Best way to deal with shriveled pseudobulbs on Cattleya.

[Cloud_gardener]

My fascination with growing orchids is only A little over a year old. I've learned a lot and have built a fairly large collection. I have 45 orchids growing in my living room window right now, so space is tight. With that being said I need help with a Cattleya I acquired recently.

The problem with the cattleya is that all the pseudobulbs are hard, shriveled, and twisted, as well as the leaves. This particular cattleya belonged to a good friend of mine, who lost the majority of his collection last summer. He had a family emergency that required him to go to Indiana from New York for over a month. He wasn't able to let anyone know because of the urgency of the emergency, and as a result the majority of his orchids got left outside and weren't watered during what was a very hot summer. All that survived was his massive Cattleya and a couple Phals.

After he returned home, he put the cattleya back on its regular watering and feeding schedule, but it didn't do anything. The pseudobulbs remained hard, shriveled, and twisted, and it wasn't growing. So I offered to divide it in hopes that it would promote new growth, and for doing so he allowed me to keep two of the five large divisions that I was able to make of it.

I can tell you now, about a month later, that it seemed to work. My two divisions are showing ample root growth as well as several new pseudobulbs forming. The problem is that because of the huge twisted leaves and back bulbs, I can't fit it on the windowsill with the rest of the Cattleyas and Dendrobiums which love bright light and warm temperatures. Space is really tight.

I was wondering if I could trim back the leaves or even the complete leaf and pseudobulb down to the base so I can fit it in the windowsill. I understand the purpose of the pseudobulb, but other than being green, they don't seem to be doing anything to help the health of the plant. I feel that if I could remove them or at least trim them back I could fit it somewhere closer to the window and the new growth would get the lighting it needs. Currently it's growing under fluorescent lighting, and growing slower than any of my other Cattleyas. I've included a photo to show the state of the plant. I would appreciate any advice that you can give me. Thank you for reading.

[silken]

Is the width of the plant the problem or the height of the mature pseudobulbs and leaves? If it is height, the new ones will get that high eventually as well and still not fit on the shelf. If it is width, I supposed you could remove the most wayward of the bulbs. I myself would be reluctant to remove too many as the bulbs do store energy and the leaves do the photosynthesizing. By removing mature bulbs you could end up waiting several years for blooms. Usually a Catt needs 3 or 4 mature bulbs before a new growth can bloom. That's just my

[cbuchman]

The back bulbs are providing the energy for the growth you want; so they should not be removed. Once the plant is established and has numerous years of new growth, you can remove the old pbulbs. In the mean time .... let them be.

[Cloud_gardener]

Just to reiterate, if the leaves were straight and pointed upward, it wouldn't be a problem. The problem is that the leaf and pseudobulb together is about a foot long, and they're twisted and falling all over, which makes it very difficult to find a good, sunny place in the window for it to grow the way it should.

I know that the pseudobulbs function as energy storage, which the plant needs. It's just that the pseudobulbs are just so shriveled that I have my doubts as to whether or not they are doing anything for the plant. They've been shriveled up now for over a year.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Carrie gave you good advice. You don't have enough pseudobulbs to spare cutting any off right now.

Can you tie up an stake the pseudobulbs that you have without breaking anything?

If you can't grow it on the preferred windowsill location the way it is, grow it under lower light until you have some healthy mature growths. Stake the new growth into a better, upright position if you can. The older pseudobulbs and leaves will likely yellow and die back any way as new growths mature ( normal aging process).

[Cloud_gardener]

Well I sure do appreciate the sound advice. I came very close to cutting it back and asking questions later. I admit that I had a feeling that the best advice would be to be patient and leave it be. I thought that maybe there were some exceptions to the rules, or shortcuts. Patience is a virtue that all orchid hobbyists must have.

Anyway, I do have the old leaves and pseudobulbs staked up. It just looks kind of ugly and neglected, although it is healthy. Also because the divisions had no salvageable roots, it's basically starting from scratch, and it has a lot of healthy new roots forming. Most of the new roots are still quite small, and I constantly worry about knocking it over and damaging the new roots.

Thanks again for the advice. I'll just stick to being patient and careful.

[brianwstephens]

Water water water. Sometimes its surprising how well they will recover

[euplusia]

Again do not cut away anything. Clay pellets or hydroponics are better than bark in this case. They can be kept constantly humid which triggers growth of new roots. A humid atmosphere is needed. And then: Rome wasn't built in one day.