Fredclarkeara After Dark 'SVO Black Pearl' early stage care

[Helene]

They need water when they grow- seems like yours somehow is back to start. With new growths starting. The other bulb doesnt have leaf or anything, and dont need water. The new growth will need water when the roots are longer.

But- I think I would have taken it out of the pot and check for bad roots, remove rotten/dead roots.

If you dont like reading, or feel its easier to see in picture/video, youtube have some okay videos about catasetum and watering.

Not sure why it went from new growth with leaf to this state- water or some bugs, dont know.

They are strong though, and if you figure it out, it will bounce back and give you flowers eventually



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[derv88]

That was the issue, it got infested with mites earlier this summer. This is my first Cat so I am learning, hopefully not at the expense of this plant.

Thanks for the tips!
-Jack

[Helene]

Ah, same here- got my first ones in april this year
Have been lucky, no infections yet.

Normally they need lots of water, but I would rather follow the new growths on yours, than the one that got damaged during the infection.

I would remove dead roots and repot- so its easier to pay attention if its rotting. (Dont like the look of the bulb in front, might be spreading in the pot, would check atleast).
And if its all dead- follow the new growths, and water when they have longer roots.

Aaand- hopefully someone with more experience will chime in and help- first time for me aswell.

I started watering at this point, when you see leaf from the new growth, the roots are longer. (Have to be 3-5" in total)

Repotted at that point, and started watering.
3 months later


So, they can grow fast, and yours really wants to grow Already making new growths, compensating for the lost ones. It might be a big plant in the fall, I think it will manage the season- and go into dormacy late this year.

Wish you all the best, and good luck- you can do it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[AvantGardner]

Stop watering! Great advice given already. Wait until your new growths have long, long roots to water. Think of the old bulbs as water storage tanks. Right now the tanks are full. No more water can be added. When they start to shrivel, and I mean wrinkle heavily, it might be time to water. If your new growth's roots are long enough, you can keep watering in increasing increments. Also add fertilizer gradually. Not all at once. Check out the Sunset Valley Orchids website. Pretty foolproof instructions are given

[derv88]

OK got it on stopping watering. Roger.

The history of this plant is I bought it from Hausermans this spring with a full spread of leaves on a new growth. About a month after bringing her home she developed a mite infestation and all leaves were lost on the new growth. I thought I read through the lines in some replies that the fact that it lost all of its leaves shouldn't trigger a dormancy, and to keep up with water routine until the fall temp drop and true dormancy. So for the last month I've been watering with the same frequency as when I brought her home with all of her leaves (about every other or third day).

About 2 weeks ago the new growths began to emerge. I've kept watering at the same pace.

I have a growth emerging from the bark pointing straight up, and two new growths appearing on the sides of existing bulbs which are producing visible roots. Just for clarity, you are suggesting to withhold all water until these visible roots from the new growths on the existing bulbs are 3 - 5" long?

I will also repot per the suggestion, but am unsure what the best media is for this plant. I have a very chunky bark for my phals that I don't really care for since it seems to dry out almost immediately, and several finer bark mixes for Dens and Catts. I also have a bag of stalite. My concern here is that the existing bark that came with the plant looks almost like chopped up sticks and doesn't resemble the consistency of any of the media types I have on hand. Any suggestions here? I suppose I can also poke around on that question.

Thank you for all the help!
-Jack

[Helene]

Regarding the plant and watering. Yeah, normally I would assume it could keep on maturing, and flower- and then you should keep watering. But: the plant didnt have any leaves that needed energy to grow, so it would need less water. I think you got unlucky on the combination, and hence made it worse with watering.

If the front bulb (to the left) is the growth that had leaves- I suspect it started to rot. If so, the roots may be dead, and you should really repot it to check.

I use moss and bark in layers- bark tends to be hard keeping wet enough when its time to water. I would take it out of the pot, even if that mean letting it stay without anything until you have bought moss/mix.

The growth straight from the bark may be from the small bulb- you'll have to see when you take it out.

Okay. You have a big bulb covered with dry and white leaf (thats okay, I removed those when repotting, before roots came. It can stay that way, dont need to wash it- I did cause those are places bugs like to hide).
And you have a second bulb next to it- the green with growth. And the small bulb that might be the parent of the growth straight out of bark.
And then you have the one to the left, that seem to be rotten.

