FENNELL’S ORCHID CATALOGUE 
1950 


FENNELL’S ORCHID NEWS 
From The Orchid Jungle 
Published By 
FENNELL ORCHID CO. 
Homestead, Florida 

CULTURAL HINTS 
(pkey GROWERS seem to be di- 
vided into two rather definite 
camps—the feeders and the non-feeders. 
Frankly I may be prejudiced—we feed 
all of our plants and we sell the fertilizer 
we use but I can’t imagine growing 
orchids again without a definite feeding 
program, 
By feeding we have reduced the time 
it takes us to bloom cattleya seedlings by 
nearly 50%, we have increased the size, 
intensity of color, and texture of our 
flowers very appreciably and we have 
more than tripled the number of flowers 
from our collection. 
In addition we have found no bad 
effects as a result of the feeding we do. 
Our plants are stronger, branch and 
grow more freely, and as a result have 
to be repotted more often but they also 
produce three times as many flowers as 
formerly. 
We have made many careful experi- 
ments on types of fertilizer and on how 
to use them and we now have a 
very satisfactory mixture and procedure. 
Our fertilizer is relatively low in 
nitrogen but high in potash, phosphorus, 
calcium and magnesium—the foods 
which build strength and _ flowering 
ability into our plants. 
We have found the following facts to 
be of real importance in orchid feeding: 
1st. Light—High light intensity is a 
must. Unless you give your plants all 
the light they can take without serious 
burning they cannot assimilate the extra 
food you feed them. 
2nd Air—The orchids need plenty of 
warm fresh air—not a stufy, humid 
“turkish bath” type of greenhouse, but 
a fresh, airy, moderately humid condi- 
tion such as is found in an open forest 
in the summer. Fresh air is important in 
feeding as more carbon dioxide is used 
by the plants in their stepped-up growth. 
Unless your summer greenhouse tem- 
peratures are within one or two degrees 
of the outside shade temperature during 
the middle of the day and afternoon, your 
houses are too hot and you should con- 
sider shade above the glass and more 
ventilators. 

An Invitation 
ORCHID JUNGLE—While we charge 
admission to the Orchid Jungle with 
competent guide service, for casual vis- 
itors, customers and members of any 
orchid society are admitted free. Just 
show the attendant at the gate your 
membership card or mention that you 
are a customer and give him your name. 
3rd. Most Orchids—Particularly those 
with pseudobulbs—like to dry out be- 
tween waterings and do not like to be 
kept constantly moist. Conditions vary 
but heavy watering once weekly is 
usually sufficient. The weekly applica- 
tion of fertilizer at this time is usually 
best. We often water with plain water 
first, then water on the fertilizer in the 
last ten minutes of the watering (we use 
overhead sprinklers which take 20-25 
minutes to wet our plants down thor- 
oughly). We also quite often give the 
plants one or two 5-minute sprayings 
with clear water within the week be- 
tween the heavy waterings, depending 
upon the weather. 
Under this system we have never had 
any accumulation of fertilizer salts on 
the top of the osmunda in our pots. 
4th. Good roots are necessary if you 
want good growth—with or without 
food. High Solubility of the ingredients 
is important if you want good results 
from water application. Water applica- 
tion is the safest and easiest way to sup- 
ply th fertilizer we have found. Regular 
applications are also important. 
Fenorco Plant Food is made of the 
finest most readily soluble ingredients. 
6th. Animal manures are dangerous 
to use on epiphytes and are relatively 
low in nutrients—they have invariably 
caused premature breakdown of the 
osmunda and loss of roots in our ex- 
periments. On terrestrials they have 
produced fast growth but shy flowering 
when used alone. 

A FINE NEW DENDROBIUM 
About four years ago we made a very 
interesting Dendrobium cross—D. Pau- 
line x D. Phalaenopsis Dixon’s variety. 
The first of these seedlings is now in 
bloom and it’s a stunningly beautiful 
flower. Though the largest bulb is only 
about 7” tall it carries 6 flowers each 
2%%”’ wide with heavy texture and a very 
dark glowing violet-purple color. 
Of course this first seedling to bloom 
may be the best or the worst of the lot 
but it is definitely an improvement on 
either parent. 
Pauline is very strong and large grow- 
ing with many spikes of numerous heavy 
textured dark flowers but the flowers 
are small, only about 144” in diameter 
and the segments are narrow. 
Dixon’s variety of D. Phalaenopsis 
is not so strong growing as Pauline nor 
as floriferous but its flowers are broad 
petalled, large, very dark and hand- 
some. The one fault of its flowers is 

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas A. Fennell, Jr. 
(Trudy and Tom, Jr.) 
We have just had an addition to the 
family—March 8th was the momentuous 
day when Trudy Hirsch Bower and Tom, 
Jr., were married; so now—after nearly 
26 years of married life—Dorothy and 
I have a daughter—and a very lovely 
and fine daughter she is. 
Trudy is interested in orchids, as 
well as a certain young orchid grower— 
and now has taken over the duty of 
operating the Orchid Shop in Burdine’s 
Miami store, and for some strange rea- 
son she always-sells more when she is 
there than I do on the days when I 
relieve her, but. maybe her beauty and 
gracious way of meeting the public has 
something to do with it. In any case 
she’s a very charming addition to our 
family and firm and we love her. 
RS 
that they are somewhat lacking in 
texture. 
Our seedlings of this cross are very 
strong and fast growing. The first 
bloomed at three years of age and we 
expect some very fine orchids here. The 
one that has bloomed has flowers inter- 
mediate between the two parents and 
all of them seem to follow Pauline in 
strength of growth. 
Dendrobiums are close behind Vandas 
in their increasing popularity. You'll 
see many more of them in the years 
ahead. We have had as many as 125 
flowers per plant in one year—Pauline 
and Sander’s Crimson, for instance, are 
in bloom almost the year round, they 
are good for cut flowers and add inter- 
est to your collection. 
THE FORGOTTEN ORCHID 
Feeling poetical the other day we 
would have quoted some poetry on or- 
chids—if we had known any. But un- 
fortunately we didn’t. 
Perhaps you have the advantage of 
us. Perhaps you know some, If so, send 
uS a copy. 
The best selection, in the opinion of 
the editor, T. A. F. Sr., will receive a 
prize—a nice WPL seedling in a 4” pot! 
