Ok above, bad below, my Catts!

[Eyebabe]

Jeff,
If you did not just water that plant your media is way to wet.
Catts like to dry out very quickly and are very intolerant of moisture laying around. I like to see mine dry out almost completely within 2-3 days. Then I mist a few days before I water again.
Notice how your top bark is dry but you are very wet underneath. Catts like it humid but not wet; unlike Phals, they prefer it more dry than wet in my experience.
This may simply be root rot.
Cut off the bad roots and bulbs.
Treat it like I mentioned and keep it DRY.
And yes, I forgot to mention do not cover the rhysomes.
Catts will also get black rot from over watering (pythium) which is also deadly...so I would try to save just the two or three leading bulbs if possible.
I like clear pots so I can see if the media is drying at the proper rate.
My experience with catts is limited to about 3 years of window growing(5+ years for phals). However, it is quite an adventure growing catts in a window given these issues and with about 70 catts right now, I sometimes feel a bit over my head. The best thing about them though is their resilience. If my phals get screwed up...they usually go to the trash. Catts can take much more of a beating
I would be very interested in how you progress with this

[orchid-flowers]

I agree with Eyebabe, you kept your Cattleyas too wet. These orchids need to be dry as soon as possible. If the substrate is still moist 3 days after watering, your substrate is not good for Cattleyas. It is too fine mixture, so it can not dry quickly enough. I would almost suggest mounting these Cattleyas and covering the roots with some coconut fiber. Coconut fiber dries quickly so there will be less danger for rot spreading, there will be more air at the root area. The mount should be small, so that you will be able to put the orchid with the mount together in a pot for higher humidity around root area. When the orchid recovers and starts to form some new roots, you can cover everything up to a level of the rhizome with a proper substrate (larger chunks of bark), for easier growing.

[Jeffery]

Thanks orchid-flowers and Eyebabe, I did actually just water them before the pics, so I guess I have a chore to do Saturday, I do have larger grade wood chips, as far as burying the rhysomes, I guess I planted to deep for plant support since there was very little root when I got them in the mail. I will figure out something on how to keep them in place without the burying the rhysomes. I will check on that root stuff your talking about, but I never seen that stuff yet.

[Jeffery]

Also, when I water I soak it real good, I completely submerge it in water, ohhh!! except the green part would it be better just to mist the surface medium so it can dry out faster? if I keep the watering real light, how many times a week when its hot and dry here?

[Jeffery]

I read this on the net, its the reason I was watering so heavy.

Water:
Cattleya are sympodial orchids that grow from an underground rhizome. They typically send up new pseudobulbs in the spring. During the growing season, water heavily, but do not allow them to sit in water. Cut water back when the flowers begin to emerge from their sheaths--water in these sheaths will rot the immature flowers. A well-watered cattleya will have fat lead

[trdyl]

Originally Posted by Jeffery

I read this on the net, its the reason I was watering so heavy.

Water:
Cattleya are sympodial orchids that grow from an underground rhizome. They typically send up new pseudobulbs in the spring. During the growing season, water heavily, but do not allow them to sit in water. Cut water back when the flowers begin to emerge from their sheaths--water in these sheaths will rot the immature flowers. A well-watered cattleya will have fat lead

Underground rhizome, deffinately and error.

As far as watering goes saturated the medium well, let dry out before watering again.

[Jeffery]

Originally Posted by trdyl

Underground rhizome, deffinately and error.

As far as watering goes saturated the medium well, let dry out before watering again.

When we say let it dry out before watering, is that the whole pot? because I knew my roots didn't go deep and I would water once I knew the surface area where the root system is was dry, but normally in towards the center it would still be moist.

[trdyl]

Yes, dry out. During the growing season, almost completely. During winter when it is coole,r dry out completely. When you have a good root system the pseudobulbs will tell you if they are getting enough water by staying plump.

This is another reason I moved everthing to S/H. No more guessing and no more medium decomposition.

[orchid-flowers]

Cattleyas are epiphytes, so they need air around their roots. If the roots stay wet and if the substrate stays wet, there is not enough air coming to the roots. Wetness prevents air from moving around freely. This is a reason why it is so important that roots get dry soon after watering and substrate must be dry in 3 – 4 days after watering. Everything else endangers root health and therefore plant health. Substrate must be coarse enough to dry so fast.

I agree with Trdyl about watering during winter even less. This is important not just for the plant health because it needs less water, but also to prevent new growth during winter. There is just not enough light during winter, so if you can not offer additional artificial light, new growth would be very weak. Such a weak growth weakens an orchid as a whole and this means less chance to grow this orchid successfully to bloom.

[Jeffery]

This is what I have to work with, I completely destroyed one of them, I took all the old medium out of the pots, it was quite wet! I am going to clean out the pots and decide how I am going handle this, any recommendations?