The most root-bound Cat you will see today?

[kikitastrophe]

I’ll always be a beginner - I’m never going to have useful advice on orchid care for any of you, but I hope I can amuse with pictures!

I bought this C. chocolate drop ‘volcano queen’ in 2008 and even through periods of significant neglect it has thrived. However, I had not repotted it since I got it – that’s 5 years! Oops. I’m not going to give you any excuses, but this was the year - it hasn’t bloomed despite looking like it really wanted to.

Getting the plant out of the pot (without damaging it) was a 20 minute struggle – woman vs. plant, including significant forearm strain (the plant is heavy!) and delicate fingerwork. As soon as I had it free – you can see that the plant appears larger than the pot! Also, note how absolutely clean the pot is (in contrast to my kitchen floor.)

I ended up separating the plant into 3, and it has been 3 weeks and all of the plants are thriving. One is even considering blooming again… (I won’t get my hopes up.)

[EricaMarie]

Well you won the battle. I would have broken that pot most likely. LOL. They look no worse for wear. Nice

[tucker85]

Good job. C. Chocolate Drop has a reputation for being a strong and rapid growing orchid. In the future, a little more light might encourage it to bloom. Good luck.

[james mickelso]

Yes. As Tucker said, they love lots of light. Cut back on the fertilizer when the pbulbs are almost mature. And they love a well draining media too. the plant looks very healthy indeed. Good job.

[LadySoren]

I'm sorry to post a question on another person's thread, so ignore me if that's rude, but-
Catt type orchids only bloom from a pseudobulb like once right?
If that's the case- do you separate them so that each section can be "parents" to new psb growth? So like in this case, she will get at least 3 new growths, one or more per plant this year?

Also, good job with not breaking that pot! Lol

[silken]

Originally Posted by LadySoren

I'm sorry to post a question on another person's thread, so ignore me if that's rude, but-
Catt type orchids only bloom from a pseudobulb like once right?
If that's the case- do you separate them so that each section can be "parents" to new psb growth? So like in this case, she will get at least 3 new growths, one or more per plant this year?

Also, good job with not breaking that pot! Lol

Looks like a great re-potting job.

LadySoren, yes, they bloom once on a usually mature pseudo bulb. But each pseudo bulb has several eyes that are capable of producing new growths. By splitting it, older mature growths on the new divided plants will be woken up and new growths will occur on each plant now. So given the correct amount of light and nutrients, each plant should bloom from at least 1 new pseudo bulb each. There is a good chance they can grow more than one new growth each. Usually when you divide, you leave a minimum of 3 to 4 pseudo bulbs on each piece so there is enough to support blooming in the next bloom season.

[kikitastrophe]

Update:
Despite the severely late repotting and associated trauma, it looks like I am going to get some winter blooms from my Cattleya Chocolate Drop 'Volcano Queen' after all!

[james mickelso]

Super!!! The color on the leaves looks very good. Keep it warm.

[dounoharm]

looks great! you did a good job dividing it too...I have been known to take a sledge hammer to the clay pots when they get stuck, lol....and then I go in with a big knife and cut the lower 2-3 inches off the root ball, then divide it...I get brutal! but with big cats and heavy root systems sometimes you have to be a little bit aggressive! note: that was greenhouse growing...I don't know if I would be so rough in home culture...

[kikitastrophe]

I'm a total goober when it comes to orchids, so I had no idea this could happen - forgive me for gushing if this sort of thing is common.

I posted a little while back about the new growths with new bloom sheaths... above. I can't wait to show you those blooms (they continue to look healthy) What surprises me is that an old sheath that had dried up and turned brown before I repotted has sprouted buds! (This apparent "blasting" of the sheaths prompting me to go ahead a repot the plant in the first place because I didn't think I would get any flowers until I did.) I would have thought that a brown, dry sheath was never going to make blooms. My other flowers came up with a still-green sheath. Cool, huh? Obviously I will update with pretty pretty bloom photos later, but I wanted to share my zombie buds!

Thoughts?