Cattleya sp. propagation

[Dart21]

There was a large Cattleya in the greenhouse in which I work at. They told me if I wanted I could take off one of the pseudo bulbs hanging over the edge of the pot so needless to say I immediately got my pre-sterilized clippers out and chopped of a nice healthy piece. It appears at the base to have wanted to push another pseudo bulb up, however, obviously now I want it to direct all energy to the roots.

I threw it in a 6" coated plastic pot with heat expanded ceramic (similar to hydroton). I'm wondering since there were literally no roots upon potting if I need to keep the medium extra moist (at least spraying at the top daily), or if I should treat it like a regular Cattleya and hope the humidity coming up from the lower ceramic raises up and stimulates the root growth.

I also gave it a small treatment of Great White (which I realize will have difficulty colonizing in such an aery medium) as well as KelpMax (commonly known as Kelpak) hormone.

Any suggestions/experience with propagation of Catts. from cutting would be great.

[WhiteRabbit]

New growth is good! That's where new roots will come from!

I water rootless Catt types same as those with roots.

[Dart21]

Roger that! I will treat it just as normal then. Still getting used to the "hydroton style" expanded ceramic that I have her in. Will have to use the good ole chop stick method-stick it in and see if it's damp :-P. Thank you much.

I take it that little area in the second picture where the pseudo bulb wanted to push up should not be covered with any of the substrate for fear of rotting?

[tucker85]

Generally speaking you need at least three pseudobulbs for a cattleya to have a reasonable chance of surviving. Also, there's really no reason to plant a cattleya in media if it has no roots. I would soak it in a root stimulator like KLN or seaweed extract (which is my favorite) and put it in a small vase or slim glass with some of those expanded clay balls in the bottom and water covering the bottom half of the clay balls. Place the plant on top of the clay balls, not in them. The bottom of the plant should not be in water but the clay balls will help the water evaporate and keep the environment humid. Roots should start growing in a few week and then you can plant it in a much smaller pot than the one you have now. Good luck.

[Dart21]

Thank you, that makes a lot of sense... It's already been soaked in the seaweed hormone (KelpMax commonly marketed as Kelpak). I think what I'll do knowing this information is compromise and put a deep humidity tray underneath submerged in a little bit of water to keep the bottom moist at all times and the humidity coming up to stimulate those roots. I do know it's not common to propagate from a single pseudo bulb but this was all that I have... figured I'd give it a go :-P.

[orchidsarefun]

I have had success with different genus' ( rootless ) backbulbs by just standing them up in a small pot that has a small layer of sphagnum moss at the bottom. I keep the moss moist and the pot in a high-light site. It takes a while but eventually roots start developing. No fertiliser required until roots are evident.

[Dart21]

That method sounds great, I actually just ran out of quality sphagnum and you just reminded me to place an order for it :-P thanks!