The arrow points to a new 
growth which always starts at 
the bottom of a former matured 
bulb. If a Cattleya orchid plant 
is 7 years old this new growth 
will produce the flowers when 
completed. Caiileya orchid plants 
flower on new growth only. The 
old flowering bulbs then become 
food reservoirs feeding the new 
“a “a 
growth or “eye” as it is called. 
When the “eye” begins to swell 
it indicates the plant is in active 
growth. Within a year or less 
this ‘eye’ will develop into a 
bulb and leaf, and produce a 
sheath and flowers. 
At this point careful attention 
should be paid to correct water- 
ing. Once a week take the plant 
and saturate it by placing it un- 
der the faucet or a hose. Besides 
this, on bright sunny days sprink- 
le the leaves with a light mist 
every morning. 
Here a few months later we 
uw 
see the “eye” has grown vigor- 
ously some 2 inches in size. 
Growth should be strong, but if 
insufficient light or water is given 
this new growth will be weak 
and spindiey. 
In some parts of the country 
ants will be attracted to the tip 
of this ‘eye’ because of a sap 
that begins to ooze out at this 
stage of growth. To control the 
sprinkle a little 5% 
Chloradane powder on the os- 
munda, 
ants just 
If the growth is taking place 
during the winter months protect 
the plant from sudden and radi- 
cal temperature changes. A tem- 
perature of not less than 60 de- 
grees the 
night. 
is suggested during 
About four months has now 
elapsed since the “eye” first 
started to grow. Now, the “eye” 
is no longer called an “eye’’—it 
is now called a “lead’—(pro- 
nounced leed). Here we can see 
that the new growth is beginning 
to take the shape of the older 
bulbs and leaves. One can, at 
this stage, see some semblance 
of a bulb starting and part of a 
leaf. Note, that the leaf is still 
in an immature stage, and par- 
tially folded. Later on this leaf 
will grow and expand and the 
fold will disappear. 
At this stage of growth, called 
the “cup” stage—it is very im- 
portant that when sprinkling the 
leaves no water is permitted to 
remain in the “cup” or folds of 
the leaf. If the plant is sprinkled 
in the morning, as it should be, 
it will usually dry up by night 
time. If it does not, it may rot 
out the new lead. If you want to 
play safe, just turn the plant up- 
side down after sprinkling and 
drain the water out of the leaf 
“ai “a 
cup. 
Here we see how the bulb is 
fully grown, the leaf is well de- 
veloped, and popping out of the 
bulb is the sheath from which 
the buds and flowers will come 
soon. At this point we curtail 
water sharply to reduce any new 
growth of the plant. By watering 
ithe plant once weekly or once in 
ten days we can begin to sus- 
pend growth. We do this in order 
that no new “eyes” will begin to 
grow. If new “eyes” begin to 
grow while the plant is in sheath, 
the sheath may go “blind” and 
thus produce no flowers that 
year. 
We do this to all Cattleya 
Orchid plants 60 to 90 days be- 
fore their flowering period, so 
that all the vitality of the plant 
will go into the forming of the 
buds, and not into new “eyes”. 
If you know for example that 
your plant normally blooms from 
December to February and you 
have a well developed sheath by 
October or November you simply 
begin drying off the plant by wa- 
tering once a week or once in 10 
days. 
Here we see the buds have 
popped out of the sheath. This 
drawing depicts a small plant 
that produced 2 flowers. Some 
species produce as many as five 
huge flowers to a sheath. Natur- 
ally the more sheaths you have 
the more flowers you would get. 
At this stage the plant should be 
pot-watered only, once a week. 
Care should be taken not to wet 
the flowers as water will cause 
them to svot. 
Once the flowers begin to open 
it will take 4 to 5 days for them 
to fully open. They should not 
be picked until they have been 
open six or seven days, for it 
takes that many days for the 
color and flowers to mature. 
If the flower is to be worn, 
place it in an orchid tube, or 
wrap it in damp cotton and place 
it in a covered dish in the lower 
part of your refrigerator. Flowers 
should Wasi 2m ton ce m.weeks, mit 
placed back in the refrigerator 
each time the wearer is thru 
wearing the flower. If permitted 
to remain on the plant flowers 
will last as much as 5 weeks. 
