Severe pseudobulb shrivelling after Cattleya re-potting

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I just took this photo of the Laelia superbiens to show you just how small that pot is in comparison to the plant.

[deanna83]

Thanks Philip. Will re-pot first thing in the morning into a smaller pot. Any words of wisdom if the poor thing is now rootless?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Maybe use a tray and put moss in it, then place the orchid on top of a small cork bark mount and place it on top of that. Put in an area with bright indirect light with some warmth, 15.6 C - 35 C (60 F - 95 F).

[Orchid Whisperer]

If the plant is rootless, a method I use to get new roots on a Cattleya is to either hang the plant up outdoors in the shade until new roots start growing, or tie it to a piece of wood (like a temporary mount), or drop the bare root plant into an empty terracotta pot The key is exposure to humid air outdoors, and shade, and ignoring it until roots start forming. This works 100% of the time for me, even for small plants with no roots.

When roots start growing, don't put back in a plastic pot. Use a small unglazed terracotta pot, coarse bark, keep the horizontal rhizome above the bark. After repotting, put it in a shady location where you will be able to ignore it for a while during the time the roots are getting established. Water sparingly.

I know it is winter now where you are, and climate across Australia is variable, hopefully your conditions will allow what I've proposed.

[deanna83]

So I unpotted and yes, all the roots were dead or dying. No rot though. But there were a couple new roots growing off the new growth so hopefully she will recover eventually.
I've potted it again in bark, but staked it up and put a sphagnum top layer.
It is winter here, (ranges about 8-22C) so moved it indoors next to a window and it sits on a seedling heat mat over night.
Fingers crossed!

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

There's a decent chance this orchid will pull through. I don't think it is too far gone yet.

Hope it works out for you.

[estación seca]

I'm not clear on the photos. Are they all after the repotting? Is one of them a photo of the plant in the old medium?

You mention dead white roots. White Cattleya roots might not be dead. Why do you think your plant had dead roots?

All the photos show a plant in good health. I suspect it had healthy roots all along.

[rbarata]

As far as I know, heathy catt roots are white. Dead become brown.

[deanna83]

Originally Posted by estación seca

I'm not clear on the photos. Are they all after the repotting? Is one of them a photo of the plant in the old medium?

You mention dead white roots. White Cattleya roots might not be dead. Why do you think your plant had dead roots?

All the photos show a plant in good health. I suspect it had healthy roots all along.

The first one is after my initial repot, and the others are recently a few weeks later. I've recently taken it out and put it in a smaller pot. The roots were generally very mushy and the mushy velamen came off in my hands, but some must have only just been in the process of dying off as under the velamen, the roots are still green. Anyhow, its re-re-potted now and I've got my fingers crossed.

[Orchid Whisperer]

I would get rid of the sphagnum top layer. You want thorough drying between watering.