RYERSON 1949 EXPANSIBLE ORCHID FOLDER Page 22. 
LET'S TALK ABOUT BACK BULB PROPAGATION 
As indicated on Page 21, back bulbs with no live roots of their own are of no 
benefit to the mature plant. Instead, they expect the front bulbs to manufac-~ 
ture food and pass it back to them. Unless "shocked" into doing so - by being 
cut away from the plant =- they seldom bother to grow a new lead from a live 
“eye. Why should they, while they have the front bulbs to support them? 
An “eye” is a small triangular protrusion at the base of a bulb. Live eyes are 
light green or pinkish green. Dead eyes are black or brown, and withered. 
It is advisable to remove an extra bulb, if necessary, in order to have a live 
eye. For if it is properly propagated, this back portion will grow into a 
blooming size plant within two years - an effective way of increasing your 
stock of plants. 
HOW TO START BACK BULBS. Back bulbs should not be potted until they show signs 
of new growth. They should be placed in a shaded - almost dark - place, where 
they can be kept moist. If you have many bulbs, line them up in trays of 
granite chips or spagnum moss. These can be placed under tenches of plants 
that are not receiving the heaviest watering. If the bulbs are buried, or kept 
soaking wet, they will rot instead of starting new growth. 
If starting only a few back bulbs, prop them in a large pot with a little crock 
and loose osmunde in the bottom. Make no attempt to "plant" the bulbs in the 
osmunda; merely set them in it. Set the pot in shaded place and spray lightly 
now and then to keep osmunda moist. Believe it or not, before many weeks have 
passed, the live eyes will be jutting out into new leads. You may pot then, 
just as you would a mature plant (See page 21) or wait for root growth to start. 
Since the back bulb has few roots, it is especially important to staple the 
rhizome firmly to the osmunda to keep the plant from wobbling. 
HYBRID BACK BULB OFFERING 
As with all commercial growers, repotting here never ends, so neither does the 
acquisition of back bulbs. Formerly, I waited until a back bulb was well 
established and growing in a pot of its own before offering it for sale. Recent 
requests for unestablished back bulbs have convinced me I should offer them. 
There are a number of advantages. Unestablished back bulbs are obviously less 
expensive. Shipping charges are much cheaper, for clay pots run into weight. 
Then, you would have the fun of learning a new phase of orchid culture - the 
propagation of hybrid back bulbs. 
The only catch is that I cannot offer a formal list of these back bulb cuttings. 
Such a list would need to be changed constantly, according to the mature plants 
being repotted at the moment. All will be Cattleya hybrids, one or more live 
eyes on each cutting; and each will be tagged with its correct name. Outside 
of that, the selection would have to be left to me. They are priced as follows: 
Five back bulb cuttings for $7.50 25 back bulb cuttings for $20.00 
Ten " * 2 "10.00 50 or more .+seseees@ 75¢ each. 
(If you follow the above suggestions faithfully, you should be successful. But 
as I have no control over the handling of them, I can make no guarantees. ) 

