130 ORCHIDS FOR EVERYONE 



rubbing them between the hands and sifting out the finer portions. 

 1 have seen Odontoglossums growing luxuriantly in this sort of 

 leaf mould in Belgium, and potted just in the same manner we 

 should follow when potting bedding Pelargoniums. 



As the leaves hold water more than peat, and as they decay 

 quicker, there is the ever-present danger of over-watering, or the 

 retention of an excess of moisture about the roots of the plants. 

 Leaves used as a rooting medium encourage free root action, big 

 pseudo-bulbs, and large leaves and spikes. But there are not 

 wanting those who assert that the flowers so produced lack sub- 

 stance and are not long-lived, while the plants suffer far more than 

 peat-grown ones if taken into the dwelling-house for a time, or 

 if exhibited at a flower show. The slow evaporation and poor 

 light that obtain in and near large towns during the Winter do not 

 suit the comparatively sappy growth made by Odontoglossums 

 cultivated in leaves, but out in the country, where the better light 

 helps to consolidate these growths, the results are often very fine. 

 Beginners should stick to peat and sphagnum for the potting 

 mixture until they are no longer beginners, but have sufficient 

 experience to handle new materials discreetly. If they are 

 venturesome they may add a quite small proportion (one-fifth of 

 the whole bulk) of leaves to the peat and sphagnum. 



To show an amateur how to pot an imported Odontoglossuni 

 would be an easy task, but to describe the operation in words is 

 quite another matter. After mixing the broken peat with an equal 

 amount of clean, roughly-chopped sphagnum, allow the mixture 

 to remain in the house all one night, so that it is at the same 

 temperature as the atmosphere by the time potting is begun. 

 Commence by placing a good layer of the potting compost over 

 the drainage material, building it up in the centre of the pot, so 

 that the base of the plant will be raised by it a little above the 



