Potential sick Catt questions

[derv88]

I bought a large Catt from Hausermans a couple of years ago for my mother in law.

Took it home today to do some work on it and repot.

I mostly have Phals and have little (zero) experience with Catts, so I have a couple of questions if you would be so kind:

1. What are the "skins" around the leaves called? Are those the pseudobulbs?

2. Are they supposed to be blackish as you can see with my attached photos?

3. The media is pretty disintegrated so I assume the plant has been overwatered. She informed me that the Catt did not bloom this year as it has in the past. Any evidence of overwatering obvious in the pictures?

4. The blooms are a vibrant purple, but the plant has lost its ID tag somewhere down the line. Is there any way to guess what it is specifically?

Thanks in advance!

[DavidCampen]

In the first photo, in the foreground, and in photo 3;the black is the sheath which covers the pseudobulb as it forms though it looks like that pseudobulb has stopped growing before it was fully formed. You can see on other pseudobulbs remanants of the sheaths that were on those pseudobulbs. I would pull back/off that black sheath to see what the pseudobulb underneath looked like.

The plant is in definite need of repotting in fresh media

[silken]

There are different names for these 'skins' but I don't know of any 'official' name. I just call them husks or skins. They just protect the leaves as they are developing and then dry up. Once dry some people (including myself) carefully peel them away and clean the plant up. It's a good place for moisture to collect and pests to hide and multiply. The drier ones in your 4th and 5th pictures are on mature pseudobulbs. The first photo looks like a new growth that may not be doing too well. it looks limp like there may be some rot inside that skin. I would carefully split and remove it so the tissue inside can get some air.

The plant does look like it may have been over watered. Hard to say but it definitely needs a clean up and re-potting. I would remove all old potting media and cut away any mushy rotten roots. If you have some kelp extract (seaweed) or rooting hormone such as K-L-N or Superthrive, soak the cleaned up root base in water with some rooting hormone added for 1/2 hr. Soak your bark well or whatever potting media you are using. Catts like to be watered well when actively growing but to have good air to the roots and to dry rather quickly.

Repot in a pot just large enough to hold the roots and to allow for several new growths to fit. Once it is potted, if you need to, stake it or find some way to stabilize it. They take longer to re-establish if they are wobbling around in their pots.

I hope that helps.

[Junebug]

Those are pseudobulbs. The black papery covering is a sarong. Fresh sarongs are green. As the pseodobulb matures they dry and turn tan or brown. They can be safely peeled from the bulb when they are dry. Harmful insects can hide beneath sarongs so it's generally wise move to remove them.

Black is usually an indication of rot. It would be wise to remove the plant from the pot. The leaves and bulbs are dehydrated because the roots have died. Watering the plant at this stage will only make things worse if the roots are dead and the medium is decayed. Remove the sarongs and check for insects. Trim off all the dead and decaying roots. Remove rotten rhizomes and/ or any rhizomes showing signs of decay. You might have a hard time getting this plant to recover if all of the roots are dead due to the dehydrated bulbs. A rootless, stressed Cattleya has a better chance for recovery if the bulbs are still plump. Dehydrated plants can recover, but it can be a challenge requiring time, patience, and lots of TLC. Good luck!

[james mickelso]

