Cattleya Leaf Color

[Hiester]

This is my C. Tokyo Life after about two weeks under T5 fluorescent lighting at 6500K at a distance of about eighteen inches. The plants do get variable, natural indirect lighting all day long, and maybe a tiny bit of direct sun very, very late in the day. You can see another Cattleya in the center background. The (mostly older) leaves are developing very slight quilting, as if I am not watering enough. I've been watering about every other day. Both plants are sending out strong root growth right now, though leaf growth seems to have slowed. They are both in 3½" net pots.

Does this look normal? OK? Should I be watering every day?

[WhiteRabbit]

I can't see what you are talking about - tho I am viewing on my phone ... hopefully some others can help ...

[Leafmite]

It is really difficult for me to know what is wrong with an orchid from a picture. I usually need to examine them closely. However, since no one else has replied, I will try to help.
Color of the leaves alone does not indicate a problem. Cattleyas do vary in their leaf coloring. When they get high light, some Cattleya leaves get purple coloring, some get spots, some turn light green, and others stay a nice, dark green even when exposed to full sun most of the day.
You mentioned 'quilting' and I am guessing that this means the leaves are looking a little dry (leaves can begin turning yellow in this case). I did not take note of what medium you are using but I prefer to use red lava rock or, my new favorite, expanded clay pellets. For the pot, it depends on the needs of the Cattleya. Some like to dry very quickly and need a Vanda basket or mount and the rest of mine go in basket pots. During the warmer months, I water nearly every day. If you are using bark and a solid pot, I am not sure you could do this. What I would do is to carefully move a little of the medium aside and check the roots as far down as you can without disturbing them. If they are fine, it might be that you need to water by soaking the pot for a few minutes to give the roots time to absorb enough water. I like to soak mine until the roots turn green (easy to see with my set ups).
I hope the roots are fine and that your orchid just needs more water. Good luck!

[Hiester]

Thanks, Leafmite. These two Cattleyas are both in net pots with coarse bark and some coarse perlite. The roots look fine, with nice silvery white velamen and green tips, and they do turn a solid green when I water. I'm using a very weak fertilizer solution every watering and have been flushing the pots about once a month. I have two other small Cattleya types and they both seem to be fine. But these two in the picture seem to be drying out too much with every other day watering. I think I will try every day watering for a week or two and see if that helps the wrinkling (quilting) on the leaves. The pots are very light weight when it's time to water.

[Leafmite]

Is it the older growths that are 'quilting'? I ask because sometimes, when Cattleyas are re-potted, their roots are damaged and these roots die while the new growths put out new roots which establish the orchid in its new medium. If this isn't the case, it might just be that this particular Cattleya is more demanding of water during the growing season. Not all Cattleyas are the same.
If none of this applies, there is a type of disease, Fusarium Wilt that could do this. It is rather rare but if there seems to be no other cause for your orchid's decline....

[Hiester]

Yes, it seems the older growth is more severely affected. I was thinking maybe some of the older roots were beginning to die off and that was causing the wrinkling. I don't think it's any sort of infection. I'm resisting the urge to dig too deep in the pots since I haven't had these plants for very long and I know they must have gone through some distress in shipping. They were both loose in their pots (really should have been anchored better) when I got them, so I have used some plastic coated wire to stabilize them. I'm hoping to keep them in the net pots until at least next spring. I might decide to mount them at that time.... just don't want to lose them over the winter.

[Leafmite]

If the Cattleya has new growth putting out new, healthy roots, you will not lose the Cattleya over the winter as it has established itself (especially as you will be growing under lights). The older growths will likely lose their leaves and become 'back bulbs' but this won't affect your new growth.

[NYCorchidman]

Leaf color is not affected by watering unless you kill the plant. lol
Some cattleyas have much yellower leaves than others, and the more light you give them, the yellower they will get.

[brianwstephens]

Thats totally fine. Some of my catts that are in direct light get a purplish tinge to their leaves. I believe that this means that they are absorbing their maximum amount of light due to the high conditions. As long as I don't see any sun damage, I let them be.