CULTURAL INSTRUCTIONS 



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Newly ripe seeds in pots plunged In water, under glass. 

 Off- sets at any time. 

 Division after flower. 

 Runners, or stolin. 



p" Cuttings of rhizome (12 inches long), kept under water when out of doors. 



GKeep seeds wet froi 

 inches deep in watei 



]-] Sow in moist loam. 



GKeep seeds wet from ripening till sown. Place hi sandy loam in pots. Immerse 2 

 inches deep in water never less than 85 degrees, in well-lighted tank, near the glass. 



TABLE n ORCHIDS 



* Offsets usually employed. Difficult to handle. 



**Some species form plantlets on old flower stems when pegged down on moss; others 

 form plantlets on the roots. 



Seeds. Hand pollination of cultivated orchids is necessary to secure seeds. Choose 

 nearly related genera or species where hybrids are desired, because distantly related ones 

 may not "take to each other," or the offspring may resemble the seed-bearing parent. 

 Select for the seed-bearing parent a plant of vigorous health, free growth and flowering 

 habit, because the offspring usually "take after the mother" in form, but after the 

 "father" in flower color. To pollinate, place one or more ripe pollen masses on the right 

 stigma of the female flower. Seeds require sometimes three to six months, but oftener a 

 year, to ripen. Sow seed as soon as ripe by dusting on surface of pots or baskets in 

 which healthy plants of the same genus are grown. Keep moist with very fine rose till 

 seedlings are started. Spring-sown seed usually sprouts quickest. Some species require a 

 year or more to germinate. When seedlings have two or three leaves, plant in flats, or 

 singly in small pots, in compost suited to the parent, but finer. Should compost become 

 sour, transfer seedlings to other soil. 



A Division. Choose none but sturdy plants. Carefully remove soil. Cut plant with 

 keen knife so each piece will have at least one "lead." In some cases the pro- 

 cumbent rhizomes produce only one growth from the pseudo bulb. With these cut part 

 way through the rhizomes two or three pseudo bulbs behind the leaf, in late winter or 

 early spring. Count on one new bud from the base of the bulb next the division. Do 

 not separate till the lead is well established; then sever and pot. 



B Cuttings. Choose long-jointed species. In midwinter, just before plants start growth, 

 cut old pseudo bulbs according to joints. Lay pieces on moist moss in warm propa- 

 gating frame. When young offshoots have started well, pot whole piece and plantlet. 

 Where the rhizomes form roots before cutting, leave such roots on the lower parts of the 

 stems (at least a foot long), discarding the upper part. These stems produce new 

 growths, which may bo rooted later. 



