Not a Cattleya NOID? Translate label + leaf ??

[ElenaMarie]

Originally Posted by Cavs n' Orchids

Hey!
Congrats on the great find! I grow my Cattleyas in terra cotta (or clay) pots and they LOVE it! A three inch clay pot should be perfect. Not to throw in too much info, but I found that some cattleyas can be touchy about being repotted when their roots arent actively growing, so if it doesnt have any green pointy new root tips, I might personally wait till it stops resting and starts growing again, although if it desperately needs a repot (and a big ole drink), putting it in medium bark mix in the 3 inch clay pot and that might perk it right up! Avoid the sphag moss. They like to wrap their roots aroung the bark chunks. Good luck and good growing!!

Thank you! I can't believe I got it for that little. Of course it was pure coincidence, I hadn't a clue.

The pseudobulbs and leaves are seriously shrivelled, it needs some water badly. I watered it immediately when I got it home. For a plant this badly dehydrated do you think it should be repotted immediately to assist in recovery?

---------- Post added at 10:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:51 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Junebug

A clay pot would work. The type designed for orchids with extra slots around the side would be a great choice. Your bark mix should work. Sometimes the pieces of bark are too large in those mixes, but you can sort through the mix and pick out and use the smaller sized ones. Try to use bark and coal pieces that are closer to 1/2" in size and it wouldn't hurt, in addition to the pearlite, to incorporate some tiny chunks of styrofoam for better drainage. Good luck with your baby!

I found clay orchid pots during the phal emergency. They have the slots around the middle for air circulation.

I'll be sure to sort out the mix. I can always get hubby to break up the larger pieces into smaller if need be.

Thanks so much!!!! This is so exciting!

[Cavs n' Orchids]

[QUOTE=ElenaMarie;462090]Thank you! I can't believe I got it for that little. Of course it was pure coincidence, I hadn't a clue.

The pseudobulbs and leaves are seriously shrivelled, it needs some water badly. I watered it immediately when I got it home. For a plant this badly dehydrated do you think it should be repotted immediately to assist in recovery?[COLOR="Silver"]

How does the potting media look that its in now? if it doesnt look too bad and isnt too smelly, it should be fine for maybe 6 more months in its pot. It was probably forgotten in the store and went without water for way too long, and might perk right up just from regular watering, but the clay pots with the drainage slats are fantastic for catts, and with the bark mix it should do great! To repot or not to repot, follow what your instincts are telling you.

[Gage]

Hey congrats on the new chid! All this talk about it being dehydrated, I thought I should reiterate what has been said, and that is that it MUST dry out COMPLETELY between waterings. And if it takes more than 3 days to get almost bone dry, then the potting medium isnt drying quickly enough and you will likely rot the roots. Btw mine take about 2 days at the most to be bone dry. Hope this helps! Good luck to you!

[ElenaMarie]

Originally Posted by Cavs n' Orchids

How does the potting media look that its in now? if it doesnt look too bad and isnt too smelly, it should be fine for maybe 6 more months in its pot. It was probably forgotten in the store and went without water for way too long, and might perk right up just from regular watering, but the clay pots with the drainage slats are fantastic for catts, and with the bark mix it should do great! To repot or not to repot, follow what your instincts are telling you.

Hi Cavs!

I went ahead and repotted it. It has a teeny tiny little spud of new growth so I guess that's a good sign! (see pic below) The medium was more like loamy soil than bark, which may explain why there weren't nearly as many roots way down in the pot.

I soaked the new medium (small pieces of bark/charcoal/perlite and added styrofoam--thanks @Junebug!) for a couple of hours before draining it and beginning to repot.

I rinsed the roots well and sprayed them with a 0.20% sulpher solution before settling into the new pot, and then sprayed the leaves well with the same solution. Added a piece of bamboo skewer to watch for watering and I think I'm done! Now just lots of fingers and toes crossed. Thanks so much for your help!

[ElenaMarie]

Originally Posted by Gage

Hey congrats on the new chid! All this talk about it being dehydrated, I thought I should reiterate what has been said, and that is that it MUST dry out CONPLETELY between waterings. And if it takes more than 3 days to get almost bone dry, then the potting medium isnt drying quickly enough and you will likely rot the roots. Btw mine take about 2 days at the most to be bone dry. Hope this helps! Good luck to you!

Hi Gage!

When the plant is this dehydrated should I water differently than when it's healthy? It just seems that going bone dry isn't going to help it recover from dehydration--but that's the old in-the-ground gardener in me coming out.

