THE GARDENING WORLD 
479 
March 28, 1896 
THE ORCHID HOUSES. 
East India House. —The weather is so mild that 
plenty of air has been, and still may be, admitted 
through the bottom ventilators during the hottest 
part of the day, closing them when damping down 
about two o’clock. The blinds should then be drawn 
up, being careful, however, that the Phalaenopses do 
not get too much direct sunshine. This may be 
avoided by providing some light shading, such as 
tiffany, which may be temporarily fixed up inside. 
Cattleya Trianaei. —As the plants go out of 
flower they should be re-potted, using good tough 
fibrous peat. If the peat is good there will be no 
necessity for using moss as well,but sometimes you may 
happen to light on a bad sack or two, in which case, 
perhaps, a little moss with it may be beneficial. We 
generally select the best turves for the Cattleyas, 
putting the inferior aside for use when potting 
Odontoglossoms, which are not quite so particular. 
The drainage of the pots must, of course, be ample, 
as when the plants are growing freely they take a 
good quantity of moisture at the roots, and unless it 
freely passes away the plants will not do well. With 
this end in view when pottiDg, it is well to work in 
pieces of crocks amongst the compost to keep it 
porous. 
Cattleya aurea and C. gigas, which are 
breaking away strongly, should be so placed that they 
get as much light as possible. Very little water 
will be needed until the growths have made good 
headway, other than just enough to keep them from 
shrivelling, as they are liable to get the black spot if 
over-watered thus early in the year. 
Cymbidium giganteum and C. lowianum, 
being free-rootiDg plants, will, if doing well, require 
more pot room as they go out of flower. The 
compost we use consists of peat, loam, chopped 
sphagnum moss and silver sand. Some growers use 
manure with the compost, but I prefer to give 
stimulants in a liquid state when the pots have 
become filled with roots. The plants are lovers of 
moisture when growing, but after the growths are 
made up a judicious rest causes them to throw up 
strong spikes, which come in at a good time, ard as 
they last a long time in a cut state, are much 
appreciated for decorating. 
Cool House.— The syringe may be freely used in 
this division. About mid-day our Odontoglossums 
that are not in bloom get a good spraying overhead. 
They are nearly dry again by the time the house is 
shut up. All that is then required is to syringe 
between the pots. 
Temperatures. —East India house, 65° as a 
minimum, with a rise of io° to 15 0 with sun heat; 
Cattleya house, 6o°at night with a rise of io° to 15 0 
with sun ; cool house, 50° at night with a rise of io° 
by day.—C. 
-- 
THE PUNT HOUSES. 
The Stove. 
With the advent of more spring-like weather things 
here should be moving apace. After its long winter 
rest, the syringe may once again be brought into play, 
morning and afternoon, Water used for syringing 
purposes must in all cases be perfectly clean, 
otherwise the pores of the leaves will become 
partially blocked up by the continual deposits of 
foreign substances ; and the use of the syringe, 
instead of doing a great deal of good will positively 
work harm. The night temperature should not now 
be suffered to fall below 65° Fahr. This may be kept 
up without the employment of very much fire-heat. 
The sun’s rays are getting bright now, but if the 
house is fairly large and airy but little fear of scorch¬ 
ing need be entertained until near the end of the 
month. The great thing on very bright days is to keep 
plenty of moisture in the atmosphere, and in order 
to do this the plant stages should be damped about 
the middle of the day in addition to the regular 
syriDg'ngs. 
Dicksonias. —The stems of these will need to be 
damped once or twice a day, for when in anything 
like robust health a large quantity of stem roots are 
admitted, and these must be kept supplied with 
moisture. As the young fronds push up they must 
be watched very carefully to keep them from touch¬ 
ing the glass, where they would soon become 
disfigured and spoiled. The best plan is to affix to 
the upper part of the rachis of the frond one or two 
light weights, the gentle pressure downwards given 
by these being quite sufficient. Older fronds may 
need support of some kind in order to keep them 
from off other plants beneath them. 
