Cattleya Green Emerald almost dead
 

Dear Friends

At the end of last year a friend asked me to help him repot a Cattleya that he had ordered from the worse vendor in Europe. I did what I could and potted with bark and carbon as Pic 1, but the plant was in very bad condition, despite that it produced 2 roots and I thought that it was recovering properly and I handed it back to him. Yesterday he brings it to me againg, this times like "here this is for you I don't want this craxxx thing :( and unpoted (pic 2 &3) .. The two roots didn't continue to developed as you can see, they just stop, must roots are really damage and I understand that for that reason the plant leaves are super deshidratated... The Cattleyas are not my strong point, so I am not sure what to do with it.

My weather condition at this moment is warm with lot of air circulation, I am watering the rest of Cats every 2 days since they dry fast. (I actually took lights measures of the 3 different covered section we have.

Could you advise me please.

Repot in Nov.20
https://i.imgur.com/uHJByhx.jpg

Now
https://i.imgur.com/IzaEHxA.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Fz0uORl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Wd4fVcz.jpg

Light measurement around 1pm (sunny time of the day)

This is natural light and I have Phals an other small, young plantes.
https://i.imgur.com/amdnbIk.jpg

This is natural light and I have Cattleyas placed here.
https://i.imgur.com/hkjjErX.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/gB0DmTA.jpg

First, it can recover, with proper care.

It appears to be a bifoliate Cattleya species or hybrid. The leaves and pseudobulbs are very wrinkled, indicating it hasn't received the proper amount of water for a long time.

They tend to make roots only for a short period of time. Your task is to keep it alive until it makes more roots.

That kind of large bark mixture works fine if the gardener waters enough. This plant didn't get enough water. Bifoliate Cattleyas like a very large amount of water in the growing season. If it was kept where the humidity was low that made things more difficult.

The new growing roots might have died from low humidity, not enough watering or a combination of both.

What are the day/night temperatures and the relative humidity in your growing area? Is it bare-root now, or did you repot it?

This orchid certainly looks like it has more than a good chance of getting back on the road again ----- as can be seen from the green root.

Some nice growing temperature, and good humidity, and gentle air-flow, and taking careful measures to avoid drowning any roots that are still alive ----- will see a nice recovery.

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...1&d=1624846808

The large medium is great for drainage... but I wonder if those new developing roots got damaged if the plant became loose in the medium. It is really important that the plant be very firmly held in place, because any wobble can damage new developing root tips. Those old bad roots can help to anchor the plant in place, so don't be tempted to cut them.

To keep the plant from dehydrating more while it is waiting to grow a new group of roots, perhaps place a plastic bag over the plant and pot (maybe remove it once a day to let the air refresh). Sort of a mini-greenhouse, holding humidity.

From the original pics, it can be seen that some of the roots have roots branching out from the main roots. So ----- as long as a root stays alive, it could possibly send out branches. And new roots can grow from the rhizome etc. The main thing is to keep the orchid nicely hydrated ----- its bulbs and leaves, and to keep existing roots alive. And this orchid will definitely make it.

This pic here - pic link - that I posted recently can be seen to have branches from the main root. And the roots grew down into the sand (soil) through the drainage grates heheh.

This reminds me of all but one of my early Cattleyas...except for the black markings and a live root (those early orchids came from a florist who potted them in potting soil and left them in a very cold greenhouse during the winter). After removing all the brown, dried parts, they did manage to recover.

My technique....
I would fill the pot with lava rock to just below where you want the orchid to sit and then wire the orchid firmly in place so that it doesn't move and that it is just barely over the lava rock with the new root not touching (Bifoliate Cattleya--must be extra gentle with roots). Place this somewhere it can remain for the next few months. Water the root and the rock well twice a day for humidity. Don't move the orchid around...the less disturbance, the better. When you get new root growth that begins to go down into the rock, you can gently add whatever medium you prefer on top of the rock (again, don't move the orchid.) and begin to fertilize (weakly, weekly). If all goes well, in a few months, the orchid should be established and you can remove the wire and it will be fine to move the orchid.

