Four months ago, I ordered a cattleya from a large vendor that has a great reputation. I never checked the roots and I thought the medium was "fresh" because there was fresh bark on the surface. Little did I know, that when I repotted it last week, I discovered it had about 1-2" of good bark on the surface, and below that: MUSH! I have no idea what exactly that mush was composed of, but it had the texture of...mud! The roots were all rotten, every one of them.
The plant's leaves and bulbs don't look too bad--even now--so I guess the lack of roots isn't killing the plant too quickly. However, I wonder about its long-term outlook...
I had another catt from the same vendor that was potted in mush below the surface, but luckily it still had some good roots.
Btw, I don't overwater my catts. In fact, I tend to keep them a little on the dry side.
This is disheartening coming from a vendor with such a great reputation.
Hybrid Mode