The black skins are properly called "sheaths" here in the western hemisphere. In aisa they are called sarongs. The roots have been growing round and round the inside of the pot for probably 3 or 4 years. They are in sad shape but there are probably good roots under the surface of the decayed media that can be saved. The pseudobulbs which we will call pbulbs from here on out are in sad shape too. But this is excellent material to learn orchid culture. Each of these pbulbs has a good chance of growing a new pbulb and the newer of them can probably produce two per pbulb. When you go to repot this, "DO NOT WATER IT FOR AT LEAST TWO DAYS" before you attempt to pot it. Ok. So we'll say you are ready to proceed. You have a plastic, or better yet, a clay pot that is smaller than the pot it is growing in now. That is important. This looks like a 6 inch plastic pot and you want to get a pot that is no more than 5 inches in diameter. Get some good orchid potting soil which can be found at Home Depot or Lowes. It must be a mix that doesn't have a lot of fine fluffy material in it. Just coarse fir bark, white sponge rock, and charcoal. You are in Chicago so there are numerous orchid clubs you can go to for more info and probably some good potting mix. Look on the net. Get a small bottle of Superthrive at Home Depot. It will give your orchid a good chance to recover. This orchid is very dehydrated and none of these existing pbulbs and their leaves will plump back up. They are toast. But from these you will get new growths this year. Ok we'll say you are ready to proceed with this very easy process of repotting your orchid. You haven't watered it for the past two or three days so it will be easy to take it out of the pot. You've now gotten it out of the pot and with a screw driver you are going to carefully untangle the roots and generally get the old potting mix out of the roots. You don't have to get it all but do your best. Ok, roots....... Any roots that are obviously old and dead can be cut off. Use clippers or scissors that have been wiped down with iodine, Listerine, or isopropyl alcohol. Whiskey works too. Tequila is the best. Now those roots that you are unsure of, take between two fingers and give a little squeeze. If they feel hollow or mushy, cut them off. All the remaining roots should be viable even if dry and shriveled. Once you've cut off all the suspect roots, you now should peel off the old sheaths. I use tweezers to help maintain control of the peeling as some are tougher than others. You don't want to do anymore damage than has already been done by neglect. Peel a little thin strip at a time. Use great care when you are getting the sheaths down around the base as this is where the new growth will be and in the newer pbulbs it is where the new buds have already formed. I use tweezers and start at the base of the pbulb grabbing the lowest sheaths and pulling them down. Don't start at the top as you can see they grow bottom first. As you pull them off you will see little bumps or growths starting to form and this is what you are after. These are what this whole careful exercise is about. Those are the next seasons blooms. The existing pbulbs are nothing more than food for these new buds. The old pbulbs are storehouses of starches and sugars with some moisture for the new buds. So now you have the roots pared down, and the sheaths removed thereby exposing the pbulbs nice green skin. Next you want to place the cleaned up group of pbulbs into the pot you are going to p,kant them into. If the roots don't fit easily, then cut them back until they do. (And the audience gasps incredulously). Yes you heard me right. Cut the oldest, longest, driest roots down in length until the whole rootmass fits into the pot. Herem is the reasoning. The existing pbulbs have declined to the point where they are not going to rehydrate the existing pbulbs. Those leaves have withered to the point of no return. Once repotted they will suck up enough moisture to photosynthesize but they will never again become thoroughly hydrated. But they will suppodst the new growth buds until those new buds have grown into pbulbs and start growing roots of their own. So now you have cut off enough roots to get this rootmass into the pot. Hold the orchid above the pot with the rootmass down into the pot and start adding potting mix. It should be quite coarse. Heap it in there. Now tap the sides of the pot or tap the pot oin the table to settle the potting mix down into the rootmass. Repeat until all the voids have been filled. Don't mash it down into the rootmass. Just keep working it down into there until it is filled. Get some gardeners tape or some heavy string and tie this sucker into the pot. Now water it real well. Sit it in a tray or pot of water with the Superthrive added in the quantity the bottle says to. You'll have new orchids blooming next year. Easy huh!!!. You're welcome.

[MattWoelfsen]

You are fortunate that you live in Chicago. Hausermanns Orchids is in Villa Park, on Addison Road, west of Elmhurst. They sometimes provide repotting classes, and they provide all the supplies you will need to rescue this Catt. I am not affiliated with Hausermanns--I have bought many a plant from them. They have a huge greenhouse where you wander around and find great plant bargains. Here is a link to their website: http://www.orchidsbyhausermann.com/

As suggested earlier, orchid societies are filled with friendly and helpful people. I am a member of my local society, here in Fort Wayne, IN. We had a repotting clinic back in March. The IL Orchid Society had a large show and sale event at the Chicago Botanical Gardens this past April. I couldn't go but members of my society attended. Here is a link to the Illinois Orchid Society: http://www.iosoc.com/

You also joined a very helpful Orchid Board, you'll find and receive a lot of helpful information.

[Orchid126]

When you repot, don't plant the rhizome too deeply. It will suffocate. Plant it half in, half out of the medium. And use a pot that will just hold the roots and a tad more. Too big a pot will hold too much medium which will stay too wet, and catt roots like to dry out. Good luck!

[derv88]

Thank you all for your insightful suggestions and comments, they are extremely helpful!

Quick update on the sick Catt...condition has worsened. I followed the advice above, repotted, soaked in root enzyme, and have been watering and feeding regularly with ample light and humidity conditions.

Felt the Catt was getting worse off, so took her to Hausermanns and as soon as I walked in one of the orchid expert growers sees the plant from 15 feet away and says "Whoa. Gonna be a long road to recovery for that Catt."

I ask Joel to repot and inspect/clean up after telling him the story, he does and snaps off a couple of pseudobulbs that don't have any roots supporting them. He pots in an even smaller pot, says water and feed frequently (liberal waterings 1x per week), and 16 hours of light (4 t5 HOs).

Check out the pictures which arent great but you'll get the idea. Pseudobulbs yellowing and dying off. The whole plant looks stressed beyond recovery.

Any final parting thoughts?

---------- Post added at 08:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:17 PM ----------

For some reason it's not letting me add photos. Something about a missing security token.

[derv88]

Let's see if this works...

[silken]

Were there any decent roots when it got re-potted? It looks rather desiccated now. New bark does not hold moisture very well and you need to water more often for the first few months. Are there any new growths that are or will be putting out roots? I like to use a bamboo kebab skewer placed into the centre of the pot and I pull it out and test how wet it is before watering. I would continue to use some kelp or rooting hormone of some sort when you water until this starts putting out roots. It is still possible for this to survive and get re-established.