36 



HORT1 CULTURE. 



July 11, 1908 



THE MOST USEFUL OF THE CAT- 

 TLEYAS. 



A paper read before the Buffalo Florists' 



Club '■■:• '■ -■ E. UcClure, Jr. The 



first installment of tins paper was 

 published In our Issue <>i May 30. 



Potting. 

 As a rule cattleyas should be re- 

 potted every two years, and topdressed 

 every alternate year. The best ma- 

 terial for this purpose is orchid peat, 

 osniunda fibre (the roots of the royal 

 fern). It is well to insist on getting 

 young peat from your dealer. It 

 should be of a brownish color. When 

 the peat is old it is very wiry and black 

 and is not suitable. No other potting 

 material is needed for cattleyas. The 

 majority of orchid raisers use a mix- 

 ture of peat and sphagnum moss, but 

 the moss soon decays and causes the 

 roots to rot, especially when the water- 

 ing is done in a careless manner. 

 Sphagnum may be used with peat when 

 the latter is very old and wiry. 

 Before using the peat, it should 

 be chopped with an axe or hay 

 cutter. It should not be chopped very 

 fine and the fine particles should not 

 be thrown away, but should be mixed 

 with the rough, open parts of the peat. 



Although cattleyas are strictly 

 epiphytic in a state of nature, yet. 

 under cultivation, they grow better in 

 pots than on either blocks or in bas- 

 kets. Baskets are useful and are pre- 

 ferred by some, but the system of 

 mounting cattleyas on blocks or cork 

 bark is very injurious and will ulti- 

 mately kill the plants. Mount the 

 plants in half pots, or what are 

 known as azalea pots. Make 

 the hole in the bottom at least twice 

 as large as the potter has made it and 

 cover it with one large crock, no more. 

 The old system of using a high pot 

 and filling it up with small crocks, 

 merely furnishes a safe retreat for 

 cockroaches, snails and woodlice, the 

 principal enemies of cattleyas. Set the 

 stems of the plants well above the rim 

 of the pot, and ram the peat firmly 

 around the roots. Test the firmness of 

 the potting by holding the potted plant 

 up by the leaves. It should not dis- 

 turb the plant. 



The potting should take place just 

 before the new growth commences, 

 and while the roots are fairly dry. 

 After the plants have been potted, 

 water should be withheld for several 

 days in order to allow the injured 

 roots to heal. Water sparingly at first 



In topdressing the plants, remove as 

 much of the old peat as possible with- 

 out injuring the roots, and work a 

 good coating of finely chopped peat 

 over the surface. 



Fertilizers. 



Manurlal fertilizers for cattleyas 

 should be studiously avoided, especi- 



ally when sphagum moss has been used 

 with the potting material, as it causes 

 too rapid decomposition with the con- 

 sequent decay of roots. However, with 

 the system here advocated it is well to 

 use what is known as the "Cookson 

 formula," which is as follows: Three 

 oz. Potassium nitrate; 2 oz. Ammonia 

 phosphate, dissolved in three gallons 

 of water. Vse one liquid oz. of this 

 solution in every gallon of water ap- 

 plied. If this fertilizer is used once 

 each week during the growing season, 

 the plants will be much benefitted. 

 Enemies. 

 The chief enemies of cattleyas are 

 insects. The cattleya fly is unquestion- 

 ably the most injurious of these ene- 

 mies. It is a small insect and deposits 

 its eggs in the young growths of the 

 cattleya plant. As the growths develop 

 the eggs hatch out and the larvas feed 

 on the developing growth, which is 

 soon arrested and stunted. The fly 

 then emerges and proceeds to deposit 

 eggs in other growths. An abnormal 

 swelling of the young growth is the 

 first indication of the larval presence, 

 and the affected growths must be sacri- 

 ficed. Latent eyes or buds will start, 

 but will not be as strong as the first 

 growths. The judicious use of hydro- 

 cyanic acid gas should control this 

 pest. Next to the cattleya fly, the eoc.<- 

 enemy. They may be destroyed 

 by a mixture of corn meal and 

 Paris green placed on the benches, 

 or between the pots. They may also 

 be trapped in wide-mouthed bottles 

 containing a little sweet oil. 



