William Cullina - Understanding Orchids: An Uncomplicated Guide to Growing the Worlds Most Exotic Plants

I Ann INDEBTED once again to my lovely and very patient wife, Melissa, who gave up family time while I typed ceaselessly on the computer or drove off to do research. At last it's party time, family! I am equally in debt to my tireless editor, Frances Tenenbaum, not only for suggesting this project but also for helping me stay focused during the two very hectic years it took to write it, and to Peg Anderson and the editorial staff at Houghton Mifflin for taking it from raw text to finished book. I'm grateful as well to David DeKing, Cayte McDonough, and the staff at the New England Wild Flower Society for their support and encouragement while this text took shape.

This book is greatly enhanced by the wonderful images contributed by the master orchid photographer Charles Rowden -thank you, Charlie, for the integral part you played in making this project a reality. Thanks as well to Darrin Norton for his beautiful images and the time he let me spend photographing his collection. Kudos as well to my friends Carol Yee, Alan Wachtel, Sandy Ek, and the crew at the University of Connecticut Greenhouses, and to Cordelia Head, Marguerite Webb, and Lucinda Winn, owners of J & L Orchids, for allowing me to photograph their collections. Everyone needs heroes and mentors, and the owners of J & L are certainly three of mine. Many of my first plants came from their tremendous collection, and the diversity of plants within their greenhouse walls is a continuing source of wonder and amazement to me. Of equal importance on this journey of exploration have been my friends Ann and Phil Jesuporchid growers extraordinaire and genuinely kind and generous people in word and deed. I was fortunate to learn from other legendary figures in the orchid world, including the late Gustav Mehlquist and Benjamin Berliner, to whom I owe special thanks.

Finally, thanks to the plants themselves-especially those I have killed through inexperience or ineptitude. I hope I don't make the same mistakes again!

VIII

LEARNING TO GROW ORCHIDS and understand their idiosyncrasies is a true journey. The sheer number of orchid species-estimates range from 25,000 to 35,000 worldwide, not to mention some 40,000 hybrids-means there will always be new plants to explore, new friends to make. You could start acquiring an orchid a day when you were twenty and still not have grown them all when you turned eighty! No other family of plants offers us inquisitive humans such overwhelming diversity. Orchids are a world unto themselves, and I think the almost limitless potential for discovery is one key to their phenomenal popularity. Even after twenty years of growing orchids, whenever I see a new one or a particularly well grown specimen, I still get that spine-tingling, toe-tickling feeling of WOW that hooked me in the beginning. If you are just starting out with orchids, you are in for quite an adventure.

How to Use This Book

My goal is to lead you on that adventure, and because I am writing for orchid lovers at every level of expertise, from absolute beginner to experienced grower to expert, you may find that some parts of the book are not pertinent at this time. Here's how the text is organized.

Part One contains all of the information you'll need to choose a place where your plants will grow well, whether on a windowsill, under lights, in a greenhouse, or outdoors. Here you'll learn about light, temperature, and humidity, the basics of good orchid culture. I have tried whenever possible to explain concepts in a straightforward way in plain English. However, I recommend that you become familiar with some of the terms listed in the glossary, which are in bold type the first time they're used in the text. After a while, the meaning of words like "pseudobulb" and "velamen" and "footcandle" will become second nature to you.