I went to Lowes to see what they had in the way of Catts and found several Catts in a bag. I bought 3 of them, because I couldn't help myself. My husband said "Are you getting all of those" I said "Yup". He then just rolled his eyes and looked at me like I was a crazy woman. Perhaps I am, after all I do love orchids!
When we got home I let these Catts outta the bag (yes, pun intended). Being in the bag I couldn't tell that the smaller ones had wrinkley leaves and the medium was super dry. I took the babies out of the pots they were in ( 2") and examined the roots. Hmmmm, this is sooooo not good! I gently pinch all the roots and found they were ALL DEAD! OMG!!
After seeing this I unpotted the bigger one and took a look at it, same thing!
I removed all the dead roots with a sterile pair of scissors and wetted down the area that had some little tiny roots, trying to poke out. I let these sit on the counter long enough for me to run to the computer and get on the Orchid Board, to see what my next course of action should be. I saw that some people were in the chat and jump right in there with the opening line of "HELP ME". I was told that Catts are pretty hardy and if I potted them, they should start to sprout some roots. This soothed my aching heart tremendously, so I headed back to the kitchen to take care of these ailing babies. I placed them in pots and put them in the room with the other, I know that is not a good idea, but I am super limited on space and proper growing area. I placed them closer to the light I have and left them alone. Checking on them and my other babies everyday.
Today I watered them for the first time since getting them and noticed that there are some pretty good roots starting to grow
AWESOME, I must be doing something right!!
Also, the leaves are looking MUCH BETTER!
I gave them a good soaking and made sure all the water drained out of the pots. I should also say that due to not having any small clear pots, I cut the bottom out of 2 water bottles and made some drainage holes. This is working for me so far.
Okay, I'm done, I just wanted to let everyone know that I am getting the hang of this, with everyone's help here on the OB.
I really appreciate you guys! With the help from the wonderful people here I might get some of my orchids to bloom! Something I have never been able to do in the past! I will keep you posted on the progress of the rescued Catts and take lots and lots of
when they bloom!
Any advice is always welcome!
P.S. Why do I always take the hard cases?!