﻿THE ORCHID REVIEW. 



[April, t 9 o 4 . 



Some of my Cattleya Trianae have gone six weeks without any. I have 

 almost come to the conclusion that the soil does not require any watering 

 at all, or only at very infrequent intervals ; if the moss is kept damp, 

 enough moisture reaches the leaf-mould. One may really say that the 

 object to be aimed at is not to keep the material moist, but rather to keep 

 it from becoming dry. 



Occasionally we come across a plant that has slightly shrivelled ; and 

 this is more often due to the presence of worms in the soil than to any 

 other cause ; their action destroys the properties of the leaves, reducing 

 them to a sticky mass, and the roots decay rapidly. The best remedy is to 

 repot the plant, and with leaf-mould this is a much easier operation than 

 with peat. 



Cattleyas, Laslias, Oncidiums, Dendrobiums, and in fact nearly every 

 kind grown in the Intermediate and the East Indian House, with the 

 exception of Cypripediums, have immensely benefited by the change from 

 peat to leaf-mould. 



We have always done Cattleya Percivaliana well. It is sometimes 

 considered a difficult subject ; but unless I had experienced it, I would 

 never have believed it possible to effect such a change. When established 

 in leaf mould, growths seem to start from every dormant eye ; in a good, 

 many cases, the foremost bulbs make a new bulb on each side, and one 

 two, or even three growths start from back bulbs, according to the size of 

 the plants. The flowering growths generally produce two and very often 

 three flowers apiece. 



I can hardly recall any kinds that do not benefit by the change in the 

 two houses referred to. Plants with creeping rhizomes such as 

 Zygopetalum Gautieri, do well on a Tree-fern stem, and these of course are 

 not suitable for pot culture. Oncidium crispum, even weak pieces, does 

 well and puts on large bulbs. Small spindly plants of Laslia tenebrosa 

 make great improvement, and some small weakly plants of Dendrobium 

 Phalsenopsis have put on new bulbs twice and three times the size of the 

 old ones. But at the same time I would like to caution growers against 

 attempting to establish in leaf-mould a sickly plant with few or no good 

 roots. I much prefer to strengthen its constitution by a season in peat 

 and moss, and when furnished with a good stock of roots, transfer them to 

 the new material. For Cypripediums in my experience it is not suitable ; 

 mine have never done well with it, and they are now all back in peat and 

 some in yellow loam. 



Some growers say that flowers from plants grown in leaf-mould are not 

 strong, and that they do not last so long when cut as those from plants 

 potted in peat and moss. My experience is that there is no perceptible 

 difference, except that from the stronger bulb one gets more flowers. 



