Not sure if this catt is worth the time still! - Orchid Board

ninreznorgirl2 · #1 01-31-2023, 04:25 PM

I purchased this and another cattleya as bag babies from Lowes back in October. I'm a first time cattleya owner, I've managed to kill all my phals so far, despite attempts to not. Anyways, here's my initial repot of said catt is attached photo one and two!

Somehow, I managed to toss out the identifying tag on this one. Don't ask me how, as I remember setting it to the side, specifically! When I went to find it, it was gone. After a post on reddit, i listened to a few suggestions and moved them to a south face window, with a sheer curtain, but the environment is a bit chillier, so i ended up purchasing a heat mat for them in the winter, especially. Next thing I knew, my cat got a hold of the leaves of this one. This cat loves plants, but always left my phals ive had alone. The damage from that is 15 days after purchase in photo three!

I left it be, and kept eyes on it, but next thing i knew, this started, about 10 days after the initial attack.See Photo four.

Well, as i am continuing with current care(watering about a week apart, occasional misting, heat mat, etc). See photo five. This one is dated Dec 10, and is close to a month after it started doing what it did in picture four.

Cue excitement!

Well, the winter permacloud moves in, and it kind of appears to have stunted growth and i notice the worst leaf from attack starting to turn black, about 10 days after i noticed the root starting. It was in a matter of days, and i was amputating the leave to stop the spread of whatever. It had to been from the cat bite, but took a while to happen. See photo six

Meanwhile, the root seems to stop growing. Cue to Sunday, where i now notice the last leaf doing this, see last image.

You can see the little root here in the picture. There are a few other spots that look like it could grow(eyes, i think?), but if i lose this leaf, is it too far gone? Both of these cattleyas i have had root growth on them, and then it appeared to have stalled. I think my house may have gotten too dry, despite having humidity trays under these. The humidity meter i have hasn't gone over 45% lately, and it certainly doesn't maintain at that, if it does hit it. Temps run about 75-77 during the day, down to 64 at night. I did put some sphagnum loosely around the top edge, away from the plant and am misting that to hopefully up the humidity a bit. Any suggestions from anyone? Should i just let it go? I didn't have much hope for this one to begin with, but when i saw the root growth, i got overly excited that i could still save it!

Thanks for any suggestions or feedback. I know it looks dehydrated, as you can kinda see, it came like that, or is it actually dehydrated and i do need to just flat out water more! i worry about damaging the roots checking the medium for moisture, but i do have bamboo spears that i can do that with, if i shoudl be watering more than i am. Again, watering once a week. Ive read that cattleyas like to dry out a bit between waters, but am i letting it dry out too much? Medium is new from RePotMe, so i dont think break down is much of an issue, yet.Also, want to mention, when misting, i was following SouthParks watering advice that i read here as well!

estación seca · #2 01-31-2023, 06:53 PM

I don't know how warm is the heat mat. Everything I see could be caused by underwatering. The leaves are very shriveled. Watering once a week may not enough for a Catt seedling in a low humidity environment. They will try mightily to make new roots and grow, but if they don't get enough water they die.

ninreznorgirl2 · #3 01-31-2023, 06:57 PM

Is it possible to over water a seedling then? Heat mat doesn't get any warmer then 77F

estación seca · #4 01-31-2023, 07:06 PM

With orchids problems generally aren't caused by too much water, but rather not enough air at the roots. If the medium has lots of air spaces they can be kept constantly moist during the growing season. The advice to let Catts dry between waterings is better suited to adult plants in high humidity environments.

The black spots in Catts are characteristic of severe sunburn or severe dehydration.

ninreznorgirl2 · #5 01-31-2023, 07:11 PM

I did add a grow light recently too, for temporary duribg winter months. Its a good 20" away from the plants on the lowest intensity. But my other Catt that is sitting in the same spot isn't reacting the same.

Thank you for your response!