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The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



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April 14, 1010. 



A 



SEASONABLE ORCHID NOTES. 



Dendrobium Nobile. 



Dendrobium nobile and its many 

 forms, together with many hybrids, are 

 now done blooming. As the young 

 pseudo-bulbs are already making con- 

 siderable headway, any rebasketing or 

 potting should be ddne without delay. 

 Many growers err in growing dendrobes 

 in too large pots and baskets. They 

 will make excellent growth in such, but 

 a large body of compost holds moisture 

 too long and thus it frequently happens, 

 when the resting period comes in fall, 

 that there is just sufficient moisture held 

 in the compost to start many of the nodes 

 into growths, instead of flowers. We 

 advise, therefore, the use of small bas- 

 kets and pots, which may require more 

 frequent waterings when the plants are 

 growing, but which dry out quickly and 

 harden up the bulbs better than larger 



ones. 



For compost we find equal parts of 

 sphagnum moss and fern fiber good. 

 Many plants will probably not require 

 that anything be done to them; others 

 will be benefited by a little surface dress- 

 ing. A small house, which can be kept 

 warm and moist, suits these dendrobes 

 and they should be syringed overhead 

 every afternoon. Those haAging near the 

 roof should be of the largest size, allow- 

 ing the small plants to stand on the 

 benches. If a special orchid house is not 

 at command, the warm end of a rose 

 house, where a little shade can be given, 

 or well up to the light in a palm house, 

 will answer well for the growing season. 



Cattkya Mossiae. 



Cattleya Ikiossise is now in season. 

 While the plants are in flower, keep them 

 somewhat drier at the root. Also use 

 some shading on the roof. The sun is 

 now getting powerful and the flowers 

 burn quite easily. It is surprising what 

 a fine variety of types are had from even 

 a single case of newly imported plants. 

 The price is low and the possibility of a 

 white form, like Wagneri, or a Reinecki- 

 ana, with its white sepals and petals and 

 rich labellum, adds a piquant interest to 

 the blooming of all new stock. This 

 cattleya is so easily grown that any flo- 

 rist who can handle orchids at all can 

 grow and flower it creditably. As a 

 general rule, the first crop of flowers will 

 repay the initial outlay. 



G>elosr/ne Cristata. 



CoBlogyne cristata, a popular winter 

 flowering orchid, will in some instances 

 require rebasketing or new pans. It is 

 unwise to pull the plants apart until the 

 bulbs have crowded and built themselves 

 up so as to injure the flowering qualities, 

 as they bloom poorly the first season and 

 only moderately well the second season 

 after being pulled in pieces. Use abun- 



dant drainage in every case. Fern fiber, 

 not chopped fine but left in good sized 

 lumps, with a few lumps of charcoal and 

 a little mos3, makes an ideal compost. 



Ccelogynes are often found growing in 

 a cattleya house. This is altogether too 

 warm. They do better in a winter mini- 

 mum of 50 degrees, and in summer a 

 north house or coldframe suits them. 

 They enjoy frequent overhead sprayings 

 in the growing season, and an abundant 

 water supply. Those newly divided 

 should, however, have less moisture at the 

 root than the ^established plants. The 

 latter, after May, will enjoy a watering 

 with weak liquid manure once in ten 

 days. Large specimens, well matted with 

 roots, will be benefited by stronger doses. 



There are several forms of C. cristata. 

 The one most commonly seen, with round 

 bulbs, is hardly worth growing. The 

 flijwers are narrow and there are usually 

 only three or four on a raceme. In the 



^ 



Chatsworth variety the flowers are 

 large and broad and four to six flowers 

 are carried on a raceme, and not infre- 

 quently seven to nine on vigorous plants. 

 C. cristata Lemoniana, with its lemon 

 yellow center, is a pretty variety, while 

 hololeuca or alba, with pure white flow- 

 ers, prolongs the season by blooming later 

 than the other forms named, although it 

 is of a somewhat more sprawly habit. 



Vanda Caerulea. 



Vanda caerulea, the most useful fall 

 blooming orchid and the only really good 

 blue orchid in cultivation, should not be 

 too heavily shaded. Never mind if the 

 plants do not take on the dark green 

 color of those under heavy shade. The 

 paler foliaged ones will flower better. 

 The cool end of the cattleya house, close 

 to the glass, is now a good position for 

 these vandas, and while they flower nicely 

 in baskets, we like to see the roots push 

 down into pots, as they are then easier to 

 control. No orchids with roots hanging 

 over the sides *f the pots, pans and bas- 

 kets will flower as satisfactorily as those 

 with their roots in the compost. The 

 plants with exposed roots will produce 

 poorer spikes and the bulbs or growths 

 will show a more enfeebled growth; yet 

 many people say they like to see a lot of 

 roots hanging out in search of moisture. 

 It is surely time for this old fable to be 

 explode'd. These aerial roots on cattleyas, 

 Iselias, dendrobes and other varieties are 

 encouraged by a too close, stuffy atmos- 

 phere. Air freely on every possible oc- 

 casion; even at night, when warm, con- 

 tinue to leave a chink on. 



I^^^M 



DISEASED GERANIUMS. 



I am sending you samples of gera- 

 niums which are affected with some dis- 

 ease. It made its appearance last spring 

 on a bench of S. A. Nutt. I sprayed 

 them with Bordeaux mixture, or rather 

 dipped them, but of no avail, as it com- 

 pletely used them up and afterward 

 spread to the Buchner, Ricard and Poite- 

 vine. The trouble commences in March 

 or April and gets worse as the season 

 advances. It starts in different places 

 and seems to spread. When a number 

 are affected they give oflf an offensive 

 odor, like potato blight. The roots seem 

 to be affected also and become tender 

 and brown. This disease always starts 

 on'S. A. Nutt first. You will note that 

 the samples are in different stages of 

 development. Can you advise any 

 remedy! F. W. M. 



The disease is not at all an uncommon 

 one. Wei imagine that almost every 

 grower has had it on some occasion in a 

 more or less virulent form. The cause 

 is hard to determine without knowing 

 something of your temperatures and gen- 

 eral culture. Not infrequently a some- 

 what sindlar blight attacks geraniums 

 outdoors, especially during spells of 

 moist, hot and sunless weather. Such 

 conditions render the growths soft and 



an easier prey to disease. During dry, 

 sunny weather the same trouble rarely 

 occurs. Under glass we have found that 

 a too moist atmosphere and too much 

 moisture at the roots and on the foliage, 

 added to insufficient ventilation, will 

 create conditions which will cause dis- 

 ease to appear and spread. 



It is possible that this ma^ not be the 

 cause of your plants becoming affected, 

 but our experience has been that with 

 full sunlight, abundant ventilation, a 

 night temperature of 45 to 50 degrees, 

 frequent spacing of plants to prevent 

 crowding, removal of dead and decaying 

 foliage and allowing plants to dry out 

 well between waterings, the growth be- 

 comes so hard and the leaves so tough 

 that they are practically disease resist- 

 ing. Avoid spraying the plants over- 

 head. There is a great temptation to do 

 it on all warm days. It only tends to 

 soften the foliage if persisted in. 

 Geraniums potted in soil containing a 

 large proportion of decayed cow or horse 

 manure are more susceptible to disease 

 than those potted in loam and fine bone. 

 The latter promotes a firm floriferous 

 growth. The former tends to make soft 

 plants. It would be a good idea for some 

 of our state experimental stations to 

 study this subject, which is an important 

 one for many hundreds of growers. 



C. W. 