I would check the biggest, with the white and dried leaf. If its mushy, I would remove it. If its not: then I would try to separate that together with the green bulb and the small. (With those two growths)

The one that seems rotten: well, maybe easier to say I would remove that one. Have it in a pot by itself. If its rotten, I would cut it above the rotten part, with the growth attached, and hope the new growth would make it.

The reason I would remove it: the plant can survive nicely without, and I wouldnt risk that it spreads in the pot.

You can send picture when repotting, if you're not sure.

Oh, and if there is alive roots- keep them. But dont water. Wait. If there is many live roots, you can mist the mix a bit, if bulbs are really shriveled. If there is no roots- no need to water, cause the plant need roots to deliver the water anyway.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Helene]

Oh yeah- they seem really easy to grow, except that one thing- they seem to rot if you dare give them water when they dont want it. Fussy as h… on that one, but can handle a bit abuse on other things.

They can handle being pretty dry, but they hate water when they're not thirsty.

I know, we want to give them water. We soooo want to keep those new growths alive, we tend to give them water too early.

And, a positive thing is that you learn so much from mistakes and mishaps Turning it around, fixing it- and getting flowers- that is really really amazing.

(Ehm. And then you get addicted.)

Enjoy😎



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[derv88]

OK. First off, apologies for TOTALLY hijacking the OP's thread with my nonsense.

Next, I've finally pulled the plant from the pot. The roots all looked good, surprisingly. The tallest bulb was the one with the leaves earlier this growing season that got attacked by mites, and now the bulb is brown and shriveling (and looks like it's dying off). The bulb you are concerned about due to overwatering is a bit soft near the base of the bulb, but it seems green and healthy even though it's definitely softened and drooped downward nearly horizontal to the ground. See pics attached.

So, I put the cat back in the pot since the roots looked good and until I receive further instruction from this post.

Additionally, I am still a bit confused on watering. Just stop watering completely? I haven't in nearly a week and the roots were still a tad moist but it's just about completely dry. Don't water until the growths have new roots that are 3 to 5" long, correct?

Finally, what is the process for detaching the new growths? Are they similar to Dens that spawn new growths on old canes and when the roots are long enough you just snap off the new growth and pot it up - is that the process with a Cat as well? Snapping the new growth from the side of the bulb? Or is the process different?

Thanks for all your help!

[estación seca]

Fred Clarke says he believes 90% of Catasetinae roots from previous years are dead or non-functional, even when they look light tan and firm, as are the dense roots on yours. Fred says only the current year's roots should be considered viable. I suspect your plant has next to no roots beyond the very fresh ones just growing now.

I think your plants' only chance at survival is to make a new set of roots. Many of us have found that these plants will die if we water before new roots are 3"-5" long each, not collectively.

I doubt the pseudobulb seen on the left when viewing the photo is alive. I suspect the base is dead and rotten. Living pseudobulbs are as firm as a fresh carrot, and cannot be moved in the least to another position without snapping them off. That growth looks to me as though it is trying to make one more growth before it dies. If this new growth can make roots long enough before the parent pseudobulb dies, the new growth may survive. It is a race against time.

The pseudobulb seen on the right may be viable, with some viable roots. I can't see. If it is a previous years' growth, and had no leaves this season, it, too, has no viable roots. It is also trying to make a new growth because it senses something is wrong. If this new growth can get a good root system all will be well.

I personally would not water this plant at all now. I would not mist this plant at all now. Fred is very clear not to water Catasetinae with no leaves. I would put it in a warm room with high humidity. The new growths are at high risk of spider mite attack, and at this struggling stage, this would likely be the end of the plant.

The new growth from the squishy-base pseudobulb might make it. The other new growth should make it.

[Helene]

Agree with Estación.

You can either hope the old roots are good enough, and take your chance. Or you can play safe and consider the new growths the important parts.

I would cut the half-dead bulb with the new growth- put it in a pot by itself. And hope the new growth will get big enough to survive. And the rest in a pot alone, I would trim of some old roots (careful so you dont damage any new roots), and wait to water until the new roots are longer.
You can start by misting a little when they are bigger. When new roots are long enough, you can start watering more, until you water like before.

I would not risk the half-dead bulb starting to spread something to the healthy ones.

You should be able to save the new one, and if you are lucky even the other growths will survive and you will have two plants next year




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

	Mistking Looking for a misting system? Look no further. Automated misting systems from MistKing are used by multitude of plant enthusiasts and are perfect for Orchids. Systems feature run dry pumps, ZipDrip valve, adjustable black nozzles, per second control! Automatically mist one growing shelf or a greenhouse full of Orchids. See MistKing testimonials