Growing Orchids For Profit

Here are a few personal observations on some of the orchids one woman grew in her greenhouse.

Calanthe
Winter-flowering Calanthe can be potted in a soil mixture of equal parts of loam, leaf mold, and sand, and grown in semi-shade in a 65-degree house. When, in the fall, the leaves turn

yellow and drop, it is time to rest the pseudo bulbs. Flowers, small and borne on long stems, are white or rose, sometimes blotched with crimson or yellow.

Cattleya
Cattleya is the largest orchid grown by professional florists. It is the one most people think of as an orchid. The cattleyas have large showy blooms of white, rose, yellow, and purple. Grow them at 60 to 80 degrees. Propagate by separating the back bulbs and placing them in a shaded pot until growth starts.

Some of the most popular florist varieties are Cattleya alba, pure white; C. caerulea, pale violet-blue; and the white or yellow C. Wageneri.

Cymbidiums
Cymbidiums keep the longest of any cut flower. No wonder they are so popular for corsages. They may be epiphytes or terrestrials—with flowers of white, green, red, or brown. Grow them in a medium of equal parts of loam, leaf mold, and shredded bark or osmunda fiber. Many species of these orchids need temperatures lower than 60 degrees F. for bud-setting.

Cypripediums
These, called cyps or lady slippers, are favorites for window garden or greenhouse. You can grow them in a cool or intermediate house (55 to 60 degrees). They come in many colors.

The pouchy flowers of some of the green and brown ones have a varnished look.
Cypripediums do well in a soil mixture of 2 parts peat moss, 1 part sphagnum moss, ½ part loam and ½ part crushed pot chips, and in a light position, near the top of the greenhouse.

Place at least ? drainage material in each pot; insert some of the potting mixture—then be relatively firm about potting. Be careful, too, not to over water, at least until roots have taken hold. Propagation is generally through division.

Cypripedium viridissimum has yellow-green flowers; C. Maudiae is a cool green; C. aurobe is brown and yellow, alladin is pink. Green and white C. Sanderae and C. giganteum are favorites with professional florists.

Dendrobiums
Dendrobiums are epiphytes, producing their 3-inch flowers in pairs or triplets. The flowers have firm substance, are easy to ship, and will keep a long time in storage. The plants grow rather tall and must be staked. Give them full light, keep them warm and humid during the summer, cooler and drier in the winter. Dendrobiums come in white, orchid, purple, red, and orange.

Species Dendrobium nobile produces white-petaled, amethyst-tipped flowers; D. album, white; D. Colmanianum, large white with a yellow marking (disk) on the lip; D. aureum has yellow sepals and petals, and Arundel is yellow.

Laelias
Laelias, originating in Mexico, are a delightful group of fall-and winter-flowering orchids, closely related to cattleyas. Give them strong light and a 60- to 65-degree temperature. This plant is often used to cross-pollinate cattleyas.
Laelia anceps, with yellow-marked, red flowers, is a favorite; L. alba is white with a yellow marking on the lip; L. purpurata has large flowers with sepals and white petals flushed with rose and a purple lip.

Phalaenopsis
These produce sprays of 2- to 5-inch flowers, up to one hundred per branch, usually in late winter to early summer. They make fine hanging-basket plants and will grow in shadier locations than most other orchids in daytime temperatures of 70 to 75 degrees. Phalaenopsis gloriosa is white and pink; P. amabilis, white with purple dots and yellow stains.

Tips From Orchid Makers
An Illinois enthusiast grows orchids to make use of the blank and too often useless wall of his attached-to-the-home greenhouse. He fastens l1/2-inch galvanized mesh to the wall with expansion bolts.

He pierces pieces of oak bark and inserts galvanized wire hangers to suit each piece of bark. These bits of wire are bent and hooked. Their small size permits him to hang them as close to or as far from the wall as is necessary. Pots can also be hung like this with little difficulty.

The Rehs of Illinois, grow many plants, but their profit-maker is orchids at wholesale.

They sell cut flowers and plants to local florists in the St. Louis area, and they do all the work themselves caring for approximately 4,000 plants. Since these plants are for resale only, they avoid having to collect the state sales tax and make a monthly report on it. In the local market their home-grown orchids bring $1 more per blossom than shipped-in orchids.

With cisterns of rain water available, and plenty of light, they find they can feed their orchids more heavily and more often than most growers. Water temperature approximates a warm rain by an adjustment between the hot-water tank and the direct line from the cistern.

An old, water-softener tank was converted, by replacing chemicals with fine sand, into a filter to remove algae and fungus spores. This keeps pots and osmunda fiber clean and fresh longer, and the roots of the plants are not smothered by an accumulation of moss and dirt. The Rehs grow their plastic-house orchids wetter than do glasshouse gardeners. Their phalaenopsis and cymbidiums, especially, seemed to be in a much damper growing medium than I have observed elsewhere. In their Fiberglas house, air circulation is increased according to seasonal temperatures.
L. J. Milan of Tulsa, Oklahoma, built an 8- by 20-foot orchid house for only $500.00, including benches. Walls and ceilings were made from spent, 48-inch, fluorescent light tubes. It has weathered 4 years of Oklahoma hailstorms and winter temperatures occasionally as low as 10 degrees.

He makes a good profit on flowers alone and sells no plants. In winter he heats economically with two 15,000 BTU orchid-house-unit heaters, and holds the temperature at 60 degrees.
Orchid success stories are legion. You can always be sure of sales if you grow these plants.