38 
fae Wad 
US 
REPOTTING AND MULTIPLICATION OF ANGRAECUMS, 
AERIDES AND VANDAS. 
Plants of this class should generally be cultivated in pots or baskets, and 
the difference of these two methods should be well distinguished with respect to 
the frequency of repotting required. : 
Aerides and Saccolabium generally succeed well in baskets, especially the 
smaller species, such as S. Hendersom, S. miniatum, S. curvifolium, Aerides 
japonicum, A. multiflorum, etc. The larger plants, however, should not be 
suspended from the roof, nor can the whole of the smaller ones be always 
suspended, because of the want of space in the upper part of the house. But 
whenever the plants require to be placed on the stages certain amateurs prefer 
pots to baskets, which are not generally so stable or so convenient. 
With regard to plants of large size (and this is applicable to Vandas generally), 
it is advantageous to place them in baskets, because the compost will be better 
preserved, more aired, and the repotting more easy to effect. 
The repotting of a plant six feet high, to which size Vandas frequently attain, 
would be a rather delicate operation if the plant were cultivated in a pot, and 
one demanding much care, and would require at least two men to support the 
plant, remove it from the receptacle and place it in a new one. 
In a basket, on the other hand, the manipulation is easy. Without even 
removing the plant we cut the wires of the basket, add one or more rows of staves 
above, which are then refastened with galvanised iron wire, and the additional 
space filled with sphagnum moss. This operation suffices to hide the naked base 
of the stem, which is generally the object of repotting. 
If the object is to renew the compost at the base, and the ‘drainage, we un- 
roll or cut the wire at the base, and detach one or two rows of staves, and pick 
out the drainage and the lower part of the compost, add fresh sphagnum and 
new drainage, and refasten the basket, after removing one or two rows of staves, 
so as to diminish the depth. 
The inconvenience caused by the baskets having less stability is of little 
importance as these grand plants need never be removed, when once they 
have been placed in position on the tables; and cultivators can therefore 
arrange the baskets with greater care and thus give them the necessary 
aa sta- 
bility. 
With respect to Angraecums, which come from different regions, and require 
a rather more substantial compost, mixed with fibrous peat, we prefer to cultivate 
(To be continued on p. 40.) 
Ip. 
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