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O28. 
and to ripen, the plants must not be much watered and it is well to let them be 
in the sun as much as possible. During this period, it is also good to ventilate the 
house whenever the weather is favourable, that is to say when the wind is not 
too strong and the thermometer outside does not go down under 12 to 14° C. 
The following year, the plants thus ripened and rested give vigorous shoots and 
an abundance of flowers. 
The plants must be watered in such a way that they do not shoot forth 
again in autumn, and on the other hand they must not be deprived of water. 
It is difficult to state, as sometimes novice cultivators have asked us to do, 
the exact number of days that must intervene before the plants should be watered 
again : that depends on the season, the construction and the aspect of the 
house, the ventilation, the state and vigour of the plants, the compost, etc. 
But the gardener easily judges, when he has some experience, if the plants 
begin to require water, if the pseudobulbs wrinkle, if the compost is too dry 
and becomes brittle. On the other hand, as soon as the buds situated at the 
base of the pseudobulbs begin to swell, the plants must be allowed to flag, 
and the temperature lowered if necessary (by giving more air, for instance) to 
stop the growth. 
Only, the rest must be brought about progressively; the plant must be 
watered gradually at further intervals until the maximum for the winter season 
is reached; it would evidently do the plants great harm to stop watering them 
all at once. 
b..b: 
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