Cattleya with blackened new growths, strange pest - follow up thread

[bethmarie]

I started two threads about this plant - one titled 'Yellow mottled leaves and losing new growths on Catt' and the other -- 'Help identifying an orchid pest, please'.

This is a follow up, for 3 reasons.

One, I want to give a shiny red apple to Nikkik, who correctly identified the uncommon pest in my orchid. I took pictures to an entomologist and she agreed: it was Garden Symphylans. They are not simply gross, they are also detrimental to roots. How this soil dwelling creature ended up in my lava rock, I do not know, but I hope never to see one again, even if Estacion does think they're cute.

Two, I wanted to show you what happened to the entirely blackened, early new growths on this Cattleya once I started giving it calcium as suggested. Pictures below.

Three, while there are 3 now thriving new growths coming on, the main plant looks worse than it did before I unpotted and got rid of the dang symphylans. It's more dehydrated, mainly.

Would you leave it, and let the new growths do their thing? I'm tempted to re-unpot and check the roots, but I already know they didn't look at all good when I pulled it out of lava. Not sure if there's anything to be accomplished by checking them again. I just hope the new growths get some roots going before I lose the plant.

The pictures show the previously black (all black) new growths as they are today. You can still see a bit of black at the base of the growths. Also pictures of whole plant in decline. And a picture of the garden symphylan.

Thanks again, everyone!