I>cccnilicr !•, l'.Hl 



HORTICULTURE 



T'.to 



Culture of Phaloenopsis 



While lookiii ' oJ I liii.'ih i i i'i 1:1 



• eently L not iced thai Phalasnopses were included in 

 the list of cut flowers on which prices are quoted. This 

 would indicate that the} have become an importani fac- 

 tor amongst choice cul flowers in the ma i the 

 larger cities at leasl and therefore a few general re- 

 marks on their cultivation might no! be out of place at 

 this time. 



Phalaenopsis is generally considered hard to grow, 

 and this is true to a certain extent, but if certain lit- 

 tle details are strict h attended I serious trouble 



should be experienced in their cultivation even by the 

 beginner. 1 have in my care oveT Eour hundred of 

 these lovely orchids which were purchased in November, 

 190-1, at the St. Louis Exposition, where they formed 

 part of the Philippine Exhibit. The plants were at 

 that time all growing on -ticks of wood just as they 

 were imported from the Philippine Islands. They ar- 

 rived here on a cold November morning and it was due 

 to mere luck and 

 quick action that 

 all of them were 

 not frozen; they 

 came in well 

 ventilated boxes 

 w i t h o u t any 

 packing around 

 them and the 

 t h e r m o in eter 

 stood at 26 de- 

 grees! Some Sve 

 or six plants 

 w ere frozen, 

 however. Ii u t 

 most of the rest 

 are alive today 

 and giving a 

 good crop of 

 flowers every 

 winter and some 

 flower all the 

 year around so 

 we are never en- 

 t i r e 1 y without 



bloom. At present there are over a thousand expanded 

 flowers of the white Phalamopsis Aphrodite (or A.! ama- 

 bilis, as it is generally but wrongly called) and they 

 make a glorious display. Ph. SchiSeriana with it- great 

 panicles of rose-colored flowers comes in bloom from 

 four to six weeks later. With it flowers Ph. Stuartiana, 

 another beautiful variety. 



To grow Pholsenopsis successfully a suitable house 

 must be provided in the first place. They require at all 

 times a fairly high temperature and therefore the house 

 should have ample heating facilities. One should in- 

 able to keep the temperature al 58 degrees to SO di 

 at night in severe cold weather, without unduly forcing 

 the boiler. In milder weather 65 degrees al night will 

 not be any too warm and the nearer one can keep the 

 bouse to that point the better. 



Newly imported plant- should be put in pots or bas- 

 kets as soon as possible, using live sphagnum moss or 

 osmunda fibre or both as a rooting medium. Anv roots 

 the plants may have should be carefully spread over 

 the surface of the potting material and the plant 

 securely tied to sticks or the wires of the pots or baskets 



Bench of Phalaenopsis 



until t he n. w roots, « hich will soon foi m, bavi 

 ;ood ompost. The receptacles are 



wiili ircoal nearly 1 mi. keeping it 



enter ; spread a thin Is i 



over the crocks and then pul the plant- in position and 



i -aim-. I in \ are then lniie_ up, keeping them a 



fool or SO from thl glass. The I -e should he 'lam 



pened down once or twice a day and tin- plant- syringed 

 every brighl day. The} musl be shaded Erom the duvet 



rays of the sun at all time-, using me LeE shade 



.nil rding to the time of year. Very little shade will be 

 required from the middle of October until the first or 

 middle of February : ground glass or any other kind of 

 shade of equal density will do during tin- time. After 

 that the amount of shading should be gradually in- 

 creased until about the first of June. During June, 

 duly and August the plants should be shaded quite heav- 

 ily. Si me movable -hade-, like canvas or laths, which 

 can 1 1 1 p. lied up or down at will, should be used in addi- 

 tion to a lighl 

 coat of white 

 lead and naph- 

 tha. This will 

 enable one to 



gradually get 

 the plants used 

 to the sun again 

 by letting 

 them down a 

 little later and 

 pulling them up 

 a little earlier 

 each day until 

 they can be dis- 



pensed with for 



the rest of the 

 season; on all 



clou d y days 

 they are left 

 rolled up. thus 

 assuring the 



maximum 

 amount of light 

 at all times. And 

 light, a- we all know, is the most important factor in 



producing good and plenty flowers. Where too much 

 -hade is used nice green leaves and few dowers will be 

 the result, ami. besides this, the plants will he more the 

 subject to disease. 



During the hot, damp days ,,f summer, wdien no lire 

 is needed to keep the house warm, great care must be 

 taken to avoid a stagnant atmosphere. A little air must 

 be left on day and night to prevent the atmosphere from 

 being overcharged with moisture, otherwise trouble will 

 soon follow. 



The plants will start to decay, beginning sometimes 

 in the heart of the plant but more often at some point 

 Of one or more of the leaves. As soon as this disease 

 make- it- appearance it is a sure sign that the house has 

 been kept too warm and damp and insufficiently venti- 

 lated. A sharp lookout must be kept for this di-ease 

 whenever frreheat is dispensed with. It will appear <>n 

 - in the shape of little transparent blotcl i - but 

 if cut away ai once, taking part of the sound healthy 

 leaf with it. the plant can usually be s Shi uld the 



rot begin in it i its fur- 



