How to Pot Your Orchids 
REPOTTING 
WHEN your plants have outgrown 
their pots badly—with one to two bulbs 
(mot just roots)—over the edge of the 
pot or when the osmunda rots and you 
can stick your finger easily into it—your 
plants need repotting. Generally, it is 
best to repot shortly after the plant has 
bloomed. Most mature cattleyas need 
repotting every 2 or 3 years. Unflowered 
seedlings are best repotted every year 
or 18 months. 
HOW? First, remove the plant from 
the pot by running a knife blade around 
the inside of the pot and then pry the 
plant from its pot. Carefully, remove 
old and rotted osmunda and dead roots 
from the plant. Then if the plant needs 
dividing or prunning do so and repot. 
DIVIDE only those plants that are too 
big for 8-in. or 10-in. pots or that are 
badly crowding by too frequent branch- 
ing. Plants may safely be divided to 3 
or 4 bulb divisions with one lead each, 
but if you want maximum flower pro- 
duction per plant and per square foot of 
space keep your plants large, with sev- 
eral leads per plant. 
To divide and prune your plants follow 
these diagrams: (The black circles rep 
resent single bulbs. The lines represent 
the rhizome between the bulbs.) 
The back bulbs, if they seem green 
and plump and particularly if they have 
a few live roots, are sometimes worth- 
while potting. Commercially, we do not 
believe this to be the case as we can, on 
the average, flower small seedlings 
sooner and better. The lead sections 
can, however, be repotted and grown on 
easily. Place them in the pots as shown 
below, giving room for 2 or 3 new bulbs 
in front of each lead. 
To repot the plant place pieces of 
osmunda between and around the roots 
until you have a nice ball of roots and 
‘Continu d on Third Column, This Page) 
Vi 
Inside Sheath 
pee Old Papery Sheaths— 
-May Be Removed 
Drawing No. 1 
REPOTTING ORCHIDS (Cattleyas) 
STEP BY STEP 
1. Ball of Osmunda fiber around roots 
with cut end of rhizome against rim. 
2, 3, 4. Suecessive pieces of osmunda 
(more if needed) placed in the pot in the 
order named, each pressing the plant 
back against pot rim. Enough osmunda 
must be wedged into the pot to hold the 
plant firmly in place. 
5. Charcoal, coke, gravel, broken 
pieces of pot or any non-calcareous rock 
pieces for drainage. 
6. Piece of broken pot bridging over 
drainage hole to prevent stoppage of 
drainage. 
7. Cut off osmunda to this line with 
shears. 
8. Top rim of pot. 
9. Not more than one-half of the 
rhizome’s thickness should be covered by 
osmunda. 
10. If stake is needed use galvanized 
wire and the plant as shown, leaving 
long ends of string on front to care for 
succeeding bulbs. 
REPOTTING 
(Continued From First Column) 
osmunda; place this in the pot on top of 
the drainage with the back or cut part 
of the plant against the side of the pot, 
then add more osmunda from the front 
constantly pushing it toward the plant. 
Finally, after plant is firmly and se- 
curely potted, cut off ragged edges 
of osmunda with scissors. The best tool 
for potting is a small pair of tin snips 
or a sharpened hammer handle. Be sure 
to press and pry the osmunda into the 
pot tightly. When the plant is finally 
potted, you should be able to pick it up 
by the leaves without anything coming 
loose. Plants that have few roots must 
sometimes be staked (tied to a wire or 
wood stake) to prevent movement. 
The rhizome of the plant must not be 
covered entirely—it should sit on the 
osmunda with not more than half its 
height covered. (The rhizome is the 
horizontal stem from which the pseudo- 
bulbs arise.) Plants that are potted too 
deeply die. 
MATERIALS—Clay flower pols are 
best (obtainable from your neighbor- 
hood hardware or seed store). If you 
can get *% or “azalea”’ pots so much the 
better. Plants seem to grow as well in 
them and as they have wider bottoms 
they are harder to knock over. The slit 
pots we often use are not necessary to 
home or greenhouse culture. We use 
many of them because under our auto- 
matic sprinklers they are safer as they 
give surer and faster drainage. 
(Continued on Page Three) 
Drawing No. 2— Back bulbs. B—Points at which rhizome is cut. C—Front division for repotting. 
How to Divide Your Orchid Plant 
Pseudobulb 
Ge 
‘ 
Showing How Front Divisions Are Placed In Pots 
