ORCHIDS 



ORCHIDS 



2395 



pended 

 the roof. 



from 



post and the method of potting and basketing for the 

 best results in after-cultivation. 



Peat fiber, sphagnum moss and leaf-mold constitute 

 the principal materials of good compost, usually lasting 

 one or two years without renewal, which is important, 

 as the roots suffer more or less in being 

 disturbed. By peat fiber is meant the 

 fibrous roots of various wild ferns, with 

 the fine soil removed by first chopping 

 it into small pieces, then rubbing it 

 across a coarse sieve. The several species 

 of osmunda furnish us with the best 

 orchid peat. (See Osmundine, page 2414.) 

 The sphagnum moss used for orchids 

 should consist of Sphagnum squarrosum, 

 S. macrophyllum and the coarse-leaved 

 .. species only; S. acutifolium and other 

 orchids that do weak-growing species should never be 

 well when sus- use d, as they soon decay and are detri- 

 mental to the roots. 



Leaf-mold is made from decomposed 

 leaves. The leaves of almost any tree 

 will do, but those of hardwood trees are most desir- 

 able, especially oak. When collected in the fall the 

 leaves should be heaped up to decay for a year or more, 

 and turned over at least twice within that time. 



Charcoal is the best material to use for drainage and 

 for mixing or interspersing with the compost. It is 

 best made from hardwood and should not be over- 

 burned. Broken potsherds are often used, but they are 

 not so good; being porous, they either absorb too much 

 water at times or become over-dry too often and are 

 liable to prove injurious. Charcoal is lighter in weight, 

 and contains more useful properties. 



Where closed pots are used, nearly one-half of the 

 space should be devoted to drainage and the remainder 

 to compost, consisting of about equal parts of peat 

 fiber, chopped sphagnum and leaf-mold for most 

 genera, adding a few pieces of charcoal in potting, and 

 a piece beneath the rhizome of the tender ones. Care 

 must be exercised in potting to distribute the roots 

 properly and make the compost moderately firm about 

 them, leaving the finished surface convex, to throw off 

 surplus water and protect the rhizome from an over- 

 abundance of wet. Top-dressing with live sphagnum 

 is beneficial to many orchids, such as Odontoglossum 

 crispum and allies, and gives the surface a neat appear- 

 ance. Fig. 2668 illustrates a finished pot, the dotted line 

 in Fig. 2666 indicating the amount of drainage required. 

 When perforated or open-work pots or baskets are 

 employed, no direct drainage is necessary. Rough, 

 broken pieces of charcoal should be freely used in the 

 compost while potting, as it helps to keep the mass 

 firm and the roots of nearly all species attach to it 

 freely; also it lessens the quantity of compost and so 

 modifies its texture as to allow it to dry 

 out more readily than when packed in a 

 solid body. 



Cattleyas of the C. intermedia type, 

 coryanthes, cypripediums of the C. Lowei 

 and C. Stonei sections, some dendrp- 

 biums, Oncidium carthaginense, O. cris- 

 pum, 0. macranthum, O. Papilio and 

 their allies should have the leaf-mold 

 omitted, while aerides, phalsenopsis, sac- 

 colabiums, vandas and kindred genera 

 require only chopped live sphagnum and 

 charcoal as a compost. 



2665 Perfo- 

 rated orchid 

 pot, adapted 

 to epiphytes 

 which need 

 plenty of air at 

 the roots and 

 are in danger 



? ov< 



Watering, humidity. 



It is impossible to lay down any hard 

 and fast rules for watering orchids. 

 Watering is a very important operation and requires 

 more or less practical experience, connected with a 

 knowledge of the general conditions surrounding the 

 plants in their native homes. As a rule, most orchids 



2666. Stand- 

 ard earthen pot 

 for terrestrial 

 orchids, with 

 drainage holes 

 at the side in- 

 stead of at the 

 bottom. 



need a liberal supply while growing, but the condition 

 of the plant and compost and the manner in which it 

 is potted or basketed have much to do with this. 



The evergreen terrestrial species, which grow chiefly 

 in loam fiber, as cymbidium, Cypripedium insigne, 

 phaius, sobralias, and others, require 

 water whenever the surface of the com- 

 post is becoming dry, with occasional 

 light overhead syringing in fine weather, 

 which will assist in keeping down red- 

 spider, thrips and other pests. An occa- 

 sional application of weak liquid cow- or 

 sheep-manure is of great benefit while 

 the plants are growing. 



The deciduous species have a decided 

 period of rest, at which time they are 

 practically inactive and need very little 

 water, enough only to keep the stems 

 and pseudobulbs in sound condition. 

 When growing, however, they require a 

 good supply and should have a thorough watering to 

 the bottom whenever the soil is becoming dry, but 

 should not be kept in a wet condition at all times, or 

 the soil soon becomes sour and infested with worms, 

 under which condition no orchid can do well. 



Epiphytal orchids, or a greater part of them, in then* 

 native habitats grow in locations where heavy rams are 

 frequent or of almost daily occurrence in their growing 

 season, and where condensing vapors settle on them 

 like dripping ram, while the early morning fogs rise 

 among the forests, charging the atmosphere almost to 

 saturation in the early part of the 

 day in the resting season. Such spe- 

 cies as are subjected to a severe dry 

 resting season are often deciduous 

 (see Dendrobium, and also, page 2393). 

 Many of the extremely alpine species, 

 such as the masdevallias and Odon- 

 toglossum crispum, are subjected to 

 two annual rainy seasons, and where 

 these seasons are much prolonged it 

 has been observed that the last-men- 

 tioned species in its native habitat mature as many 

 as three pseudobulbs in the year. Thus the pseudo- 

 bulb is no indication of annual growth, but a reservoir 

 of supply in case the plant is overtaken by severe or 

 sudden droughts, each pseudobulb being supplied with a 

 mature secondary bud for further reproduction should 

 the proper lead be destroyed. 



Such genera as aerides, cypripediums, masdevallia, 

 vanda, and the like, which have no pseudobulbs, rely 

 more or less directly on a daily supply at all seasons. 

 These, with many of the extreme alpine species, should 

 have a liberal supply of water at all tunes. 



Many of the pseudobulbous kinds, including cattleyaa 

 and laehas, are also constantly in action 

 perfecting new roots or maturing their 

 flower-buds, after the pseudobulbs are 

 completed and they are apparently at 

 rest. For this reason careful observation 

 of each species is necessary to make their 

 cultivation successful. 



Under basket culture, there is least 

 liability of injury through overwatering, 

 and excepting kinds like the oncidiums 

 and dendrobiums (which need a dry and 

 cool resting period to induce them to 

 flower), and deciduous species at rest, 

 nearly all should receive a good supply 

 of water, weather permitting, whenever the compost 

 is becoming dry, with frequent syringing overhead in 

 fine weather, when the temperature is normal and ven- 

 tilation can be given. A stimulant of weak sheep- or 

 cow-manure applied occasionally to plants in action 

 will benefit them. 



On cold, cheerless days, when the temperature is below 



2667. Standard 

 earthen pan for 

 terrestrial orchids, 

 showing side drain- 

 age holes. 



2668. Method 

 of potting an 

 epiphytal or- 

 chid, showing 

 the raised and 

 round top of 

 sphagnum. 



