new catt, please help

[JerseyGirlBecky]

I was just given a new catt as a gift. It is a Bic.George King'southern cross'. she bought it at Longwood 6 days ago and just brought it to me. It has three flowers. the sheath the flowers are coming out of was full of liquid and is black. I took a pin and let the water out. Should I try to trim it off of the stalk? It looks like black rot. The stalk and flowers look beautiful right now, but I am worried. Oh and she said it was not like that when she got it.
Thanks, Becky

[tucker85]

Blc.George King'southern cross' is a very nice orchid. It should do well for you and I love the colors. When one of my catts gets dark in the sheath I always pull the sheath down as far as I can and trim it off. It won't hurt the stem or the flowers as long as your don't cut the stem. If you have any fungicide you could spray after cutting it but just opening it up to the air will help get rid of the fungus. Also when you water, try not to get any water in the sheath area. In fact let the whole plant stay dry for a week or so. Catts love to really dry out hard once in a while. Fungus in the sheath seldom spreads to the psuedobulb but I have had it happen a couple of times. Good luck.

[dounoharm]

you let the water out of it so it should be fine....dont worry about the old sheath, which is what that part of the plant is called....it is normal for them to sometimes get dark like that when water is stuck in them....your plant looks fine!! and beautiful flowers!! gl

[silken]

As tucker85 mentioned, I would split the sheath and peel it back and cut away once it turns brown like that. That way air can get into that crevice and keep things dry. It's done its job to protect the buds as they developed and is now naturally dying off but you don't want it collecting water there.

[Call_Me_Bob]

nice plant, too bad you didnt get to go, but at least you got a plant

i agree with tucker, id just remove it

[JerseyGirlBecky]

I cut it very carefully and removed it. There was still some water in the very bottom of the sheath. It must have happened with the vendor, misting maybe. She did not water it at all in the days she had it. But hopefully, no harm done. Thanks everybody, you are all great. P.S. smells heavenly too.

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[Eyebabe]

More than likely, when the plant was being watered, the sheath was trapping the water.
Now that it is opened, it should dry out and take care to keep the area dry when watering.
You could open the sheath more but trying to cut it off around the stalk is tricky and I don't believe necessary.
Why risk damaging your beautiful flowers by working around the stalk with sharp things
Wait until your blooms are done in a few weeks and cut the sheath off with the spent blooms/stalk.
You might spray a bit of physan then if you are worried.

If I have a sheath that begins to turn brown without any flowers in bloom I do remove it like others mentioned.

Overall the plant looks great! Gratz!