Epicatt purple-ish rhizome

[Deeplydeepali]

I bought an epicatt in april at the orchid society show. Since I am new to the hobby and have hear that bifoliate cattleya do not like repotting I waited till i saw new growth to do so. There was one dried rotten bulb that was there on purchase and i was ready to cut it off. When i did, i was surprised to see purple on the rhizome. Is this fusarium? All the roots had died btw, even though i kept it in its original medium (moss, fairly new looking) and made sure to water it when the medium was bone dry. Skipped a couple days too just to be safe. However, there are new growths on each bulb so i'm hoping thats a hood sign.

[PaphMadMan]

I don't see anything that would concern me unless the tissue in that area is soft. If it is mostly hard and dry, no problem. I'd do some additional trimming and clean up and get it potted up in bark mix rather than moss. With new growth coming it should re-establish quickly.

[Deeplydeepali]

Thank you for the advice. Since this orchid is rootless, should I water it a bit more to promote growth or continue as is when it comes to watering/fertilizing?

[PaphMadMan]

If anything, watering could be less frequent than if there were roots. With no roots removing water from the mix it may stay wet longer. If you're adapting to a change from moss to bark as well, you will want to watch moisture level closely.