Let's find out, grade 2; Indoor plants

It was. Now when my two boys and girls to listen I was your son's wedding brings you another let's find out. How little boys and girls how are the seed you planted last week. Have any begun to grow where you hang onto them because sometimes it takes a long time for tree seeds to start to grow. Some want to grow pretty soon now. It'll soon be time for you to begin to think about the plants you're going to bring indoors to keep all winter watered. It's almost that time right now. Maybe you already have some plants indoors have you. Do you have some plants indoors at home. Do you

have some right there in your classroom. I hope you have at least one plan today so that we can take a good look at it. Shall we do that right now. All right where's Mr. Gardner. Are you standing at the table ready to help. Good. Miss Flora asked are you up there too. All right Miss florist. And Mr. Gardner. When you look closely at the plant you have there. Now all of the rest of the florists and gardeners had better look to stay right where you are and see what Mr. Lauriston Mr. Gardner is going to do after the broadcast is over you will all be able to show everyone in your room just how to take care of plants right now first of all. Mr. Gardner put your finger on top of the soil in the pot.

Does it feel moist a little bit wet. Does it feel dry. Pressure finger down on the soil. Not too hard. All right did your finger shrink in just a little bit. There's some oil in a flower pot around a plant should not be too hard or too dry if the soil is very hard. It won't soak up very much water will it. Do plants need water to grow. Well if this soil in the flower pot which you have there is very hard after the broadcast if you're over you could ask your teacher to help you loosen the surface not too deep you might hurt the plant roots. If this sort of is very dry perhaps your plant needs water but do you

know that you can give plants too much water. Yes you can you can really drown the roots of plants if you keep them to with it. Now here's a pretty good sing for you to remember. Most plants in pots of soil that we bring indoors and keep during the winter in the house need to be given water just about once each week. Mr. Gardener don't you think it would be a good idea to remember to water all of the plants. The indoor plants every Monday morning. Mr. Forrest would you help. Remember that too. All right. I wonder if after a while you talk and find out why I suggested Monday morning rather than any other morning in the week Would you like to remember that. All right good. Now

we have something else to think about Miss Flora's. Look closely at a leaf of the plant that you have there. Does it look smooth. Maybe it looks rough does it. Now if you can be very careful not to pinch the leaves. You might very easily touch one of them with your finger wait wait just a minute. Put one finger out of one hand underneath and leave. Now very lightly run a finger out of your other hand over the top of the league. All right now be careful. Sometimes the leaves fall off very easily if we touch them too hard or put our hand on them too heavily. Now did you feel the leaf. Is it rough on top. Is it some is on top. When I look at it again take your hands away. Is it dusty.

Why do you plan to get dusty indoors or outdoors either for that matter. The ones that we keep indoors get dusty and sometimes they get dusty even faster than the ones that are outdoors. What happens to the plants that are outdoors so that the dust will not collect on them. Well I wonder if you thought of many things that go to help. What about the wind. Could the wind blow the dust off some time. Mom what about the rain. Could the rain washed the dust off the leaves. And then if the leaves are in your backyard or your front yard you could wash them off with water from the hose couldn't you. But it's not easy to sprinkle plants and get the dust off when we keep them indoors is it. Now if the leaves of your

planned are smooth or shiny there is something you can do to keep them clean even if dust does get on them. You could wash them off with a little piece of wet cotton but if they are rough if they're hairy are sticky are very rough. You can't do that. Can you guess why. The cottonwood stick to the leaf and we can't have that happen because the leaf can't have anything stuck to it. It can't be healthy. It needs clean air all around it. So let's see indoor plants need loose soil in the pot. They need to be given water about once a week and if they have smooth leaves we can wash off dust with a soft wet cotton pad.

But there's something else they all need. Where are you going to keep your indoor plant. Well maybe you guessed are you going to keep it in a dark corner. Oh I hope not. Do plants need light to grow. All right so part of each day your plant should be as close to the sunlight as you can place them near the windows. But when it gets cold outdoors really cold this winter your plants must not be kept too close to the cold glass of the windows because they might be able to be so cold that they'd freeze so move them away from the glass so that the leaves will not touch it. When the weather gets very very cold. Now if your indoor plants get dusty and have smooth leaves Remember

you can wipe them off with cotton wet cotton but if the leaves are rough you don't have to take them to the sink and sprinkle water on them or blow the dust off all indoor plants are not always easy to keep in our rooms are they. But there are some that we can grow. I wonder first of all if your plant has smoother leaves. If you would like to rent the little piece of cotton that you have there. In water and wipe the dust off the tops of the leaves. Would you like to try that. Well now you go ahead and do that while I talk to you a minute or two. If the leaf is rough don't do touch the cotton to it will you. Will you watch then. All right. Now I wonder when your little seed that you planted last week began to grow.

You will want to watch them and keep the leaves nice and clean too. Most of them will have smooth leaves so that you can wash them off. All right now when you stop whatever you're doing and listen again because you can wash the leaves off after awhile with the cotton. There are certainly plants that we can begin to grow some plants that we have been to people keep inside a rather expensive and it's hard for us to get them but we can grow some plants that are very beautiful from very simple things. Have you ever seen a sweet potato plant growing sweet potatoes make very fine indoor plants and they're pretty too. Let's start a sweet potato to grow shall we. Miss Forrest when you pick up the jar that you have there the glass jar and feel it about half full of water. I don't build the water just about half full. All right now Mr. Gardner Where do you look at the sweet potato.

Pick it up. Does it feel smooth to your fingers. Does it feel right. Do you see any spots on the potato. Look along the side of the potato Are there any spots there at all. Well I wonder if you will watch those spots now when you pick up a toothpick. Now this is going to not going to be easy. And if you can't do it right now we'll have to let you do it later. Well you pick up the potato and see if you can stick a toothpick about in the center from one end to the other just about in the middle of the potato. Now if you hold the toothpick down toward the point that you're going to stick in the potato I think you won't break it is easily a teacher if you're needed up there I wonder if you'd help. We'd like to stick about four

toothpicks into the potato I ride around in a circle around the center of the potato. Now when you're ready look at the potato and let's put the longest and are you ready. We want to put the longest and down in the jar of water. Does the water reach up to the potato. All right. Miss Gardner will you add a little more water to it. The water should cover most of the potato of the part of the potato that's inside the jar. And you'll have to remember to add more water each day to keep the end of the potato in the water. When you do that. Now what do you suppose will grow out of the potato. The part of the bit of the potato that's in the water. Who said root. Good for you. And what will grow out of the top

of the tomato that are the potato I should say not a tomato is it. I love the potato that's above the water. Leave Hong stammers and leave if you are ready now to move that out of the way I think we can talk about something else. Are you finished. Did you get all of the toothpicks in the potatoes so that it standing up in the jar now and not falling way down Ian. When I few did and you could do it later and you watch that potato and see what happens and then you can watch that along with your seeds get you. When I did another good plant it's easy to grow and I don't think you have it today but you could someday try a carrot cut the top o about an inch off the top of a carrot and put it in a little shallow dish of sand and water and watch what grows out of the top of that character.

Will you do that and take good care of your indoor plants by. Let's find out Origin night in the studios of L.A. the St. Louis Board of Education radio station. This is the Emmy B Radio Network.