Need help with new orchi

[Flower Fool]

Okay, so I bought this orchid today and am not sure if it is salvageable. I did get it for 50% off. I think it may be a cattleya. Not really sure, there was no tag. It appears to be planted in moss. It is very, very dry and the medium was quite hard to the touch. Some of the roots snapped of as soon as they were touched. So my question is what should I do with this plant to hopefully get it happy and healthy again.

[Lani]

Plant def looks salvageable. From what I can see it does look cattleya-ish and they are quite hardy. It looks very dehydrated as you mentioned, and that media HAS to go. I like free draining media for catts like lava rock and charcoal as they like to dry out a little between watering. I would suggest removing all that moss (might want to give it a good soak first to give the roots a bit more flexibility -the live ones that is). Then chop off any dead root matter. What you do from there can vary depending on opinion but I would want to initiate some root growth before potting. Give the whole plant a good soak in a dilute solution of seaweed extract for a few hours. Then I would put some rocks in a big jar and add water to just reach the top of the rocks. Sit the plant on the rocks so it's root area remains damp but not underwater. I find the jar helps hold humidity around the plant but allows for some airflow. Leave it in this set up until new roots pop out (could take a few weeks). Then you can pot up again
Attached is a photo of the jar I like to use for my rescues.

There is more than one right way to resuscitate a plant, let us know what you do and how you go. Good luck!

[WhiteRabbit]

I'd pot it in the smallest pot possible in media of your choice - medium fir bark mix is fine. Water when media is dry or nearly so.

Most orchids with pbulbs can be extremely resilient.

[dounoharm]

yes, it is a cattleya....and cats don't mind being dry for long periods so it will probably be fine....first off, soak it in a bucket with a little dish soap in it, both to hydrate it, loosen dead matter, and kill anything that might be crawling....then, you want to scrub that thing, cutting off any loose stuff and dead material....I am not sure what that is around the base of the plant, that grey speckeldy stuff, but make sure you get rid of that.....after scrubing it with the water and soap you soaked it in, I would scrub it again with alcohol and a toothbrush, just to make sure....then pot that baby up in very large bark chunks, make sure it is firm in the pot, and leave it for about 10 days, then water every week to ten days....I like clay pots for cats, and as small a pot as you can fit it in....good luck!

[Flower Fool]

Thank you everyone for your responses.

So, I finally got around to taking it out of its pot today. It was pack SOLID with moss. Every nook and cranny was stuffed with moss. It took me 45 minutes to get all the moss off. There were almost no viable roots. I think the white speckled looking stuff on the bulbs was just dried on moss. I have repotted it in some old orchid bark I had. I know it may not be the best but it has to be better than what it was in. Will get some better bark soon. Also, I am not sure how deep it is supposed to be planted.

Thank you for you help.

[james mickelso]

I would get some tweezers and take off all the sheath material that is dead and papery. Fungus and molds along with scale and mealy bugs can hide under it and kill your plant before you know it. It is imperative. No need to un-pot it. Just carefully start at the bottom sheath on each pbulb and with tweezers carefully pull it off. This is where you'll find all your new buds. This looks like it has a fair bit of potinara in it. That's what makes it a mini catt. Short round pbulbs with short wide leaves. Nothing growing on this plant is more important than those new growth buds found at the base of each of the pbulbs. Most likely there is one viable bud on the second newest pbulb and possible two on the newer of them. I would not water this until that old bark mix is fairly dry. Don't get any fungal diseases started.

[Flower Fool]

Thanks James

I'm still really new a trying to grow orchids and this is my first cattleya. I did not know that you are supposed to remove that papery stuff. What are the new growth buds that you're talking about? Also, should I cut off the old flower spike, and if so where do I cut it? I am attaching more pictures. In the first picture is that a flower bud or is it where an old flower has already bloomed? Should I remove all that papery stuff right to the bottom? And when I get a chance should it be repotted in larger orchid bark only? I know it's a lot of questions but like I said I'm really new at orchids and I would love to see this one bloom. I have a phal that I bought five years ago and it has never re-bloomed. I really hope that once I get this cattleya healthy maybe it will re-bloom. Sorry, one last question. Are the pseudobulbs supposed to be plump and not wrinkly?

Thank you everyone for any helpful information you can give me to get this into a healthy a blooming plant.

[james mickelso]

Once you remove all the brown papery sheaths and look at the base of the pbulb, you will see a bump. It will be noticeable on the pbulb that produced the spike. This is the newest pbulb. The second pic shows a pbulb that didn't produce a flower spike. Catts do this when the plant hasn't enough stored energy to produce flowers. It's saving that energy for the next season's flowers. If you can get some newer slightly larger media I would repot. If not, just watch your watering. Catts like to be watered and then allowed to dry out completely. With this more dense, smaller sized media it will have a tendency to stay too wet for too long. Catts are epiphyts and grow along tree branches and the crotches of tree branches. Roots completely exposed. They also like as much light, short of full sun, as you can give them. The more light the better the flowering next season. Those growth buds that you'll find at the base of the newest pbulb is next season's flowers. Get these to grow and you'll get flowers around oct-dec. Questions? Just ask.

[Flower Fool]

Thanks for all your help James.