Page 6A 
LET*®S TALK ABOUT SEEDLINGS IN INDIVIDUAL POTS 
The close confinement in the package makes it necessary to ship ybur seedlings on 
the dry side, If it is early in the day when you unpack your seedling order, you 
will want to restoru the moisture immediately, One effective method is to dip 
each plant, foliage and all, ina bucket cf tepid water until thoroughly wet. 
Bubbles will rise to the surface as the osmunda picks up water. When the bubbling 
stops, the pot should be lifted out and set aside to drain. 
But, NO MATTER HOW DRY THEY ARE, DO NOT WET THEM AT ALL UNLESS THEY WILL HAVE 
PLENTY OF TIME TO DRY BEFORS DARK? 
It is always wiser to let your plants remain a bit too dry than to let them "eo to 
bed" wet. This rule applies to all watering operations: “Yiater on a rising temper- 
ature," 
Later, I expect to give you a "Let*s Talk About Humidity” but meanwhile the same 
general rules apply which I mentioned in tho CARE OF COMMUNITY POT SEEDLINGS, at 
bottom of Page 4B, with these additional precautions: 
1. Do not let water stand in the cup of an un=matured new lead. 2. An indication 
that you are keeping your individual pots too dry is the shrinking of the osmumda 
from the sides of the pot. 3. Seedlings grow best in conditions that are fairly 
warm, light and humid without being too stuffy, and yet without drafts. 
THEN AND HOW TO RE-POT SEEDLINGS. 
Bach seedling you receive from me will have a new lead started or ready to start. 
When the new lead is completed (leaf and bulb should be considerabiy taller than 
preceding lead) the seedling will be ready for the next size pot. Since I am 
offering more crosses in 2inch pots than any other size, Ifill limit this discus- 
sion to them, but the same rules apply to other sizes. 
Put about an inch of broken crock in the bottom of each clean 24-inch pot you plan 
to use. If second<hand pots are to be used, they should first he scrubbed tho- 
roughly. The size of the broken crock pieces should be about the same as that in 
the 2=inch pot. Be sure none is going to block the drainage hole, The osmunda you 
pian to use should be thoroughly soaked and allowed to drain overnight, 
Let the 2-inch pots soak in sufficient fresh, tepid water to cover the osmunda until 
bubbles stop rising to the tup of the water. Slip seedlings and osmunda ball out 
of 2~inch pots with aid of a sharp knife. If done properiy, the only roots even 
slightly damaged will be the few clinging tightly to pot. 
Unless it has soured and deteriorated, do not remove old osmunda from these small 
seedlings. Merely wrap a strip of the fresh, damoencd osmunda around the balle 
Practice will show you how large this strip should be to snugly fill the 23-inch 
pot. It should be long enough to surround the ball, and wide enough to extend 
slightly above the ball. Majority of fibers should run vertically for good drainage. 
Press this freshly wrapped ball of osmunds and roots down into 24-inch pot, not 
exactly centering seedling but plasing oldest growth close to side of pot, leaving 
plenty of room for new growth at opposite side of pot. An additional bit of osmunda 
will usually need to be pressed down at side of pot in front of the new growth. 
Plant need not be jammed in place but should be firm and not wobbly. 
With sharp scissors, trim off tag ends of the new osmnda. Tuck correct tag or 
label into place. Jever OVER POT, thinking seedlings will “grow up to their pots." 
They won't grow well at all, if the sides of the pots are too far from the roots? 
