Can Buds Form in Dead, Dried Sheaths-The Answer

[OrchidSue]

The end of last summer I got a C. percivaliana that had 3 growths with sheaths. However, the plant was packed tightly in sphag. moss and was showing signs of bad roots . I debated what to do, but then it started to sprout some new roots. Even though I figured the sheaths would blast, I decided to go ahead and repot to save the plant. The plant has responded amazingly well and now has a whole new set of roots and doesn't look all wizzled up any more. Sure enough the sheaths all dried up empty . Around the beginning of January, two of the growths started putting out now pseudobulbs . Now today when I was looking at the plant, the third dried up sheath looked a little different-like something was inside . I carefully opened up the sheath and this is what I found .



Susan

[WhiteRabbit]

woo hoo! that's awesome!

[buckie]

This can happen with most Cat's, don't ever cut of the dried sheath's unless they look like rotting etc. Sometimes the buds will have trouble breaking through a dried sheath, just give it a gentle helping hand.

Warren

[trdyl]

Cool. As Buckie mentioned Catts blooming from dried sheaths is quite normal. I have even had a few over the years that bloomed with no sheath at all.

[Lagoon]

LOL Sue!! I would have loved to see your face expression
Its happened to me a number of times, and I thought dens were shifty ones
The fact is that catts can keep there sheaths for years before they produce, thats just torture for us, but we deal with it for the surprises

Congrats on those buds, looking forward to seeing those blooms

[dounoharm]

i have several catts that bloom regularly from dried sheaths...the green ones dont form buds at all....they take more time to develop i guess....

[Donald]

Lucky you. My Catt had dried sheaths and is perfectly healthy but upon further investigation when nothing broke through the sheaths I opened them up only to find both buds were black.

[OrchidSue]

I don't grow many Catts and the ones I have always bloomed from green sheaths. Because the plant had gone through so much, I just assumed the worst. But I am delighted-these kinds of surprises are the best ,

Susan

[OrchidSue]

Here she is, my token floofy. She has the typical "fragrance" .





Susan

[smweaver]

Beautiful bloom, Susan, and I guess it's good that it has the typical scent (which might make you want to enjoy the blooms from a distance).

As far as green and dry sheaths go, it depends on the species. C. mossiae forms green sheaths in the fall, and they stay green throughout the winter, with buds developing in the late winter/early spring (my mossiaes have buds forming now). C. amethystoglossa, on the other hand, produces green sheaths in the fall that quickly turn brown. The buds, like mossiae's, form in the late winter/early spring (again, my plant's got its buds coming up through the dry sheath right now).

Congratulations on your blooms. They're quite beautiful.

Steve