Did I repot the Cattleya right?

[CourtneyT]

I bought a root bound old cattleya November last year. After it bloomed 10 flowers, I realized that I had to repot it because the later blooms became smaller and smaller. The aerial roots were slowly dying. The leaves of the middle session started to shrivel.

About one month ago, I cut the plastic pot and found the roots in the pot were basically dead. Since the plant was growing to all the directions, I decided to break it down to three sections, leaving the middle part almost no roots. I mixed the bark, perlite and some spag moss and potted them into clay pots. I have been watering them about once a week. I put them under the growing light and they get light about 10 hours a day now. The humidity is about 60% to 70%. The temperature is between 60 and 70. This is my second cattleya. I killed my first one by re-potting it incorrectly. I'm quite nervous about this one. It has been one month and I didn't see much change. I didn't observe any new roots. I don't see it's getting worse either. Maybe I should just wait to see?

[Leafmite]

Hopefully someone else can tell you whether this will work. I grow quite a few Cattleyas but I can rot the roots of any orchid in bark so I grow my Cattleyas in red lava rock and basket pots. With spring just around the corner (which usually brings new growth/new roots), your Cattleya should recover well.

[cattmad]

You have done a good job repotting and I would be very confident plants 1 and 2 in the last photo will eventuallly grow new roots from the new leads.
The front plant ( looks like the middle of the plant and may not have roots ) I suggest you raise it higher in the mix as if there is a dormant eye or two on some of the leads they should be at or above the mix or you run the risk of them rotting off if below the mix. Hope this is helpful.

[CourtneyT]

Originally Posted by Leafmite

With spring just around the corner (which usually brings new growth/new roots), your Cattleya should recover well.

Yes, I’m praying for the spring to come soon! I saw a lot of people posting beautiful cattleya pictures and wondering why mines haven’t shown any sign of new growth.

---------- Post added at 11:52 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:43 AM ----------

Originally Posted by cattmad

I suggest you raise it higher in the mix as if there is a dormant eye or two on some of the leads they should be at or above the mix or you run the risk of them rotting off if below the mix.

Thank you so much for the encouragement! I dug the small one out and buried it slightly higher. Since different pseudobulbs are at different height, some of them have to be a little deeper than others. It seems that the plant is very dormant. I don’t see any obvious sign of getting worse or better.

[Roberta]

Different Cattleya-tribe plants have different growing seasons. While some are rooting and blooming now, others may wait. Ideal time to pot is just BEFORE the roots show. (Can you see the future?) It is just important that the plants are firm in their pots, so that when the new roots emerge, they won't get damaged by rubbing against the bark due to wobbling. Now, just be patient - orchids do things slowly, measured in weeks or months not days.

When you see new roots, write the date on the label in the pot (if you don't have one, make one). That will be the ideal time of year to pot in the future (and then you really will be clairvoyant!)

[estación seca]

As mentioned above, if you have a choice, only repot orchids when new roots are just beginning to form. Cattleya species often grow shoots and roots only once a year. Different species do this at different times, because Cattleya species are spread over a wide range of tropical climates. Hybrids are all over the calendar.

Older roots do take up some water, but they are not as good at it as new roots. Disrupting a Cattleya at the wrong time of year damages many of the already-inefficient roots, and the plant will be at a disadvantage trying to survive until it decides it's time to grow again.

People are showing Cattleyas in bloom now because most of them grow from spring through summer, mature the growth, and then make flowers. Some species and hybrids flower as soon as the new growth is mature. Others wait until fall, winter or even the next spring.

Are you sure your previous Cattleya died because of your repotting method? That alone isn't usually enough to kill one. What happened?

For your three plants, the trick will be to keep them alive and as happy as possible until they decide to grow roots. Give them some water, and then let them dry out. Treating the roots with KelpMax once your growing area is nice and warm will also help.

[CourtneyT]

Originally Posted by Roberta

When you see new roots, write the date on the label in the pot (if you don't have one, make one). That will be the ideal time of year to pot in the future (and then you really will be clairvoyant!)