Caladiums. —The early plants will require to be 
carefully staked out, otherwise the petioles of the 
leaves will be in danger of being bent or broken, 
especially where the plants find a place in a mixed 
collection of stove subjects, amongst which the 
syringe is plied indiscriminately. In all cases they 
should be given a position in such a stove where they 
get all the light possible ; for although they need to 
be shaded from the brightest rays of the sun yet they 
require plenty of light to properly develop the rich 
and varied colourings of their leaves. 
Later batches will need to be potted up. If the 
tubers have been started in small pots, shifting will 
be easily enough performed, but where they have 
been started by placing a number together in boxes, 
more care will be needed in order to avoid injury to 
the roots. Use a compost of good turfy loam, leaf 
mould and fibrous peat in equal parts, adding thereto 
plenty of sharp sand and a few pieces of charcoal. 
Plenty of drainage is an absolutely necessity, for 
Potato showing tuberation at the 
Caladiums want such large quantities of water 
during the growing season that inefficient drainage 
soon works incalculable harm. 
Dracaenas that have been ringed some weeks ago 
in the manner suggested should now have made 
sufficient roots to warrant potting up. Carefully cut 
them off with a sharp knife, and insert in rather 
small pots. If plunged in bottom heat, and kept 
close for two or three weeks, these will make grand 
plants for table decoration, as the tops will be of 
large size in proportion to the pots in which they are 
growing. 
Elaeodendron, or, as it is commonly called, 
Aralia Chabrierii, when in a young state, is one of 
the handsomest decorative plants we have. It may 
be easily propagated by cuttings, inserted in sandy 
soil and placed in a brisk bottom heat. In taking off 
the cuttings, it is not advisable to leave a heel 
attached to them, as they strike much better without 
one. Cuttings struck now will make nice young 
plants by the end of the summer, when they will 
come in very handy for table decoration. 
Stephanotis floribunda. —Plants which are 
trained to wires or trellises attached to the roof will 
require to be gone over at intervals, and the growths 
tied neatly in, for if neglected it becomes a matter of 
some difficulty to deal with them, as the growing 
shoots soon intertwine with each other and form a 
more or less tangled mass that is well-nigh impos¬ 
sible to do anything with, without injuring a great 
number. 
Gardenias.— Rooted cuttings of these will now 
stand in need of potting. Use a compost of equal 
parts of good loam and peat, with the addition of 
plenty of sand, and a few pieces of charcoal. Firm 
potting is advisable, as the smaller the pots in which 
the plants can be kept the handier they will be. 
After potting off it will be advisable to return the 
plants to the frame and keep them close for a few 
days so as to give them a start. Afterwards they may 
be removed to a corner in the large stove. 
Gardenias fairly revel in an abundance of heat and 
plenty of moisture both at the root and in the 
atmosphere during the summer months. The syringe, 
therefore, should be kept at work among them with 
no illiberal hand, in which case neither green fly nor 
red spider need be feared. 
Old plants do not find a great deal of favour 
with many good growers, as they do not grow so 
vigorously as the younger ones, are usually very dirty, 
and do not produce any more flowers in proportion 
to their size than the younger ones. In many stoves, 
however, there are to be seen a few plants growing 
in specially-prepared borders. Every attention must 
be paid these to keep them clean, for if a careful 
axils of the leaves (See p. 481). 
watch is not kept they will afford refuge for all kinds 
of insect pests, which will spread from them to other 
plants in the vicinity. 
Bougainvillea glabra. — As soon as the growths 
have attained a length of from 7 in. to 9 in., they 
must be tied down to the wires. In this matter they 
require treating very similarly to the shoots of a vine 
—viz , bringing down by degrees. The weaker 
shoots must be removed, for it is not wise to allow 
too many growths to remain, and the spurs on healthy 
plants usually produce far more breaks than are 
really required. While the plants have been kept 
rather dry at the root during the winter months, 
they must receive abundance of water now. If not 
already done, a top-dressing of rich soil may be given 
the border, or if so desired, a sprinkling of Clay’s 
Fertiliser or Thomson's Vine and Plant Manure 
may be given, forking this slightly in and following 
up with a good watering.— A. S. G. 
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