FENNELL’S ORCHID NEWS 
WHICH ARE BEST? 
Pots, Baskets, or Tree Fern Slabs— 
Osmunda and Other Media 
NCE YOU start inquiring as to the 
“best” container in which to grow 
orchids you receive a host of conflicting 
answers. One successful grower will 
tell you that baskets are the only thing; 
the next equally successful grower will 
insist that the conventional type flower 
pot is best. In the tropics many growers 
will swear by tree fern fiber, though 
actually all of these things and many 
others can be and are used successfully. 
We find that the split special orchid 
pots are best. We like the three-quar- 
ter height (azalea pot) in sizes up t9 
seven inches, then the half height (pan) 
for larger sizes, for the following rea- 
sons: 
1. The slits in the sides give much 
better drainage and aeration than is 
possible with a conventional pot. Under 
our conditions we find that we always 
get excellent root growth in slit pots, 
while we lose the roots in 20% to 30% 
of the plants growing in conventional 
pots before the plant out-grows the pot. 
If, when you repot, you find the great 
majority of your plants with only live 
roots in the top inch of fibre then I’d 
suggest you try some slit pots for com- 
parison. 
2. We like the three-quarter and 
half height pots because plants grow 
just as well, if not better, in them, and 
because of their wider bottoms the 
plants are not easily overturned on the 
benches. In our semi-outdoor houses 
where winds are sometimes a nuisance 
this is an important factor. 
We have tried wire and wood baskets 
but have discarded them for everything 
except Stanhopeas, which have to have 
an open bottom to flower through. Our 
reason for discarding baskets is that its 
practically impossible for us to keep the 
plant firmly planted in them and on the 
whole our plants have done better in 
slit pots than in baskets. Also, baskets 
are slow to plant and when you have a 
quantity of plants that becomes a real 
matter of importance. 
Tree fern fiber slabs, if used correctly, 
are excellent under our outdoor condi- 
tions. We use quite a few of them for 
large specimens of cattleya species which 
do remarkably well on them. Plants 
seem to need a little more food and 
~ater when on tree fern than when in 
pots. We find that plants start off 
best if a handful or so of osmunda is 
used to cover the roots as the plant is 
tied to the tree fern slab. 
We have tried many kinds of growing 
media both for mature plants and seed- 
(Continued on Page 4) 
CATTLEYA MOSSIAE 
AT THE ORCHID JUNGLE 
This fine plant produced 37 flowers in 
all. Ten were cut before this picture 
was taken and 27 are on the plant in 
the photograph. It is in a 10-inch pot. 
Just another reason why we think 
feeding pays. 
TRAYS 
(Continued from Page 1) 
We sell two sizes—the regular com- 
munity pot size—holding 20—40 strong 
young plants and our replant size, 
equivalent to 1%” or 2” pot size plants 
holding 8 to 12 plants. 
All of our plants in the trays are 
growing in  osmunda. To remove 
them one simply pries off the side 
rail, lifts out the block of osmunda and 
plants and then gently pulls the block 
apart. If, however, the roots are tying 
it together it can easily be cut apart with 
a sharp knife between the rows of 
plants. Each little plant then has a 
small block of osmunda around its roots 
and ean be planted with it still clinging 
to the roots. Don’t worry if some of 
the roots are cut—they grow hack 
quickly. 
As the plants have more room tn the 
trays and the roots get more aeration 
than in pots they can be grown to a 
larger size than community pots. 
Our new community trays are bigger 
and better. Our plants in them are 
bigger and better, and more important 
still they’re cheaper than the same num- 
ber and size of plants elsewhere. Try a 
few and see for yourself. There are 5 
crosses to choose from. 

VANDAS 
(Continued from Page 1) 
You can buy community trays of sev- 
eral fine crosses, small individual pots 
of others and mature plants of. still 
others. 
Blue hybrids such as V. Gilbert 
Triboulet, V. Saphir and V. Flammerole 
are easy to grow and bloom and have 
none of the Caerulea  crankiness. 
Saphir, by the way, is % caerulea but is 
free flowering and easily grown. It’s 
not unusual for any of these hybrids 
to produce 30 or 40 flowers per plant 
per year and our Saphir Profusion pro- 
duced 89 flowers one year plus 3 seed 
pods. Not bad production for a $40.00 
plant tseibe 
The blue and the pink hybrids using 
V. Sanderiana as one parent are 
usually very fine. Sanderiana has the 
largest flowers of the genus with good 
texture and shape. Its hybrids are 
usually easily grown and very beautiful. 
Such hybrids as V. Velthius, Roth- 
childiana, Clara Fisher, ete., are gor- 
geous by any standards and are fully as 
showy as the best cattleyas. Their 
flowers aren’t as big but there are more 
per spike and they last longer. 
There are two general cultural types 
of Vandas—the strap-leaf and the terete 
leaf (quill shaped leaves) types. Crosses 
between these produce the popular and 
beautiful semi-teretes to which Velthius, 
Madame Dinger, Dorothy Warne, ete., 
belong. 
So, unless you want to miss the most 
exciting and modern trend in orchids 
get a few Vandas and learn first hand 
of their entrancing beauty. 
