Home Orchid Growing, 4th Edition

Whether your garden is a windowsill, a basement, a greenhouse, or a plot of land, Home Orchid Growing is the only reference book you will ever need to cultivate one of nature's most varied and fascinating plants. In the past forty years, it has become the best-known and most authoritative work in its field, and even gardeners who still have an original copy of this classic work will find much to inspire and delight them in the revised and updated fourth edition. This completely revised and updated edition includes introductions to 650 of the more than 30,000 species of orchid, with advice on which plants to choose for a variety of growing conditions. For the neophyte, there are explanations of the fundamentals of plant structure and function, plus basic care instructions. For those who have already mastered the fundamentals, Home Orchid Growing provides detailed instructions on: * Growing with artificial light * Genetics and hybridization * Seed germination and seedlings * Cloning (micropropagation) * Control of flowering * Dealing with pests and diseases This beautiful book is complete with drawings and photos of every phase of cultivation (including the construction and management of greenhouses and sample lighting setups). There are also full-color plates of the orchids themselves. Of particular importance to growers is the updated information on the destruction of the tropical forests where many species of orchid thrive and discussions of how to save these natural habitats and develop seed banks for the future.