Thrips are also very injurious to 

 the young growths of cattleyas. Their 

 presence is made known by the brown- 

 ish appearance of the young growths. 

 The trained eye may detect their pres- 

 ence before much damage has been 

 done. The discoloration is the after 

 effect of the injury done. To eradicate 

 thrips, spray with Nicoticide or some 

 other tobacco extract. A good plan is 

 to spray the heating pipes with a very 

 strong solution of the same. 



Red spider is sometimes bothersome, 

 but it can be kept in check by proper 

 syringing. Snails and woodlice are 

 also injurious but can be trapped with 

 hollowed potatoes set between the pots, 

 or with lettuce or cabbage leaves. 



If it is possible to do so, it is well 

 to empty the greenhouse each year for 

 a few days, for the purpose of paint- 

 ing, etc. At this time the house may 

 be fumigated with a double strength 

 •f hydrocyanic acid gas to kill all in- 

 sects. (For instructions in the use of 

 this gas, see Bulletin No. 27, Dept of 

 Entomology.) If the insects are very 

 troublesome, hydrocyanic acid gas may 

 be used in safe quantities while the 

 plants are in the house. 



Cattleyas are sometimes injured by 

 what is known as black spot. This ia 

 invariably caused by too much shade, 

 over watering, or by syringing too 

 late in the afternoon. The foliage of 

 the plants should be dry before even- 

 ing. However syiinging should be 

 indulged in every bright day to pre- 

 vent insects from getting a foothold. 

 Give plenty of ventilation whenever 

 possible and there will be little dan- 

 ger from black spot. 



The Best Kinds for a Succession of 

 Bloom. 

 By a careful selection of species and 

 varieties, a constant succession of 

 bloom may be maintained. The excel- 

 lent lasting qualities of the cattleya 

 blooms enable one species to remain in 

 bloom until another begins. The first 

 cattleya of the year to bloom is C. 

 Trianae, and its varieties. It is a na- 

 tive of the U. S. of Columbia and is 

 pre-eminently the best in the genus. 

 It has many distinct varieties, which 

 range from pure white to rose purple. 

 C. Trianae begins to bloom in early 

 January and lasts until March. C. 

 Schroederae, which resembles C. Tria- 

 nae in size of bloom and habit of 

 growth, is sometimes referred to as 

 a variety of C. Trianae. It is lighter 

 in color than Trianae and blooms a 

 little later. It is also a native of the 

 U. S. of Columbia and is invaluable as 

 it is the only cattleya obtainable in 

 quantity to succeed C. Trianae in time 

 of flowering. It blooms from March 

 of flowering. 



The next cattleya of importance In 

 the order of their flowering is C. Mos- 

 siae, a Venezuelan species, which is in 

 its prime from April to May. It is a 

 very prolific bloomer and for this rea- 

 son does not last long in cultivation, 

 but with ordinary treatment, it will 

 last long enough to amply repay all 

 care and expenditure. 



C. maxima, a very distinct plant from 

 Ecuador, blooms at various times dur- 

 ing the winter months. Its lilac flow- 

 ers and lip lined with purple are very 

 freely produced. It is of easy culture 

 and should find a place in every col- 

 lection. 



C. Mendelli blooms from the end of 

 April to early June and is an excellent 

 orchid, though seldom offered in quan- 

 tity. 



C. Warneri, a fine species from South 

 Brazil, blooms during May and June. 

 This species has been called a geo- 

 graphical form of C. labiata, as it ia 

 almost identical in color and markings. 

 It differs only in times of flowering, as 

 C. labiata blooms in the fall. 



C. citrina. which also blooms during 

 May and June, is a most distinct cat- 

 tleya. The flowers are lemon 

 yellow and the crest of the lip is 

 white. It has a strong odor of 

 citron, hence the specific name. The 

 whole plant has a pendant habit and 

 can never be raised any other way. 

 Its foliage and pseudo-bulbs are glau- 

 cous. It is a native of the high alti- 

 tudes of Mexico, and it cannot be 

 raised with a high degree of success 

 unless it is given the shelter of a cool 

 house. The price of this interesting 

 orchid is very low and one. or two 

 plants can be raised in the coldest part 

 of the cattleya house during the win- 

 ter and hung under a tree in a moist 

 place during the summer. In this way 



