Is there any hope left for my wrinkled, rootless Catt?
 

I've had this Noid Catt aclandiae hybrid for probably close to 10 years (see user photo above) that I was growing in a weird water culture type set up which started as an accident (put the pot in the vase to keep it stable). Basically I water by pouring water through the pot and it partially fills the vase. It worked well for many years, until I noticed after my 3 week vacation in August that the plant wasn't doing too great (very wrinkled), and to my horror I discovered that all the roots had turned black and rotted.

What can I do to try to save it? It is nearly rootless at this point. It's just a noid, but I've had it for many years and it has a lot of sentimental value... :(

I am a Phal person and only have 3 Catts, so don't have any experience reviving them.

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It's big enough that it should bounce back. Keep it dry until it starts a new growth and pot up as normal. You'll probably lose some leaves and even some bulbs as it uses its stored resources. I bet you've got a 60% chance of getting it grow and send out roots. If this was a unifoliate, I'd say you have closer to 80% chances for success.

Hopefully you can keep the humidity elevated to slow desiccation. Spag and bag isn't super useful for Cattleyas, despite the long held belief that it is. Either way, a plant this large would need a giant bag.

Thanks for the advice Steve. This one only makes new growths in the spring, do you think it will manage to stay alive that long? I'll try to make a large ICU box, my current small one works well for smaller orchids.

In a humid environment it's amazing how long they can last, slowly dwindling. Even the tiny immature rhizome of a shoot that died while developing might push a new growth. Don't give up.

hope you can save it camille. I don't know why but I find Cattleya's easier than Phals but it is frustrating when no no roots are formed till spring.

I should give you some of my phals, and I'd revive your Catt but you live too far

Tough to say! You might be able to force a new growth starting now if you can keep it really warm. If possible, can you manipulate the light so it doesn't have a winter?

There appears to be one very long and good root hanging out in the open ..... and maybe some alive ones around the top of the pot. Definitely plenty of room for recovery.

Hopefully there are some clues about what happened during the vacation time. Maybe hard to say unless there happens to be temperature and humidity information. And details about any differences in water level when compared with the level when not on vacation. And any differences in the environment.

Yes, there a still some goot roots left, but the bulk of the root system is dead and what's left is clearly not enough to keep the plant hydrated. I'll try to give it higher humidity, and mist the exposed roots daily. It is unfortunate timing that we're going into fall/winter, which makes recovery a bit more challenging.

I really don't know what happened to it, temp/rh was what within the 'normal' range for the season, and I left some wter if the jar before leaving, as I usually do. I hadn't cleaned out the algue in a while though, could that have either suffocated the roots, or promoted the development of a phytopathogen?

If the plant pulls through, I'm going to pot it up in a more traditional method...

Consider watering by soaking the roots for an hour a day. Mist will evaporate quickly; they don't absorb water all that fast. Use warm water.

Looks like I had a similar thought, I just finished giving it a good shower in the bathtub!

Nice information Camille. Certainly a possibility about algae possibly involved with the issue somehow. Some people report having no issue with algae build-up on roots, while others report that algae can suffocate roots.

This could certainly be looked into, and considered. The other good information you gave is that the orchid was grown in this way for ten years, which is quite a significant amount of time. So assuming temperature and humidity and water level, and no toxicity issues ----- then could focus on the procedure you generally use - such as your mention of haven't cleaned out the algae for a while. Does that process involve - every once in a while - removal of algae from the jar and also from the roots? Once again --- nice information!

I would say algae on roots does affect them. It should be avoided if possible. I know that is easier said than done sometimes, I have algae all over but it should be avoided if possible. I honestly don't know if it affects the root too much but overall if it stays too wet too long for algae to grow that's less good and the root will degrade faster over time. It can also make roots dry less from the added algae this can actually be a benefit or a disadvantage (a bit like a moss layer)

I wouldn't have thought that algae actually destroys all roots at once like happened. Over time they might degrade faster but this was most likely a fungal infection that spread killing all the roots (apart from the ones that were being kept dry, ie the aerial roots)

It's a possibility for sure shade. For catts - in the natural environment ------ they probably don't generally have algae - or at least that much on the roots ---- or algae surrounding the roots.

Maybe regular aquatic plants that are used to that sort of condition are ok. Orchids may adapt a bit ----- up to some point or limit. But hard to say what the limits are.

The method that Camille uses certainly works. But just most or all of the techniques we use here ------ it's about keeping the system under control. If it is algae-related, then this is something we can look into. If the only thing that needed to be done was to just regularly keep the algae at bay or under control ---- by occasional cleaning, then that could probably sort it all out. The 10 years of growing is quite a while.

This is just assuming everything is is normal -- as in temperature, humidity, water temperature, toxicity due to something else in the water.

Figuring out what happened here during the course of the vacation is important for sure.

I thought that after nearly 3 years, it would be a good time to give an update on this Catt.

Good news, it survived! I took it out of the bowl/vase thing and stuck it in a heavy cache pot and started watering it a lot more and misted the good exposed roots in between waterings. It recovered so well that the new roots latched onto the cache pot and the plant is now fused to it.

The new growth this year is pointing downwards... I might have to attempt a division soon. Do any of you Catt experts have advice on how to proceed?

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Break pot (a shame, it's a nice one!), if roots are stuck on, leave the shards in the new pot. It's doing so well, maybe don't divide, just move to a larger pot. (Bifoliates can get annoyed when disturbed, but if you just set the roots free and drop into a bigger pot, it likely won't notice. )

Well grown!

A beautiful one Camille. Just brought a RLC back from the brink of death. New roots are growing again.

I have a couple rambling travelers like that. It's just the way they grow. Would follow Roberta's break the pot leave stuck shards and up-pot advice. Consider a basket and hanging it. It will continue to ramble regardless of dividing.

I've learned a hard lesson, never use pots you'd hate to lose!

Thanks for the advice, I have to think about it a bit. I hesitant to move it to a basket since its indoors,(messy when watering), but on the other hand I'll never find a suitable pot that fits the entire length of that rambling stem without overpotting.

I put houseplants in pretty pots and orchids in pots I don't care about! HAH! I'd love to see a bloom pic, Camille - I bet they smell amazing given the aclandiae background. Can you post a pic?

How about an oblong terracotta pot (as one would put on an outdoor windowsill or window box)? rbarata has a L. anceps that was put in such a pot a few years back, and it gives a fantastic show each year that just gets better and better.

Yes, it does smell amazing! It's the plant in my profile photo, here's a bigger version of it. It was an amazing garden center find. The last couple bloomings have been disappointing, but now that the plant is recovering I'm looking forward to many buds.

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Nice idea, I'll try to find that post!
The 'problem' with this plant is that it only makes one new lead per season, so never puts on a multi spike show.

Wow, that is spectacular indeed! I'm so glad you were able to save it.

About watering a plant in a basket. I grow my Vanda in a wooden basket. It’s home is a pole, meant for laundry. I water daily. I lower the plant far enough for its roots to reach the water in a bucket below.
After it’s done drinking I elevate the plant a bit to drip dry above the bucket. When drip dry I bring it back to its original location on the pole.
Let me see if I can find a picture from such a pole.

Currently she spends the days outdoors and that’s where I water her too currently. But the method works indoors just fine.

@camille.

This is what I meant with the pole. Mine is slightly different but this one will do the job.

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