Very good idea! Probably because I haven’t grown a Cattleya successfully, I’m just so anxious to see positive sign from it.

---------- Post added at 03:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:47 PM ----------

Originally Posted by estación seca

Are you sure your previous Cattleya died because of your repotting method? That alone isn't usually enough to kill one. What happened?

I got the last cattleya from the same local nursery in the autumn about 2 years ago. It was blooming and healthy. But the same problem: root bound. I knew I should not repot it during blooming time but just cannot tolerant the roots exposed to Colorado's dry air. I repotted it in the similar potting mix in a plastic pot. I kind of remember watering it more often than I’m doing now. By Thanksgiving, it looked even worse. My husband's grandma is really good at the orchids. She said that I overwatered it. She divided it to different positions for me and repotted them in bark and perlite in clay pots. After that, I tried to water less. The orchids tried to start new growth several times but all failed. Didn’t see much new roots growing and the old roots were dying. The pseudobulbs shriveled even more. After seeing them struggle for almost a year, I decided to give them up.

This time, I got this one and another root bound cattleya during Thanksgiving last year. Both plants were blooming. The other one had one bloom and one flower bud. I broke the flower bud by accident while shipping them home. The one in the picture had 6 blooms and at least another 6 buds. The roots around the pot were very healthy. We were gone for vacation for 3 weeks in December and my mother in law watered them for us once a week. When we got home, I noticed a lot of healthy roots outside of the pot were dying and the new blooms got smaller and some even failed to fully open. Since no more buds were going to bloom and I didn’t want to see all the aerial roots to die, I repotted both cattleyas. The other one was not divided but I did remove most of the died roots buried in the pot. Maybe it didn’t put too much effort to bloom, so the aerial roots were in good condition. It’s doing fine now. Even it’s not growing, all the pseudobulbs are still plumped. I had to divide this one because I cannot fit the whole thing in any single pot. After removing all the died roots, it seemed that I’d better divide it to three portions.

[Roberta]

You actually can repot safely when a Catt is blooming, if it is rooting at the same time. Some of them do that. If they are actively rooting and you wait until the blooms are done, you may also miss the ideal time to pot. If you water a lot, a wood basket with large bark may be better than a pot (think of it as a 3-dimensional mount) If you have trouble keeping it hydrated, then pot is the way to go. But Catts need a wet-dry cycle, going nearly dry before the next watering, and lots of air around the roots. There are many ways to accomplish that, depending on your conditions, but the result is what you need to seek.

[No-Pro-mwa]

I'm going to jump in here because I my live some what close to you. Courtney, I'm not sure at what end of Colorado you live but you mentioned your dry air. Like I said yesterday in the morning I had 16% I just checked and in now say's 22%, I don't think any of my meters ever say the same thing. You said you have 60 to 70%? How do you keep it that high? I would be happy if I had 40%. If my orchids get aerial roots they will dry up as yours do.

I know this is not popular to say with Catt's but I have had to start with at least anything from a 5inch pot or under, I have to set them in a saucer and I leave water in the saucer after running water through it. Mine are mostly in clay pots and I use medium fir bark, sponge-rock (perlite) and Charcoal mix. I don't put any sphagnum in it (maybe I should). I have also put a few in Orchiata.
Your orchid looks dehydrated to me. Which can happen either way. By not enough water or to much, the same thing will happen. Dead roots. I just wanted to say this as it is working better for me and there doing much better and I'm still not watering enough. I try and water this size pot about every 3 days.

Edit to add: OH, I also put a couple of peanuts right under the crown.

[Roberta]

A question... is there an ID on this plant? If not, you'll just have to observe it. But there are certain Catts that are just fussy... There is a wonderful big one, Blc. Toshi Aoiki, with big yellow flowers and red lip, and a lot of C. dowiana in its background, that is notorious - it puts out new growth in the spring, but doesn't root until fall. I know some very experienced Catt growers that can't keep this one alive, since they do all their potting in spring and that isn't what the plant wants.