Cut Number Two 
Cut Number Three 
Cut Number Four 
Removing from pots, cleaning, etc. Cut Num¬ 
ber 2 pictures the method of removing the plant 
from its pot. The knife blade should be inserted 
in several places around the edge of the pot 
and the plant wedged out. Cut Number 3 pic¬ 
tures the trimming and cleaning of a plant 
after it has been removed from the pot. All ex¬ 
terior roots should be carefully trimmed off 
close to the compost and if the material is de¬ 
cayed or sour, it should be removed and all the 
decayed roots trimmed off as well as all crocks 
removed. In our pictured plant the compost 
was in good condition, so that it was not neces¬ 
sary to remove but very little from the bottom. 
In cases where the compost has decayed or 
soured, one will usually find some good ma¬ 
terial surrounding the front of the plant with an 
established root system. This ball of good ma¬ 
terial and roots should be left undisturbed ex¬ 
cept for trimming. In cases of merely shifting 
a plant to a larger size pot because it has out¬ 
grown its present size, and the compost is in 
good condition, it is not necessary to remove 
any material. All plants should be thoroughly 
cleaned before repotting and we suggest a soft 
bristle, half-inch paint brush with a recognized 
insecticide. It is especially important to clean 
around the rhyzome where scale might lie. Dry 
loose, protective skin should be removed from 
the bulbs. An ideal sized plant, unless one is 
going in for specimens, is four to five bulbs. 
We therefore recommend pruning, by cutting 
through the rhyzome, unnecessary back bulbs 
leaving the front of the plant with four to five 
good bulbs. This method of pruning is shown 
in cut Number 4, where we have taken three 
back bulbs from our demonstration plant, leav¬ 
ing four on the front. 
Selecting new pot size. DO NOT OVER POT. 
An Orchid plant with a healthy root system 
should be potted for a two year growth period. 
In selecting the pot for such a plant, one should 
hold the trimmed plant inside the new pot as 
pictured in cut Number 5, and make allowance 
for at least two additional growths, represent¬ 
ing two years. 
In the case of a plant not being in healthy 
condition, and with a poor root system, do not 
allow for more than a one year growth period. 
This plant, after regaining its vigor, can then 
be shifted the following year into a larger 
sized pot. 
Crocking. Good drainage is essential to all 
Orchids. In the case of Cattleyas, we recom¬ 
mend filling the pot with a third clean broken 
crock. Other varieties that require more drain¬ 
age are indicated throughout the booklet. 
Page Eight 
