What to do with this? (Catasetum keiki)

[MateoinLosAngeles]

Originally Posted by isurus79

I would just toss those new growths. They're too small to grow on their own.

That new growth looks big enough to water. Are you sure the roots aren't already at the bottom of the pot?

I ended up taking the plant out of the pot, and the root system was non-existent. The newest roots were barely 2 inches long. Some seemed to have stopped growing, and others had sunken tips as if they had a bush snail attack (the pot seemed clean, and no signs of snails, though). I wonder if I had too much slow-release fertilizer in the pot, which might've caused the roots to burn or maybe it just was divided at the wrong time, and everything went downhill from there.

I'm thinking this plant might be a goner, but just in case, I proceeded to soak the roots in water with Kelpak and Quantum and some very diluted fertilizer at 25 ppm N for 3 hours. While still getting lots of light. Then I placed it in a jar with damp Sphagnum at the bottom and a heat mat underneath. I might attempt to soak it in water every day to see if I can get it to plump up and then leave it bare root overnight.

The hope is the humidity at the base might maybe trigger some new root production? I'm also going to keep observing the small growth at the top and see if I can get longer roots in there, then I'll start watering it... maybe it'll give me a chance at saving the plant albeit setting it back years.