RYERSON EXPANSIBLE ORCHID FOLDER Page G. 
LET'S 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 re~ 
sults 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 usually is true of the 
species, it is not always true of 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 
after the new growths are a couple of inches tall, this delay tends to delay the 
next blooms. Thus the commercial grower, timing blooms for definite seasons, 
sometimes feels justified in delaying the repotting of a group. In addition, he 
controls heat, light and watering in his greenhouses in order to slow or speed 
the blooming period. 
The smaller grower, with a single house, cannot divide light and temperature, but 
he can rotate the plants on the given bench space; and control the watering of 
each group that is in a given stage of the cycle. 
Plants newly repotted require very little water until after the new growth starts. 
As growth increases, water is also increased until new leads have been completed 
and bloom sheaths 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. "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, unless osmunda has deteriorated, 
become soft. 
"Is 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. Or 
if the plant is at the other end of its cycle, and, instead of buds developing, a 
new growth starts at the base of the matured bulb, you have been watering too 
heavily. 
If, on the other hand, new leads stop growing, the older bulbs begin to shrivel 
and the osmunda is dry, shrinking from sides of pots, you are not watering enough. 
Thus, most questions can be answered by the plants themselves, once you know how 
to read the signs. 
