Can this Cat be saved?

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by TamiP

I didn't get any replies so I did my best to clean this poor little thing. I have no previous experience with Cattleya's so I just did my best. Looks like there might be at least 2 viable roots but we'll see. Do any of you have any idea what the black on the remaining leaf may be? It's hard not soft.

This pseudobulb with roots looks saveable for sure. But there must be some kind of disconnect here... because this pseudobulb hasn't got any rot on it, and looks plump - whereas your original photo shows two bulbs, and both of them appear to be rotting and in bad shape. Maybe spraying the good part of the plant's leaves and stem with 5% hydrogen peroxide, and later applying a suitable fungicide spray on leaf and stem will be beneficial. The roots look ok. Maybe you can add a little bit of auxinone to the water whenever you do watering.

The black and hard bit on the leaf might be ok. Hard and dry is good. If it doesn't increase in size with time, and if it doesn't produce any yellow patches around the rim of it, then should be no problem. It's not uncommon to have previous damage that becomes benign like that - harmless.

[TamiP]

Well As the pic shows, I separated the only good cane and treated it. It was put into a jar with a wet paper towel to the side and the roots weren't touching it. I had a plastic bag over it with ventilation to try to keep the humidity in. No new root formation and the last cane developed black rot just like the 2 I cut off so I guess that's my answer. Nope, I can't save it but I did try hard and thank you for the encouragement along the way!

[SouthPark]

You're most welcome. It was great that you did your best to try save or salvage what was left. It's possible that the pathogen got inside the plant, as well as outside.

When the plant arrived, it had no rot, right? If no rot, then what sort of growing medium did you use? A few months ago, I had a catt come through the post, which didn't look healthy to begin with - and the pre-existing black spots on the leaves started to increase in size with time --- with yellow halo around those spots. I had to bomb the plant with a few different possible fungicide treatments. It's finally under control (stablised) - finger's crossed anyway, but have my plant isolated - just in case. Collecting various treatments (fungicides, miticides, etc etc) is kind of like collecting orchids!

The bag trick probably works sometimes. But I have read/heard that having humidity relatively high can inhibit the uptake of water from roots into the plant. And also possibly allows a nice condition for more fungus etc to grow too. I like using a large diameter pot tray, and I place 1 or 2 plastic drain-grates (from hardware store) into the pot tray. Then my orchid pot sits on the drain-grates. The pot tray can then be filled with some water, and provides a little humidity. However, I live in the tropics, so it's relatively humid where I live. I haven't tried this in relatively low humidity places yet.

You did mention that you put holes in the top of the bag, so maybe that was quite ok. All the best.

[TamiP]

It arrived with 3 rotted caned so I'm thinking it was inside the last cane and just took a minute to develop.

[SouthPark]

Wow..... arriving with rot is really disappointing. Thanks for mentioning that.

[estación seca]

I suspect it froze in transit. I didn't see this thread before today, sorry.

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by estación seca

I suspect it froze in transit. I didn't see this thread before today, sorry.

Definitely a possibility! But would all of the plant go to mush (after thaw-out) if it got frozen?

[estación seca]

The surviving part may have been deeper inside the box. Or, maybe drier than the rest. Dessicated plants survive cold insults better than turgid plants.

[SouthPark]

Very nice information to know. Definitely plausible. It does sound like a frozen in transit case here. One day I will get some spare catt leaves and freeze to see what happens when they thaw out.

[Ben_in_North_FLA]

if you've used cutting tools instead of a disposable single use razor blade, you should sterilize those cutting tools with a flame, or diluted bleach solution (25 percent bleach solution soak 10-15 minutes) as the black rot will reside on the tools and infect anything else you cut... plant wise.

BTW, yes the orchid is a goner, if you look at the cut on the last bulb and see a dark ring on the outer edges , it is the black rot already in it.

BTW2
"Wow..... arriving with rot is really disappointing. Thanks for mentioning that."

yes, buying orchids on Ebay can be stressful, I suggest taking pictures of every plant detail as soon as you open the package. Give special attention to the roots (if any) and gently expose the bud eyes at base of the bulbs to make sure they are green and clean so your plant has some spots to grow out of. f the plant has NO green eyes it will not be able to grow and will slowly die... probably just after the time to report it expires.

I do this with every plant I buy and no longer buy any orchid on ebay.