Possible to rescue a resentful bifoliate cattleya?
I got this C. Leoloddiglossa that I suspect has sulked and is attempting suicide after an untimely repotting. Let's call it "Lisa."
I was monitoring Lisa's new growth: a healthy pseudobulb almost twice in size as the previous one, and I would've sworn I saw green root tips coming out of the base. When I proceeded to unpot it from the opaque nursery pot it came in, I noticed that it actually didn't have any new roots coming out, so I placed it in a transparent pot of the same size for easier monitoring. That was about 2 months ago.
The plant hasn't done anything since then. I have another Leoloddiglossa (from a different vendor) that is currently shooting roots, and I was able to transition to S/H. Yet, Lisa seems frozen in time. I've noticed some older roots starting to look like they've seen better times, and the leaves have lightened up in color, and the surface is not as smooth, which are all early signs of dehydration.
The plant has mostly tigrina combined with loddigesii and amethystoglossa. The latter two are winter bloomers in the "root before bloom" category, C. tigrina is a summer bloomer and a "root after bloom" plant.
Given that this hybrid shot up a considerable pseudobulb in late March-April, it seems to be showing the tigrina calendar come through, and it would naturally want to produce roots between June and August. I feel that I got so close, and had I not fiddled with the orchid, it would probably be on its way to growing new roots next month or by August at the latest. But in its current state, and knowing how temperamental bifoliates are, I'm genuinely concerned that Lisa won't try to hold on to dear life and that this silent treatment is her swan song.
Is there a way to reason with Lisa and ask for her forgiveness? I've thoroughly followed Kelpak supplementation every 3 weeks and ensured the medium is consistently moist yet not wet. Ventilation is good and overall culture is fine, humidity is around 50%, light is good without baking them, and all of Lisa's sisters and step sisters seem just fine, doing their thing. Thus I believe this was an issue with disrupting the roots at the wrong time. I haven't placed it on a heat mat because I thought this Cattleya liked it on the cooler side, but would that help?
Would appreciate any tips on convincing an angry bifoliate cattleya to give me a second chance and choose to live.
Last edited by MateoinLosAngeles; 06-14-2023 at 12:42 AM..
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