RYERSON 1949 EXPANSIBLE ORCHID FOLDER Page 135=B 
LETtS TALK ABOUT THE FACTS OF LIFE 
AS THEY APPLY TO CATTLEYAS. 
Mother Nature planned the life of Cattleyas as a series of cycles. 
The plant starts a new lead, usually containing the embryo of blooms. When con- 
ditions are favorable, a bloom sheath develops and blooms. After a resting 
period, the cycle starts again. 
While most of us know this, we often fail to use the cycle to obtain the best 
results from our Catts. Yet almost every problem connected with the successful 
blooming of Cattleyas is directly affected by the cycle habit of the genus. 
Watering, heat and light requirements, potting and most other factors depend on 
the stage in the cycle in which the plant happens to be at the moment. 
Many growers assume the cycle must be annual. While this is usually true of 
the species, it is not always true of the hybrids, many of which can be induced 
to bloom more than once a year by thoughtful culture. 
The "resting" period is the factor which probably can be influenced most readily. 
Obviously, the sooner after blooming the plant starts a new lead, the sooner it 
is apt to bloom again. 
Certainly, the time to repot = if repotting is needed - is immediately after the 
plants have finished blooming. While they may not seem to resent being repotted 
even after the new growths are a couple of inches tall, this delay does tend to 
delay the next blooms. Thus the commercial grower, timing his blooms for def- 
inite seasons, sometimes feels justified in delaying the repotting of a groupe 
In addition, he controls heat, light and watering in certain sections of his 
greenhouse in order to slow or speed the blooming period of the cycle. 
The smaller grower, with a single house, cannot divide the licht and temperature 
very well, but he can rotate the plants on the given bench space and control the 
watering of each group ina different stage of the cycle. 
Plants newly repotted require very little water until after the new growth 
starts, As this increases, water is also increased until new growths have been 
completed and bloom sheathes developed. Then watering is reduced so that other 
new leads will not start before the current ones develop buds and blooms. 
Keeping the cycle in mind makes it easier to answer questions facing the new 
orchid enthusiast. 
"Should this plant be repotted?" Look at it. If a new lead is already several 
inches long, you would do well to wait until after it has bloomed, . 
"Tg it getting enough - or too much water?" If, several weeks after repotting, 
you still see no new roots and no new leads, you are probably over-watering, If 
the plant is at the other end of its cycle, and, instead of buds developing in 
the sheath, a growth starts at the base of the bulb, you have been watering too 
heavi Ly r) 
If, on the other hand, new srowths had started and should be going ahead but do 
not, and the older bulbs begin to shrivel, you are not watering enough. Thus, 
most questions about orchid plants can be answered by the plants themselves, if 
you know their normal habits and how to read the signs. 
