Dying Cat..new growth???
 

So this Catt I have (I have posted about before) has taken a turn for the worst. It lost three of it's four leaves (all the oldest growths). The new growth whihc is the only one with a root nub, now has this new growth. I have no idea what it is or if it will do anything, but I am still curious. Any Ideas?https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6...0.15.jpg?gl=CA
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-m...0.21.jpg?gl=CA

As you can see the plant is in very poor shape, but I was also wondering if the plant used the othe leaves as nutrients to grow this little thing.....?

I would put it in water culture, that works very very well at reviving nearly dead Catts. Basically you want to find a way to suspend it in a jar/glass of water so that the water level is a bit below that growth nubbin. Change the water weekly, and top up the water level during the week if needed. After a few weeks that nub should grow, and then produce roots. Once there are some good roots, it can be transfered into S/H culture, as water culture is not a good long term growing method.

All the other growths died off simply because there were no roots left to support them. I would guess the new growth to be a last ditch effort to survive.

Thanks for suggesting that Camille! I was been wondering about that for awhile and thought that it might do better this way. Now you have given me reason to do it :D
Question though, Can I put a bit of seaweed extract in the water, or is it too much to sit in all the time?

I think most of the time people use plain water for it, but maybe seaweed extract would be good to add, but perhaps in a lower dose than what you'd normally use. I know it's a good root stimulant.
Also, don't worry if the water sometimes turns greenish or there's greenish slime on the part of the plant in the water. It's all normal, just some algae.

The smallest glass you can find will be best. I like narrow wine glasses. They will also keep some humidity around the leaf.
Joann

So, the Cat is still alive! And it has two new root growths! the other growth hasn't done anything yet but over all it is looking healthier than it has since the infestation! I wish I had done this straight up, maybe it wouldn't have gotten so bad.
Overall though all of my Chids are doing amazing things right now for growth. I know it is the time of year but I also gave them some home made seaweed juice and they went on overdrive ever since. I am kind of afraid to give them more! LOL!

I am not familiar with water culture so this is just an alternative. I would peel off all the the old sheath material. The green of the pbulb will photosynthesize and help the plant feed the new emerging bud. The old growths did indeed supply energy to the newest growth but with no root mass there wasn't enough. If this were my plant, I would put it in a plastic ziplock bag(quart size) with some spagnum moss in the bottom to lat it upon leaf pointing up. Close the bag upo and place it in a bright but not high brightnness area. Keep warm but not hot. As long as there is some moisture it should continue to photosynthesize and grow. It works for me most of the time. But all of the growth energy will be from the pbulb because there are no roots to absorb moisture. The underside of the leaf will provide some but if you can keep the entire plant at about 80% humidity, it will continue to grow. Let us know how it does.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-X...2015.33.35.jpghttps://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-3...2015.30.59.jpg
So this is what it is looking like now! 5 roots (one of which seem to be doing a lot of photosynthesis) One new growth out the front and what looks like two in the back!!

That's great that it growing so well!! :) So you had put it in water culture? Any pics? I'm curious to see what it looks like now.

The pics didn't open on my machine. Can you resend them? Did you put it in water culture? Describe what you did so we can all learn something. I'm very curious.

Sorry about that..I had posted the pics but for some reason they weren't showing up. I hope these show up!
So I did use water culture as I had in the past tried to do high humidity/ moss and such and it ended up getting worse. the last time I lost three of the four leaves, which is what started this thread:) In the water I just used tap water (it is good in my zone) and some homemade seaweed extract (fresh from my local beach!). I just topped up the water until yesterday, and then I swtiched to new water and seaweed with a grain or two of orchid food. Under the bulbous node is another growth which is hard to see as it is under the old sheath. The leaf is no longer as wrinkled as it was either. Overall, I am finding this to be a very successfull method!

So A quick update on this catt. It does have the colour varied on the larger leaf. I think this is do to culture change as this is when it showed up. the little leaf has a nice consistent colour throughout. Both leaves are firm and the roots seem to be adjusting to slightly drier conditions. I put in some sphag in the water to start then I allowed for the water to dry up a bit. It is still quite moist and grows best with some water in the bottom though.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-L...2009.47.37.jpg

Looks good, way to grow!
Joann

Looks great. A couple of years and it will flower. Maybe in the future a couple million years from now it will have turned into the monster orchid that ate Montreal!!!! (little scifi there.)I'll have to look up water culture and try some of my dead catts on it.

That's great that it's recovering so well!! :) Why not put it in S/H since the roots are used to growing in very wet conditions? It should take off in that.

I was considering S/H but I don't know much about it and I am not sure about what products to use.