on Vacation
Stand plants on bricks submerged in water in the bathtub. The bricks will absorb water and keep the plants moist.
Place houseplants in the bathtub on folded newspapers in several inches of water. They will absorb the moisture as needed.
Easter Lilies
Cut it back when your Easter Lily stops blooming. When it is warm enough plant outside. Dig up the bulb in the fall and place in a plastic bag. Seal with a twist tie and store in the refrigerator. In February, repot and hopefully you'll have your own Easter Lily.
Ferns
Watering ferns once a week with weak tea is a good tonic for them.
Sick ferns can be revived by watering with 1/2 cup salt and 6 pints of lukewarm water.
Worm infestation can be treated by inserting matches into the soil with the sulfur end down. For a small fern use 4 matches and a large one use 6 matches.
Mending a Plant Stem
The broken stem of a plant can often be mended by making a small splint out of a toothpick and tape.
Plant Leaf Cleaning
A few drops of glycerin on a cloth will put a gloss on the leaves of your plants. Olive oil can be used but it will collect dust the glycerin will not.
Another solution for putting a gloss on the leaves is applying a half and half mixture of milk and water.
Starting House Plants
If you start house plants from slips or leaves, take a small square plastic strawberry or tomato basket, cut down at the corners of the box, then across, forming a small trellis to support the young plants.
Place seed trays on the top of your refrigerator, the heat will help them germinate faster.
Plastic Plants
After cleaning your artificial plants, spray with hair spray to help then stay glossy and keep them from collecting dust.
Caring for your Lawn
New grass should never be mowed before it is 2 1/2 inches high.
Any grass should never be mowed that is less than 1 1/2 inches high.
Never water your lawn unless you are prepared to water it enough to be drenched and wet down at least 1 inch below the surface. Light watering causes the roots of grass to turn up and become shallow. A good watering once a week does a lot of good, a light daily watering does a lot of harm.
Unwanted Grass and Weeds
To kill grass or weeds growing between sections of cement walkways, pour salted boiling water over them.
Sprinkling cheap motor oil or salt on the spaces between bricks of a walkway will keep grass from growing between them.
Flowers
Fresh flower life can be extended by adding aspirin, pennies or ice cubes to the water.
To prevent window boxes from splattering dirt on windows when it rains, add a layer of gravel to the top of the window box.
Coffee grounds can be saved to feed geraniums.
Carnations will last longer if a little boric acid is added to the water.
Cut flowers should never be crowded in a vase.
Decaying vegetable matter poisons the water so be sure to remove all leaves below the waterline.
Wilted flowers will miraculously revive with very hot water.
Add a teaspoon of sugar to a vase of marigolds to eliminate the overpowering smell.
Put a paper towel on the bottom of a flower vase if it is too deep. It also helps keep the stems moist.
Adding a sugar cube to water will make rosebuds open faster.
Preserving Flowers
Cut flowers can be sprayed with hair spray to make them last longer. With the spray can about a foot away, spray in an upward direction, so flowers don't droop.
Changing a Flower's Color
You can change the color of cut flowers by mixing some food coloring in warm water and placing the stems in the solution. The stems will absorb the colors by morning and you will see pretty designs and different colors on the flowers.
Growing Parsley
Sprinkle parsley seed on a moistened clean sponge. Place it near a window and you will soon have large clump of parsley.
Plant Pot Drainage
Lining a plant pot with a coffee filter will prevent the soil from leaking out of the drainage holes.
Packing peanuts added to the bottom of your pots creates great drainage.
