In the north as the month of January closes house plants start to grow again after the turn of the year - at least those that were resting during the fall and early winter. With these, feeding is important, particularly if they have been in the same pots several years. However, there are a number of soluble plant foods which will do a good job. Mix 1/2 tablespoon into a gallon of water and feed it to the plants once every few weeks. Then watch the plants grow!

Dahlia tubers should be looked over in midwinter to check the spread of any existing rot. Cut back broken or rotting tubers to solid flesh, and then dust the cut ends with sulphur. If the tubers appear to be shrinking it may be caused by too high a temperature or by too little covering. The tubers go back into storage until time to force them for cuttings in March or until planting time in May.

Summer bedding plant cuttings can be taken now from the stock plants that are carried over in the greenhouse or frame. Start in early, particularly when the number of stock plants is limited and the number of plants required is large. You can take cuttings right up until April. Some of the plants you can handle in this way are: lantanas, heliotropes, verbenas, fuchsias, ageratums and coleus.

Root the cuttings in sand or vermiculite in a house that has a 60-degree night temperature. If the house is cooler, start the cuttings in a warmer bench as mentioned above. Bottom heat almost always helps.

Carnation cuttings taken last month should be ready for potting up now. A good soil mixture is 2 parts soil from the soil-compost pile, 1 part sand and 1 part rotted manure. Put the rooted cuttings into 2 1/2-inch pots leaving as much of the cuttings above the soil as possible. Water thoroughly at the time of potting. Then place them in a cool house and shade from bright sunshine with newspapers for a few days.

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