ORCHID CONFERENCE. 



435 



epiphytes, for in their natural state they can never experience the effect 

 of any other kind. 



The question of whether any form of manure can, with advantage, 

 be used for epiphytic Orchids is one of long standing. Let me say at 

 once that, personally, I am opposed to its use, and it has never been 

 mv custom to utilize it, considering it, as I do, a risky proceeding when 

 dealing with rare and valuable plants. On the rare occasions, when I 

 have experimented with stimulants, the effect on the plants has always 

 been disastrous. So far as feeding is in any w^ay concerned, I feel 

 convinced that these Orchids, being plants of comparatively slow, as 

 well as small, growth, can only take, naturally, a limited amount of 

 sustenance, and any attempt at increasing this by aid of manures is 

 all but certain to prove harmful in the end. 



Another matter in connexion with the cultivation of these Orchids, 

 and one in which some growers are liable to make mistakes, is the 

 treatment during the resting period. This term rest is, I fear, often 

 misunderstood. It does not imply a periodical shrivelling of the plant 

 by withholding water and lowering the temperature, but more of what 

 I may term a compromise between temperature and atmospheric con- 

 dition. 



The resting period of these Orchids takes place more or less during 

 the winter, a time oi year when the temperature is lower and evapora- 

 tion is not so rapid, and it is then that the plants require less atmo- 

 spheric moisture and water at the roots. It is principally on this point 

 that a considerable amount of knowledge and experience is required 

 so as to adapt the varying conditions to meet the needs of the different 

 plants. For example, the distichous-leaved section require more 

 frequent watering during their inactive period than any pseudobulbous 

 kinds. Vandas, Phalaenopses, and similar kinds, require just suf- 

 ficent moisture in the rooting material to keep the foliage plump and 

 firm. 



Plants of this section , which are overdried during winter, will often 

 lose many of their leaves when the sap begins to circulate freely in the 

 spring. On the other hand, too much moisture when the roots are 

 inactive leads to damping, spot, and other attendant evils. The im- 

 pression existing in the minds of some growers that a severe drying 

 of Cattleyas,^ Laelias, Dendrobiums, and other pseudobulbous kinds 

 is necessary to induce them to flower is a great mistake. 



Those Orchids that require keeping dry at the root during their 

 season of rest, benefit to an extent dependent on the conditions under 

 which they have been grown. If the leaves and pseudobulbs are solid 

 and stout in texture, especially those which are evergreen, the plants 

 are better able to bear a lengthened period of drought without shrivel- 

 ling to the extent which proves injurious to the foUage. 



These, then, are my reasons for coming to the conclusion that with 

 epiphytic Orchids attention to heat, air, light, and moisture is the 

 essential of satisfactory cultivation. I have endeavoured to express 

 some of my convictions as to how these conditions can best be made 



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