ORCHID CULTURE. 125 



pot is inverted in the bottom of the large one, before the 

 potsherds are put in, the drainage will be improved and 

 will be less likely to become sour. 



For Vandas, Phalaenopsis and other true epiphytes, 

 peat is not necessary. It will generally be advisable to 

 raise the plant two or three inches above the top of the 

 pot (Fig. 47, A, B and D), but in covering the roots, 

 care should be taken not to raise the sphagnum much 

 above the base of the pseudo-bulbs, as it might both 

 cause decay and prevent development of the flower 

 scapes. When orchids have been freshly potted, great 

 care is necessary in watering until roots have been devel- 

 oped. When orchids need repotting, as much of the 

 old material as possible should be shaken off, without 

 breaking the roots, and the plants then placed in pots as 

 before. 



If plants are to be grown in baskets, the size selected 

 should be as small as can well be used, and the basket- 

 ing should be done in the same way as the potting, 

 using coarse potsherds and sphagnum at the bottom, 

 and filling up with fine potsherds and chopped sphagnum. 

 The plants should be placed upon this and the roots 

 covered with sphagnum. For Cattleyas, Laelias, Den- 

 drobiums and Odontoglossums, coarse chopped peat 

 should be added to the compost, while for Aerides, 

 Phalaenopsis and Vandas it is not used. 



Many of the true epiphytal orchids, such as Vandas, 

 Aerides and Phalaenopsis, as well as Cattleyas, Laelias, 

 Dendrobiums, Odontoglossums and Epidendrums, may 

 also be grown upon blocks of wood, rafts, cylinders and 

 pieces of cork and bark, upon which they are bound 

 with copper wire, the roots being covered with sphag- 

 num, with which peat is mixed for the last five named. 



While there is much less danger from over-water- 

 ing when these plants are upon blocks than when in 

 baskets, it is also true that watering becomes necessary 



