Give immediate and regular attention to the young stock of stove plants
intended for winter blooming. Keep up a moist temperature at all times;
with air during the day. When a few days of gloom occur, the humidity
that sometimes becomes stagnant and injurious should be dissipated by
a free circulation of air when bright weather returns. Keep a free
circulation of air amongst the Orchids by day; endeavour to supply an
abundance of atmospheric moisture during the latter part of the day; and
dispense with shading as much as possible by using it only during a few
hours of the hottest part of the day.
Pay every attention to specimen plants in the stove. Keep them neatly
tied to sticks, or trellises, as the case may require. Give them
a plentiful supply of water, and, if not in flower, syringe them
frequently overhead.
Stanhopeas.--About the end of this or the beginning of next month is the
most proper time to remove and repot them. Persons who wish to grow fine
specimens ought to put them in large baskets, or pots, so that they may
not require to be shifted for several years, as then the plants grow
much finer and flower better than when annually shifted. Now, as soon
as they have done flowering they commence growing, when they should
have plenty of heat and moisture until they have completed their
pseudo-bulbs, when they should be reduced to a comparative state of
rest by gradually withholding water until they show flower; then to
be supplied with atmospheric moisture, but should have no water at the
root, or at least but a small portion, until they begin to grow. As all
the plants belonging to this genus push their flowers downwards, it is
advisable to have them elevated, or put in baskets, where the flowers
can get through and show themselves to advantage.