Preface - The grower of orchids is favored above other men. He belongs to a starry-eyed fraternity, to whom each small chore, accomplished in its turn for the better culture of his orchids, is a source of never-ending and absorbing delight. The beauty of the orchid's line and color is known to all who bask in the offerings of the florist's win­dow, but the breathless suspense and expectation that attend the unfolding of the mysterious growth of the orchid plant are known to the grower alone.

1. Orchid Secrets - The beginnings of the orchid family are shrouded in mystery. Since most orchids are epiphytic—that is, having aerial roots through which they receive sustenance from the minerals in the moisture-laden air of the tropics—they have left no traces such as the fossilized remains of ground-growing plants. Dr. E. Soysa, writing in Orchid Culture in Ceylon, advances the delightful and plausible, if unproved, theory that orchids antedated the fossil era, but in their love of light ascended trees to escape the advanc­ing jungle.

2. Orchid Family - The prospective orchidist will want to have a general knowledge of the orchid family and a survey of the individual members with whom he may want later to become more closely acquainted. The range of choice is wide, since, as has been said, there are from fifteen to twenty thousand species. This chapter gives a broad and general view of the field in the hope that the reader will be stimulated to further investigation.

3. Orchid Family #2 - The possibilities of each genus are so fascinating that it is only with reluctance that we pass on to the next. The Cypripediums must be dismissed in far too short a space. Williams has devoted ninety-two pages to this genus as against fifty-five for the Cattleyas and fifty-four for the Dendrobiums. The amateur can only be urged to further independent research.

4. Housing - From the time of acquiring his first plant the beginner in orchid culture must learn much that is new and, perhaps equally impor­tant and difficult, unlearn much that applies to growing other plants. For successful growth the orchid, like plants of the garden variety, requires a proper balance of light, heat, water, and food.

5. Housing #2 - V Vanda Sanderiana. Found only on Mindanao, Philippine Islands (Harold Johnson)

VI 1. An amateur's orchid house with gravel floor double-deck wall bench stepped center bench Wardian case for seedling at rear

VI 2. Double-deck orchid bench construction

6. Orchid IBalance - The grower's task, and it is no easy one, is to set in motion the complicated growth processes of the orchid plant, and, through maintenance of proper balance, insure continuation of that process. Using the energy provided by light, the green leaf chloro­phyll transforms the carbon dioxide from the air and the mineral salts from moisture into sugar and other carbohydrates.

7. Orchid Potting - With the appearance of the long-awaited first flower in his green­house, the amateur quite justifiably feels a warm glow of achieve­ment and pride. He will find, however, that this is no time to bask in the glory of the moment, for, almost overnight, the green­house has quickened with life. New growths glow a healthy red and the emerald-green tips of new roots peep from the potting mixture and even from breaks that are apparently dead roots.

8. Orchid Potting #2 - A specific example will provide the most understandable pic­ture of potting procedure. Let us take a Cattleya plant with Os-munda as the medium; the method will be similar for other plants with certain exceptions that must be discussed separately.

The Osmunda, after dirt and foreign material have been shaken from it, is chopped into pieces about four to five inches square, cut with the grain.

9. Resting - With the end of the flowering season for most plants and with potting under control, the grower finds next that all orchids need rest—some going into such deep rest or dormancy that they ap­pear dead. In a state of nature this rest is provided by the change of seasons. It will be found that those plants requiring a long spell of complete rest in the greenhouse come from regions where long periods of hot wind occur.

10. Pests + Diseases - The damage that can be done by pests and diseases in an orchid greenhouse is so appalling that no effort should be spared to pre­vent their initial entrance. The first line of defense is a roomy, airy greenhouse, in which balance is scrupulously kept. The grower who inspects plants frequently should be able to halt an invasion of pests before it gets under way, while the preservation of plants and the immediate segregation of sickly ones prevent pests and diseases from gaining an easy foothold.

11. Pests + Diseases #2 - A commercial product called T.A.T. has been used, as a spray, at intervals of three to six months, with harmless but efficient results. Other solutions of D.D.T. with oil should be avoided by the amateur because of the penetrating quality of such solutions. A suspension of 50% wettable D.D.T. in water, one tablespoon to a gallon, is a safe and easy control, but it will settle if not agi­tated.

12. Growing - The growing of orchids from seed is so difficult a process that only the most persevering amateur should be encouraged to make the effort, and then only after he has had considerable experience with adult plants. The possibilities are tempting, but frequent failures and high mortality of seeds may make the whole experi­ence discouraging and expensive. Diligence, meticulousness, and, above all, patience are the qualities required of the experimenter.

13. Growing #2 - Antiseptic containers should be provided after sterilization is completed. Test tubes are satisfactory in a number of respects. Medium is placed in the tubes and the tubes laid on their side to provide more planting surface. The advantages of the small tubes are that part of the seed may be saved for separate planting in case contamination spoils one planting and, since the tubes are on their sides while planting takes place, that there is less oppor­tunity for fungus spores to fall into them.

14. Artificial Feeding - The ability of the apparently inadequate root system of the orchid to procure its necessary life-giving minerals from the most im­probable sources is a minor but happy miracle. These minerals are nitrogen, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulphur, iron, and carbon. Combined, by photosynthesis, with proper amounts of hydrogen and oxygen, these minerals sustain all plant life.

15. Orchid family - By Definition hybrid means the offspring of two animals or plants of different races, varieties, species, or genera. The reproductive processes of the orchid are such that, with few exceptions, the genera do not intermingle readily, so the generic lines remain uniquely pure. It has been observed that in the few cases where, under natural conditions, members of the same orchid genus united the resulting hybrid was usually superior to either parent.

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