Usually, when they are completely rootless and not bifoliates, you can just wire them directly on top of the medium but bifoliates do have a reputation.... I like Lava rock because you can water it like crazy and it doesn't rot which is great for keeping the root area humid.

had to edit my answer, didn't realize this was the green emerald hybrid which does look absolutely terrible.
I would have not accepted that plant and would have complained straight away.
The problem I see is that it is so dehydrated it might have lost all it's eyes. If it has no more eyes then it can't produce new growths. If it still has a functional place to grow then it might make it but it would take years.

edit: ok I haven't had my coffee today, didn't see that the last pictures were taken 8 months after the first picture...

So on the first picture I can see a live eye. 8 months later all I see is brown so it actually went down hill in these 8 months and did worse than at the shop.

Coffee does make a difference. :)

---------- Post added at 03:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:58 PM ----------

To be honest, I would probably pitch the orchid. I don't really like those black markings. Then again, I don't like spots on Oncidium leaves so....

Hi Estación, ha sido un verdadero desastre ... no watering for days even week. But after repot has been well taking care but not sign of greener anything; neither leaves or roots.

I'll try to water it everyday and keep nit humid.

Thanks so much!

SD

If it helps Sade,
this is one of my recoveries and I honestly thought I had killed it, who knows maybe I still have, it lost the last 2 canes, the last one just turned completely black but it's hanging in there producing a new growth again so there is hope, even if there is no green left at all sometimes.

[QUOTE =Roberta;961102] perhaps place a plastic bag over the plant and pot (maybe remove it once a day to let the air refresh). Sort of a mini-greenhouse, holding humidity.[/QUOTE]


@roberta
If you look well I did I tied it with a bridle but left the rotten roots in the air, but the plant had stability.

I'll try the mini green house ... Let see how it works.


---------- Post added at 02:52 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:48 AM ----------

I was convince by now a new root will show, but it's been like a Mommy since a month now hahaha

Ohhh nice...

I also want to know how you use the Pics url's from Google, I am super fan of Google drive and Foto but it won't let me to chare url's.




---------- Post added at 02:58 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:52 AM ----------


first when he told me that it was a new plant I thought he was joking ... that he had it there and he had forgotten it and then when he told me the price I was freaking out


THANK YOU ALL. Let see if we could all get this plan to bloom this beautiful flower

https://www.patrickpolbosorchids.fr/...hid-queen-.jpg

After uploading your pic to google drive, you then just put your mouse cursor over the thumbnail of the pic (or even the filename of the pic within google drive), and then right-click the mouse - NOT left-click.

There you will see a pop-up menu ------ where one of the options is the 'get link' option. Select that option.

Then change the default 'restricted' setting for that pic to a new setting ----- which will be 'anyone with the link'. Once that is done, you then simply click on the 'copy link' button, which will copy the web-link for that google drive image ------ which you can use here. That is - once you've copied the link ----- you can paste that link anywhere.

Wow I just discovered America...thank you so much :bowing

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a resurrection; the rescue has been a success. Observe the wonderful new bud that has come out of the mummy.

TEAM WORK

https://i.imgur.com/Gz8nvX8.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/8WYVyig.jpg

Yessss! Great save! Where there is green there is hope!

That is excellent! Because of the struggle this growth may not be as large as the previous ones, and it may not flower. The next growths should be large enough to flower.

I have a bifoliate catt with a flower similar to yours. My plant has two growing seasons so maybe you're lucky.

hey sade, would you mind sending me a pm with the name of that vendor? it would be nice to know such info to possibly avoid ordering from them in the future. thanks!

Congrats Sade,
that is a brilliant rescue.

Tmoney, don't forget it went downhill and was then "brought back to life" showing how we care for them can make all the difference. I don't think it would be fair to blame this post on the shop even if that is what I had assumed to start with.

Anyway SADE, well done, I'd say you are ready to try your luck with seedlings next - if you still have room for more lol

Nicely done. Excellent work. The new media is working well. The large bark pieces that were used previously might have made it tricky to maintain a desired level of moisture within the pot ----- as in not too dry most of the time, and also not saturated most of the time.

This new medium is being used nicely. So the way that you're watering ----- based on the day to day conditions there (and based on this particular new mix) is certainly effective. Nice work.

Great save!! :) It's amazing how resilient orchids are, and can come back from the brink of death. I'm looking forward to seeing photos of the blooms in a year or two!

Now, can I send you my rescue Catt to work your magic on it? :biggrin: It was in the same state and is ever so slowly recovering, but at a much much slower pace than yours!