My first cattleya not sure what to do!

[leslieann79]

I bought this teeny tiny guy at Lowe's. It was packaged by Better Grow and it was in some kind of mesh. Its really small. I think the pot is like 2 inches across. Should I re pot it? Im going to have fun looking up the care of cattleya's and stuff so Im not necessarily asking for that. Although I wouldn't mind any tips you have. I just mainly want to know if I should put it in something a little bigger or leave it alone for now. I was thinking of maybe making a pot out of a water bottle for it. Also how many years before this might flower ya think? Thanks

[kindrag23]

Yes you could re pot looks like some roots are possibly rotted.

[tucker85]

I'm not sure but I think Pot. Dick Smith is a standard size cattleya. If so, I would expect it could bloom in about 2 years. Unfortunately cattleyas require some patience. If the media looks good, there's no big rush to repot. You could wait until springtime. If the media has deteriorated, you could repot now but only use a slightly bigger pot. Cattleyas like to be potted pretty tight. Let it dry completely between waterings.

[leslieann79]

[QUOTE=kindrag23;616432]Yes you could re pot looks like some roots are possibly rotted.[/QUOTE

Is it the same as looking for root rot in a phal? Just take it out and look for mushy ones?

[kindrag23]

Yeah. Same thing with almost all orchids .

[EricaMarie]

A friend gave me one of those Better Grow bags from Lowe's. Yours looks a lot better condition than the one I got! They abuse those poor babies so bad. But, I get some good discount orchids that way. :P I repotted mine right away. It took two years for mine to finally bloom for me. I have mostly Phal's so was tickled it bloomed for me. Although my supposedly yellow flower turned out to be light purple...

[leslieann79]

I took it out of the pot and one leaf came away with its own root system. I don't know what that means. Although all except for one of those roots were hollow I still stuck it back in with the main pot. They were very dry. I checked the other roots on the main plant for hollowness but they seemed to be ok. I put it back in the pot it came in because I don't have any that small. I guess if I need to repot it I will make one out of a water bottle. So am I correct in assuming if a root easily slides off to reveal a skinny little rope that they are rotted.

[kindrag23]

It can mean they were rotted or were left to wet and the outer root covering rotted from being to wet.

[Leafmite]

Cattleyas do very well in red lava rock. I plant them in a basket pot I think will hold them for the next seven years, in straight lava rock. The rhyzome and pseudobulb are set on top of the medium and staked well so there is no movement. Give the cattleya good light, a south facing window, if possible, and in summer, put it outside where it recieves direct morning sun, then shade by noon and onward. Water when dry, even in the middle of the pot. In lava rock, it is very difficult to rot roots so I don't worry. Cattleyas need a constant source of calcium. Some have rest periods when they are not growing and at these times, they don't need to be fertilized. Most can take a night in the forties but average temperatures should be a low of 55'F at night and 64'F during the day. The lower the temps, the less water they usually require. I hope this helps you. My first two orchids were a cattleya and a vanda and I had to learn by trial and error as the Internet was relatively new. Fortunately, I still have them. Good luck!

[LadySoren]

Adding a question here-

I have a Potinara which I have been told is Catt alliance mixes
Anyway, does a Pot. need that calcium too? And how to I get calcium to it if there's not any in my fertilizer?