Cattleya Dormant Eyes Black

[MrHungx]

I recently acquired a Lc. Taida Swan 'Swan' and noticed that all the dormant eyes are black. I purchased this cattleya from a local nursery and the owner had just divided this orchid. i purchased the division with the newer growths. I know some people ascribe the black eyes to the poor condition of the roots, though this is not the case as there are plenty of healthy roots. My question is will this cattleya to put out new growth? There does not appear to be any viable growths as far as I can tell. I couldn't find any information on this topic as most of the thread I searched referred to a few black eyes, not all of them.

[silken]

I've never really ran into this so I'm not a lot of help. Have you carefully peeked inside the dark covering? Maybe it is healthy inside the dark skin that is covering the eye. I have some cattleyas, and it looks like yours is the same, the older bracts or skin around the growth near the base turn much darker than others. So maybe the covering on the eye does too. It seems odd that all would be affected on a healthy plant.

[MrHungx]

The eye has not begun to develop yet, so I would't be able to peek behind the covering. I'm just concerned that this cattleya won't be able to develop new leads.

[silken]

Quite often each pseudo bulb has a 2nd dormant eye that will start to grow if the main one fails.

Could you ask the nursery about it or go back and look at the other piece? If they have been growing it for a while they may know something about it.

[escualida]

I had something similar happen where the 2 visible eyes on one pbulb seemed damaged. Eventually it put out a new lead from underneath the pbulb - meaning, it had more than 2 eyes. I think I read somewhere that each catt pbulb has 4 eyes, so I don't think there's anything to worry about quite yet. I would just wait it out and see...

[NYCorchidman]

Cattleyas usually have about three dormant eyes. Two of them are larger and located toward the very bottom of the pb. The third one is located higher up and sometimes not easily identifiable and quite small.

Examine your plant and see if all the possible eyes are black. If they are, then chances are your plant will not grow.
Whatever the case, I would contact the seller and ask about it because if the dark eyes are really dead and you take time, then the nursery might say it is something you did to the plant.

I had two catts that had black dead eyes.
One catt had only one dormant eye black and dead. The second eye sprouted and grew to normal.

Second catt had a few dead eyes. Fortunately, it was a multi growth plant and other available eyes sprouted and grew.

I don't know why some dormant eyes turn black and die, but my theory is that it is fungal attack aided by too much moisture and/or mechanical damage.

I say this because all the dead eyes I encountered shared something in common.

It happened on the pbs I had their protective cover (sheath) peeled off all the way down to the base exposing the eyes. None of the unpeeled pbs lost dormant eyes. At one point or another, I misted them with rather strong pressure mister, which also damaged some roots. I tossed that mister since.

[CR7cristiano]

Those eyes are dead. Probably shock from division or rot bc water has gotten in there and settled overnight. This isn't really something to worry about as it will push out new growths again so long as the the Pseudobulbs are nice and plump and like you mentioned there are healthy roots which is a plus. Don't worry, just be patient.

[MrHungx]

Here are more pics.

[MrHungx]

More pics

[CR7cristiano]

Don't worry yourself. Like i said, those r just dead eyes. They are drying up. New growths will come again, just make sure to not get the base of the pseudobulbs damp/wet in the evenings; you need to allow enough time for them to dry before nightfall.