I purchased a beautiful Encyclia, my first one, last spring. It was in spike, and had 4-5 nice fat pseudobulbs. It bloomed and bloomed, for a looooong time, and looked great that whole time. But now that the blooms are gone, and it's growing actively (has a very nice new growth that is growing fast), the pseudobulbs are starting to shrivel. It's in a large, 8" plastic pot, with a nice bark/charcoal/pumice rock mixture, that seems to be in good shape. Since it's a catt alliance plant, I have been trying to error on the side of letting it dry out between waterings, thinking that the shriveling bulbs might be a result of me overwatering it, and losing some roots. But it continues to grow like crazy, and is still slowly shriveling!
So....are these things perhaps needing more moisture than most catts? Should I be watering it a couple of times a week while it grows? I am currently watering it only once a week. Or am I missing something else entirely? I have never attempted Encyclia before, and am relatively new to the catts, just in the last couple of years have I ventured into these VERY PICKY plants.
But they are worth it. Oh, by the way, this plant smelled sooooooo good all day long, for weeks!!! Here is a not very good picture of it.