Vou Can Do Dt Too !! 
Votes Sor “Beginners 
Have you read the story of the “Very Special House 
Plant” on the preceeding pages? It sounds too easy? 
But it is—easy, we mean. All you need is a modern, 
evenly heated home with a sunny window, and the inter- 
est which you now have (or you wouldn't be reading 
this), and your're all set. 
To beginners, we suggest the purchase of only rea- 
sonably priced, mature plants at the start. You will find 
suggestions on the following pages, for plants particularly 
suited to new growers. 
One word of caution that is most important, however. 
PURCHASES YOURSPEANTS KROM AN ESTAB- 
PSE k Put ABEES ORCHIDS HOUSE. Rod 
McLellan Co., preferably, but if not from here, then 
another house equally as responsible and experienced. 
There has been a rash of unscrupulous offers flooding 
magazines and radio, offering 60 gorgeous orchid blooms 
on a plant for only $1.00. From the photograph at the 
bottom of this page, you will note it takes about seven 
years to produce a mature plant, and your common sense 
will tell you, after that length of time it could not possibly 
be sold at $1.00. Most of these plants so offered are 
domestic varieties, or unestablished jungle plants which are 
tricky for even a professional man to bring back to grow- 
ing condition. Remember the old maxim “You get what 
you pay for’ ?—It’s just as true in orchid purchasing as 
elsewhere. 
From the many letters we have received, we have 
found most new growers are scared off before they start 
by the terminology used in culture books and orchid 
catalogs. Perhaps the following list will “give you a leg” 
over this first obstacle. 
The leaf, fleshier and more drought-resistant than 
most plant leaves, is supported by the pseudobulb, often 
called the bulb for short. The function of the bulb is 
storage for water and food. The pseudobulb grows from 
the rhizome, which creeps along the osmunda (QO. cin- 
namomea) in which the plant is potted, in a horizontal 
position, and 1s formed when the buds, or “eyes” at the 
base of the pseudobulb sprout out (something like the 
eyes in a potato), grow along the osmunda horizontally 
for about an inch, then turn up to form another pseudo- 
bulb and leaf when the growth is matured. 
This type of growth is called a sympodial growth, 
which may be divided when the plant develops enough 
bulbs (three per division) and 1s self-perpetuating, living 
indefinitely with proper care. Cattleyas, Odontoglossums, 
and the majority of the orchid plants are this type, while 
AGES OF THE CATTLEYA...FROM SEED POD TO FLOWERING 
MATURE 
SEED POD 
1BMONTHS OLD 2YEARS OLD 
COMMUNITY POTS THUMB POTS 
8-12 MONTHS OLD 
FLASKS 
FLOWERING 
CATILEYA 
 BYEARS OLD 
2% iNCH POTS 
4 YEARS OLD S YEARS OLD 
3INCH POTS 4 INCH POTS 
