RYERSON 1949 EXPANSIBLE ORCHID FOLDER Page 2l. 
LET'S TALK ABOUT REPOTTING MATURE CATTLEYAS 
A plant has finished blooming and you decide it needs repotting because, (a) “4t 
has outgrown its pot; (b) pressing your thumb on the osmunda shows you it is 
soft, probably deteriorated, down around the roots. 
Prepare pots, crock and osmunda as described on page 1l-A, although you will use 
coarse, black osmunda in good-sized chunks; larger pieces of crock, 1 to 2 
inches; fill pots nearly half full of crock. You need not boil pots. 
PREPARING THE PLANT. In removing the plant from the pot, you will have to sever 
the roots that are growing over the sides: Cut them cleanly and sharply, just 
inside the pot, sliding a sharp knife around between osmunda and pot. If the 
old osmunda has decayed (become powdery) clean it all away. Cut off all rooted 
or broken roots, leaving only those portions that are healthy looking. 
It is also advisable to remove the dried brown skin from the pseudobulbs, if you 
can do so gently, without gouging or injuring bulbs. This skin sometimes 
catches water, causing black rot, or harbors scale and other insects. 
STUDY THE PLANT. If the back bulbs do not have live roots, it is well to remove 
such back bulbs. If they have live "eyes" they can be made to produce a new 
plant (see next page). Renoving them also helps you save space and pot size. 
Minus its back bulbs, a plant often can be returned to the same size pot. 
PLANTING. After making sure drainage hole is not blocked, cover crock with a 
thin sheet of osmunda. Place a ball of osmunda under the roots of the plant, 
spreading the roots over the ball. It should be large enough to bring the 
rhizome within $ inch of the pot rim. The back end of the rhizome should nestle 
against one side of the pot; the newest lead should miss reaching the opposite 
side by one to two inches, giving ample room for growth but avoiding OVER= 
potting. 
Holding the plant in this position, pack balls of osmunda around the sides and 
in front of the plant, until it is firmly potted. Use a potting stick to tuck 
in the final wedges of osmunda, but do not pound with it, for you will injure 
roots. When the potting is finished, the rhizome should be lying levelly on 
the surface of the osmunda, neither protruding nor buried. Staple down to 
osmunda with huge “hairpin” of galvanized wire. Stake the plant with a good 
length of heavy wire, driving stake through osmunda into crock. Tie bulbs in 
a fairly upright position with soft string that will not cut them. Let them 
spread sufficiently so all will receive sufficient air, light and moisture. 
Label plant with its correct name and set it in a shaded portion of the plant 
house, where it will not receive much water until new growth has started. (See 
pages 13-B and 13-C.) 
Remember, if you have followed instructions, your osmunda was well dampened 
before you started potting. If it is very hot and dry in your plant house, and 
you feel you must. spray the foliage and outsides of the pots, be careful not to 
let water run down into the osmunda or you will hamper new root growth. Unlike 
almost every other plant you have met, orchids do not like to be watered until 
AFTER they have started growing. This may take ten days, two weeks, or even 
longer. 
Thereafter, follow the rules outlined on pages l3-b and 13-C. 
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