Can anyone tell me what is growing on my 2 Cattleyas?

[LizM]

Hi,
I was watering my catts and checking for new sheaths and noticed all these growths on the newest sheath. I can tell several are new sheaths. I counted 7 total growths. Can anyone tell me what they are? The fisrt 3 are pics of my Blc. Yen Corona "Green Genius' She is 4 yrs old and had grown 2 new sheaths since I've had her but nothing like this.

The 2nd 3 pics are my Blc. Mem Anna Baltmores Carmela. I see one new sheath but have no clue what the other green nubs are. I counted 8 new growths on this one.

Could they be roots? And if so why are they on the oppsite side of the new sheath? Other then that I have no clue what they are. Also I did not use keiki paste on these, in case you were wondering.

Any insight into what is going on would be greatly appriciated.
Thank you
Liz
Sorry about the side ways and upside down pics. I didn't know how to fix them.

[estación seca]

Hi LizM,

Those aren't sheaths. Some basic terminology is in order.

With Cattleyas, the upright growths consist of water storage organs called pseudobulbs, with one or more leaves at the very top.

A sheath is a structure enclosing developing flower buds. Sheaths in Cattleyas almost always come off the very top of the pseudobulb, inside the innermost leaf (if there is more than one leaf.)

Pseudobulbs grow from the rhizome, which is a (mostly) horizontal section of stem creeping across the top of the medium, or on the branch if mounted.

At the base of each pseudobulb are one or more dormant growth points usually called eyes. One or more of these swells up and forms a new growth.

Roots grow from the rhizome. They usually are formed during a limited period of time.

The structures you ask about are either eyes or new roots developing. I don't see any sheaths.

[LizM]

Hi,
Thank you for your response and on what they could be. Sorry my mistake on the terminology. Thank you for the clairification.
Liz

[rbarata]

An image worths a thousand words...the brownish structure in the photo bellow is a sheath and the flower spike develops inside of it.
When it's ready to bloom, the spike forces the sheath and breaks it to allow the blooms come out (2nd photo).

[LizM]

Thanks Rbarata. This in my first year with orchids other than phals. The picture explains it perfectly. I'm still learning the terminology for these orchids. I now know the difference between a sheath and a pseudobulb from the repies I have received
Thanks again.
Liz

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

The little growths coming out of the base of the Cattleya on pic 2 and pic 3 you have focused on are a combination of the eyes and new root buds. The teardrop shaped ones are the eyes. The dome shaped ones are the root buds. They are growing out of the rhizome.

Regarding pic 5: The dome shaped growths coming out of the living cane on the very bottom of the photo are root buds. The top-most growth in the photo is dead. The one directly below that growth is on its way out/dying. The bottom-most growth with the developing roots is alive and well, as is the growth that is in the background.

Pic 6: The longest new growth on the Cattleya's rhizome shows a growing new root tip. The dome shaped bud is a root bud.

[LizM]

Hi Philip,
Thank you for explaining. I knew the the triangles were new canes coming up but I called them sheaths. I was confused by the root tips as most of the catts I have, the roots are growing in the media from the bottom of the cane and not off the side of an already established new cane. Can I repot the one with the dead canes and remove them as I don't think they are not providing anything to the rest of the plant? Although I could be wrong. Since this is my first time working with catts and dens and am still learning how to care for them and there's still a lot to learn. When is the best time to repot them? I heard the best time to repot is when you see green root tips coming from the new cane. Is there a bad time to repot? I dont know if you can see it in the pics but the media looks kind of old and the orchid in the 2nd set of pics the new cane is growing in the corner of the pot with probably no room for future growths. Also if i cut the old canes out is it a possibility that new canes could grow from the cut rhizome? Isn't that how divisions are done to promote new growths?
Sorry for all the questions, like I said I'm still learning and you guys/ladies seem to be the best to ask and I'm trying to do whats best for my catts.
Thanks again.
Liz

[estación seca]

I would not chop this plant up now. You are still learning. Let it grow as big and as fast as it can, and it will be better able to tolerate mistakes. (This is why I like big plants, and not so much miniatures.)

The best time to repot a Catt is between the time when new green root tips are just showing, and they are long enough you might damage them.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

You can remove the fully dead growths any time of the year. It makes your plant clean and you will not run into problems with providing too big of a pot for the size of the living root mass in the future.

Caveat: I am only speaking in terms of your Cattleya for the above mentioned advice. Do not remove canes that appear dead on Dendrobiums, they may not be truly dead.

Leave the half-dead growths alone, they can still provide the rest of the plant with sugars, albeit not as efficiently as if it was fully alive.

I would not repot unless it is necessary to do so, and the best time to repot is when new roots are starting to develop. However, I must caution that if you are going to do this, you should be very careful about damaging new roots. I have repotted Cattleyas during the winter as well, and have had no big problems. The trick is to not damage living roots in the process. It is usually easier to repot if the roots get drenched well and they turn from a shiny white to green.

Do not divide any of the living growths. I usually do not like to advise people to divide their plants. When you divide plants into smaller portions, they tend to suffer set backs such as delaying blooming cycles and in worst case scenarios, the weaker divisions can die. The more living growths there are on the plant the stronger it is. It has little to do with whether the orchids are miniatures or not.

I'll give you a couple of personal examples of why I don't usually advise people to divide their plants.

I have a Maxillaria schunkeana that I have grown for about 13 - 14 years. At certain points during the time I have had it, it has grown into a fairly large plant. Occasionally, the plant gets divided because of cleanup efforts. The larger division always survives. The smaller divisions usually suffer and die. Max. schunkeana incidentally is a miniature.

However, I've had the same problem with trying to divide Vandas in the past. I no longer even try to divide my Vandas. Many of the Vandas I grow are not miniature species.

From these experiences, I do not advise people to divide their plants.

I personally do not divide any of my plants with the intention of purposefully dividing it if at all possible anymore.

[LizM]

Thank you Estaciòn seca and Philip. Since I am not that experienced in dividing I will leave them alone when it comes to that and will let them continue to grow. Yes, I do understand that old Den canes may still be good for them. But I am concerened about the catts over growing the pot with the new eyes coming in. I have heard that when you repot a catt the roots from the oldest canes will die off after the repot. Is this true? From what you can see in the pics, are these eyes actively growing or dorment considering there are so many on the Green Genius catt? (The first 3 pics in the orginal post) Since I have had this catt and it has only put off 2 new canes. It was the first catt I bought. But now I see 5 eyes on the 2 canes. And I'm not sure the 3 inch pot will hold them all and is already tipping over if not set down just right.
Also in the lot of orchids I ordered online, I did not choose it, I was sent this catt in this condition. What would you suggest I do with it? I think it may need to be divided and repotted or can it be repotted the way it is in a big pot? I don't know how to get the highest roots into the pot without burying the others. It also has 3 new eyes on 3 different canes.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read, respond and explain this stuff to a beginner. I really appreciate all of the advice this board has given me. I do google and watch youtube videos and find them very helpful but sometimes I can't always get answers to the questions I may have. And have not been able to find any info on what to do with this particular catt in this condition.
Thank you
Liz