DISHES USED IN FLOWERING
When growing ornamental plants, we use various types of vessels. Pots and boxes are most often used, for the cultivation of very large plants (e.g. palm) - wooden buckets.
Flowerpots
Potted plants with decorative leaves, flowering plants and sometimes also cut flower plants are grown in pots. Seedlings of most ornamental plants are also prepared in pots.
Ceramic pots. We most often use inverted-shaped pots, truncated cone. Such pots are made by hand or by machine from well-made clay, and then fired in special furnaces. They are produced in various sizes, marked with a conventional number. This number is related to the top diameter of the pot. The smallest are pots no 3 in diameter 3 cm. Do nr 16 the diameter of the pot of each successive number is about 1 cm greater than the diameter of the pot from the previous number. From no 16 do 24 the diameter increases by 2 cm. Clay pots, due to their instability, are produced only up to no 24.
The bottom diameter of the pot is smaller than the top, this allows one pot to be placed in another, which greatly facilitates their transport and storage, while preventing it from breaking. There should be a slight thickening at the top of the pots, which significantly increases their durability and makes it easier to grab the pots during care works. There is a hole in the bottom of the pot for draining excess water. The height of the pot is usually one centimeter less than its diameter. The exception is the pots intended for the cultivation of roses and hyacinths, because they are more elongated.
Plastic pots. A belief that existed until recently, that plants can only grow well in porous clay pots, today it does not find so many followers. Plastic pots are being introduced more and more often. These pots are very durable in storage, light, aesthetic (they can also be colored), they have good biological characteristics. Plants grown in such pots grow more lush and faster.
Vineyard pots are already widely used in the cultivation of ornamental plant seedlings (most often square), joined by several dozen into large slices. These types of pots facilitate and improve cultivation and care work, especially in the production of seedlings. Rooted plants are removed from the pots using a special small fork.
Cardboard pots. These are pots intended mainly for the production of flower and vegetable seedlings, most often also extruded in slices, several dozen at the same time. These pots are only suitable for single use, because during cultivation the paper is influenced by water, the roots and the soil solution dissolve. Some cardboard pot factories enrich them with full mixtures of mineral fertilizers at the same time, which significantly increases the quality of the plants growing in them.
Peat pots. Peat pots are very common in Western European horticulture, made of a suitable mixture of high peat and sawdust (e.g. “Jiffy-pot”) and the addition of food compounds. Peat pots of this type are on average twice as light as traditional clay pots.
Earth pots. Earth pots, have been used for a long time in vegetable farming, they can also be successfully used in the cultivation of ornamental plant seedlings. Such pots can be made with an economic system, with the use of various types of manual or mechanical flower pots. These potting machines are characterized by different efficiency, i.e.. they can press different amounts of pots at a time. The upper diameter of the earthen pots is small and ranges from 3 do 6 cm. Their height is usually half the diameter.
As a material for making earthen pots, a mixture consisting of a decomposed cow carcass is used, compost soil, weathered perennial, horticultural peat and mixtures of mineral fertilizers. The soil mixture should be sufficiently moist and well mixed, so that the pots do not crumble during extrusion.
Sowing and quilting boxes
Earthen bowls were used for sowing and unpacking most ornamental plants years ago. Today, wooden boxes are commonly used for this purpose, most often with dimensions 50 X 40 X 8 cm, or slightly larger and deeper - with dimensions 75 X 40 X 10 cm. Such boxes should be made of strong and knotless boards. However, they should be thoroughly washed before re-use, disinfect with chemicals or burn out, preferably by smearing it with denatured alcohol and lighting it or using a soldering lamp, to destroy as thoroughly as possible all fungal spores and pests. Correspondingly reinforced plastic boxes are ideal for such purposes, however, they need some strengthening; naturally, in this case, disinfection by burnout cannot be used.
In recent years, crates of imported tomatoes, the so-called. "Bulgarian" and grapes or other fruits, the so-called. platoons. After minor modifications, these boxes are suitable for sowing, are relatively convenient to use, and most of all widely available and cheap.
Buckets
When growing very large plants, like palm trees, laurels, agaves and others with a large and vigorously growing root system, most often oak buckets are used, reinforced with metal hoops, equipped with handles to facilitate the transfer of plants. There should be openings at the bottom of the pail to drain excess water.
Balcony boxes
When growing ornamental plants, used to decorate balconies, loggias and windows, wooden or plastic boxes are used. Most often they are of length 60, 100, 120 or 150 cm, 15-18 cm wide and 15-20 cm deep. Several round holes should be made at the bottom of the boxes to drain excess water. A well-made box should also have two transverse slats nailed to the bottom, so that it does not adhere directly to the bottom of the balcony.
To increase the durability of wooden buckets and balcony boxes, they are saturated with a hot 5% solution of copper sulphate or lightly baked from the inside..
Other utensils
In addition to the vessels for growing ornamental plants discussed here, in some cases, different types of earthenware are now used, vases and vases, sometimes with very original shapes. These dishes can be placed directly on the floor, on shelves or hung on the walls.
All clay vessels used for the cultivation of ornamental plants should be soaked for several hours in water before they are used for the first time, because the porous walls of these vessels contain sulfur compounds that are harmful to plants. Moreover, as a result of the long-term firing of the clay, these vessels are highly absorbent and if not soaked, after planting them, they extract water, causing periodic drying of the plants, which is dangerous in such cases.
Flower pots or other utensils, used for a long time in the cultivation of ornamental plants, over time are covered with salt compounds and with various algae, becoming the main habitat of various pathogens and pests. Therefore, before re-use, it is recommended to wash these dishes thoroughly in a warm solution of gray soap or aqueous formalin solution..
Expenditure on the purchase of pots in each florist's farm is a considerable sum in the annual budget. Therefore, these utensils must be handled with care, sort by size and put in partitions in rooms specially designed for pots.