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Do not remove old compost unless decayed or sour. Orchid plants resent 
being repotted in the sense of cleaning away all of the old compost. In the 
cases of seedlings these should be merely shifted to larger size of pots as their 
growth warrants and care should be taken to keep them growing all of the 
time. Always use clean pots and iit is advisable to soak them in water for a 
while before use. For Cattleyas and their hybrids, we recommend a medium 
grade of “Orchid peat” of the best quality obtainable. 
COMPLETION OF OPERATION. Being satisfied the plant is well potted 
and perfectly firm, you may take a pair of scissors and trim the compost 
smooth. It is also advisable to drive a heavy wire stake along the side of 
the rhyzome into the peat in the middle of the pot, and then tie the bulbs a 
little below the leaves to the stake. 
While the foreging process sounds complicated, it really is not, and we 
will be glad at any time to demonstrate potting, or answer further questions. 
HOUSE CULTURE 
We believe the following suggestions, in addition to “General Culture” 
will be of value to those who desire to grow a few Orchid plants in the house. 
An air-conditioned home is quite ideal for growing plants, provided there 
is a sunny room or a bay window having a favorable exposure. There is a 
regulated amount of humidity in an air-conditioned house that is not present 
in homes heated with hot water or steam, unless the latter two are equipped 
with humidifiers. Humidity is quite necessary and is maintained to varying 
extents in greenhouses through syringing and°damping down. Unfortunate- 
ly, in a home, we cannot do this and so must find other ways to give the 
plants the humidity they lack. We suggest a shallow tray six inches deep, 
having a metal lining with a vent in the bottom, and filled with about four 
inches of nice, clean pebbles or half-inch stone. Above this place a rack, 
preferably of thin wood slats, spaced one-half inch apart. The Orchids 
should be placed on this slat top. By keeping the stone and slat top wet, 
the plants receive a certain amount of humidity. A small pressure hand 
sprayer is very good to use on foliage and bulbs, when the air is dry in 
order to give the plants humidity. 
Plants may require more water in the winter in the home than they do 
in the greenhouse. For this reason they should be looked over at least once 
a week for a good watering. A hand sprayer is handy for syringing and 
can be used on the foliage several times on nice days. Through the sumraer 
or times when the home is not artificially heated, it will often be found the 
plants take longer to dry out, and of course require less water if such is the 
case. 
Orchid plants do very well out of doors through the summer, but cannot 
stand full sun. Moderate shade from a tree, or a framework of slats gives a 
very nice light. They will require considerably more water and syringing 
of the foliage outside than they will in the house. 
