black on cattleya!

[ohanahana]

i just noticed this on my cattleya jose' marti 'mother's favorite'!! what is it??

[ohanahana]

somebuddy--help me before i cut the thing off!!

[Roly0217]

That looks like the outter sheat drying out. It will becoma a papery film that can be peeled off. see if it's dry enough to be peeled off right now and if the pseudobulb is green then everything is normal.

[ohanahana]

going right now--thank you!

[Roly0217]

No problem. Let us know if it's green or not. If not cut it at the base but try not to damage that new lead developing.

[ohanahana]

yes! i was able to take it off and the p-bulb was green underneath--i was worried it was black rot--i'm so paranoid about fungus! thank you--i appreciate your help!!!

[ohanahana]

but why did you think it was just a drying sheath instead of some fungus? my first instinct was to cut it off at the base...

[Roly0217]

Good to read that. You can either peel it off or let it dry. If worried go ahead and peel it off but try not to damage the pseudobulb.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

He was able to tell because he's probably grown a few Cattleyas and has seen that immature growths keep putting out immature leaves until the mature one(s) emerge(s). The immature leaves then dry up and become the protective sheath around the developing pseudobulbs.

There's also the fact that he most likely saw the beige portion of the shoot are dried up tissue from the immature leaves.

If it was rot, the developing shoot would most likely not make it as far as yours did. Even if a large almost mature shoot did develop rot on the leaves, the developing pseudobulb will still be around as long as you remove the rotten leaf early enough.

[Roly0217]

Just like King said Cattleyas are my favorite genus with about 150 in my collection and I can pretty much tell when it's rot and when it's the protective sheat drying out. If you need any help or have more questions just ask away. I'll be happy to help.