RYERSON EXPANSIBLE ORCHID FOLDER Page I. 
LET'S TALK ABOUT REPOTTING MATURE CATTLEYAS 
A plant has finished blooming and you decide it needs repotting, because (a) it 
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 E, although now you 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 rotted or 
broken roots, leaving only live, healthy roots. 
It is 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 harbor scale and other insects. 
STUDY THE PLANT. Remove back bulbs which do not have live roots. If they have 
live "eyes" they can be made to produce a new plant (see next page). Removing 
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 without 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, for you will injure the 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 the osmunda with 
huge “hairpins” 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. Let bulbs 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. 
Remember, if you have followed instructions, your osmunda was well dampened be- 
fore 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 
much water run down into the osmunda. Unlike almost every other plant, 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 G and H. 
