Quote:
Originally Posted by Roberta
If the rhizome was buried, that in itself was not good! When a rootless plant is potted, one wants to put it deep enough for stability but the rhizome needs to be closer to the surface so that it doesn't stay wet. There's plenty of decent-looking plant there to expect that it will produce new growth, given half an opportunity. Don't overpot... if the plant fits in that 6 inch pot, stay with it. When it grows, you can up-pot it in a year or two (when it's making new roots) For now, just rinse off those bad roots - you don't even have to remove anything that doesn't come off easily. And don't spray with anything - especially don't spray roots with peroxide! Put in new medium-sized bark, and stake it so that it is held firmly in place. (Wobbling will damage new root-tips so "firmly" is really important) Then, water lightly - some of those bad old roots may still be capable of taking up enough water to hydrate the plant. But the pseudobulbs will also provide reserves for it to regenerate itself. If you can get your hands on some Kelpmax (one of our frequent contributors, Ray, sells it... check the Classified forum) do it. The stuff does work to encourage rooting. (Quite a few other Board members have had similar experience)
Don't worry about the toasted leaves - they'll look ugly, but the green part is still capable of photosynthesis, and they won't be infected or anything, the spots will just dry up if they haven't already. In short , do as little as possible, don't concern yourself with aesthetics at this point. Orchids are tough!
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Yes I was very surprised that it was buried in the pot. That is exactly how it came...I wish I had pictures of the heap of sphagnum moss and desiccated bark medium that I had pulled out of that thing too. Sad!
Because it was so tightly packed in that 6in pot - in my opinion it was too big for the 6in pot it came in, because when i cut open the plastic pot there were also too many roots on top of each other on top of all the potting medium. Anyways, my point is the roots grew in a very awkward way on top of each other and twisting around each other along the shape of that 6in pot, so it's almost impossible getting to fit into a 6 in pot now without potentially damaging any viable roots. Also roots that ARE growing and do have green tips are literally growing UP the pseudobulbs lol! Again because the nursery packed the thing so dang tight!
Curious about your peroxide comment. I keep seeing, watching, and reading conflicting things on that. Some people say so long as it's 3% or less you can use and it is totally fine, and others say stay away. Why do you think you shouldn't use the peroxide?
Interesting! I will have to look into the Klepmax! Thank you for that tip.
The problem is the spots weren't drying up, they were starting to yellow in rings and spread which I thought was weird. That's why I ended up cutting a lot of the leaves I was concerned that the burn was going to lead to some kind of infection due to the dead tissue. But At this point I've left whatever is remaining to your point on the photosynthesizing.
Hopefully this cattleya will pull through!!!
Hybrid Mode
