Cut off or leave old pseudobulbs

[ArronOB]

I have a number of cattleyas that have been hugely neglected. They have suffered periods of months without water or fertiliser. They have thin, leathery leaves.

I’ve been watering these well for a while and they are recovering, with new growth emerging, and I think some of the last-season leaves are actually rehydrated - not back to how they should be but good enough. So I think they are going to make it.

Now I’m thinking about what do next.

The very oldest and dryest pseudobulbs are a no-brainer. Just cut them off.

But what about the ones that aren’t so bad. Wrinkly but still greenish-yellow and photosynthesising to some degree.

Should I cut them off because their potential for disease outweighs their benefits. Like any Cattleya grown outside in a neglectful manner they have a scary amount of dubious spots and patches on the leaves. I have been watching these for a while however and they don’t seem to be spreading.

Should I leave them there to minimise disturbance and benefit the plant through photosynthesis - however little they contribute. In some cases cutting all the desiccated leaves and pseudobulbs off will leave me with a plant with just one mediocre mature leaf and a couple of new leads.

Or should I wait till the new leads are large enough to be net contributors then cut. This sounds like the logical choice but bear in mind that we are in mid-summer now and the new growths were slow to start, so I wouldn’t be cutting till mid autumn - not a time I like to do major plant surgery at all.

Thanks for reading
Arron