Do you water every third day? How long should I allow it to be thoroughly dry before watering?

Thanks in advance!

[Cavs n' Orchids]

Hey Elena!
Sounds like you did a great job on your repot! Your little guy will be happy in his new home. When they are dehydrated they do need frequent watering, but Cattleyas hate their roots to stay wet, so you do want it to get bone dry before rewatering. The media you potted it in should dry quickly, so it should be fine with watering 3-5 days, as long as its dry. If after 5 days its still wet, you could run into root rot, and will need to water less or take out some of the media so it gets more air around the roots.

[ElenaMarie]

Originally Posted by Cavs n' Orchids

Hey Elena!
Sounds like you did a great job on your repot! Your little guy will be happy in his new home. When they are dehydrated they do need frequent watering, but Cattleyas hate their roots to stay wet, so you do want it to get bone dry before rewatering. The media you potted it in should dry quickly, so it should be fine with watering 3-5 days, as long as its dry. If after 5 days its still wet, you could run into root rot, and will need to water less or take out some of the media so it gets more air around the roots.

Thanks Cavs! I've been totally stressed trying to get this right.

Three more questions:

1. Should I water as soon as it's bone dry or allow it to have a day or two of dryness? Both now, while it's dehydrated, and later when it's healthy.
   
2. Now that it's growing, when should I fertilize? Wait until it's rehydrated or get some feed into it now to support the new growth?
   
3. Is this little guy a NoID? I tried to look it up to see if it's been registered and I didn't find anything--but given my ignorance that doesn't mean much. I know my phals are NoIDs but kind of hope this one isn't.

I so appreciate you taking the time with me!

[silken]

Originally Posted by ElenaMarie

Thanks Cavs! I've been totally stressed trying to get this right.

Three more questions:

1. Should I water as soon as it's bone dry or allow it to have a day or two of dryness? Both now, while it's dehydrated, and later when it's healthy.
   
2. Now that it's growing, when should I fertilize? Wait until it's rehydrated or get some feed into it now to support the new growth?
   
3. Is this little guy a NoID? I tried to look it up to see if it's been registered and I didn't find anything--but given my ignorance that doesn't mean much. I know my phals are NoIDs but kind of hope this one isn't.

I so appreciate you taking the time with me!

You can water it a day or two after it becomes good and dry. Fertilizing should be OK but use only 1/4 to 1/2 of what is recommended on the package. Orchids don't need a lot and it can burn their roots.
Your plant is NOT a NOID. It has an ID as marked on the tag. A NOID means it has no ID. The bag it came in with the other picture is likely a standard bag they use for all their bagged cattleya orchids. Yours will likely be as it was described, white with a bluish purple lip. Coerulea means the blue version and while no orchids are truly blue (Vandas come close), it is much sought after and they are often called blue, even when they are only a bluer version of purple than the pinker version of purple. So you have a named hybrid cattleya orchid.

[ElenaMarie]

Originally Posted by silken

You can water it a day or two after it becomes good and dry. Fertilizing should be OK but use only 1/4 to 1/2 of what is recommended on the package. Orchids don't need a lot and it can burn their roots.

I'm using orchid food but still cutting it when I feed my old Phal. My old Phal doesn't seem to like full feedings, not even using orchid food. (Better Gro Orchid)

I'll give a touch of fertilizer next time I water. It may be wishful thinking but I swear the Catt's leaves are starting to smooth out a bit. Woohoo!

Your plant is NOT a NOID. It has an ID as marked on the tag. A NOID means it has no ID. The bag it came in with the other picture is likely a standard bag they use for all their bagged cattleya orchids. Yours will likely be as it was described, white with a bluish purple lip. Coerulea means the blue version and while no orchids are truly blue (Vandas come close), it is much sought after and they are often called blue, even when they are only a bluer version of purple than the pinker version of purple. So you have a named hybrid cattleya orchid.

Yay!!!! I started reading on the NOID sticky and I guess I was confused by the registered versus non-registered aspect.

What's weird is that the grower isn't using the same picture on all the seedlings. They had some reds, with definitely red pictures, some pinks (same story), whites, etc. When I picked this up I thought perhaps the printed picture skewed the purple lip toward the red spectrum as opposed to the blue spectrum, as I've read much on the lack of true blue orchids and know that printed photos don't necessarily show true color. I also thought that perhaps the pictured orchid was as close to blue as one gets in this genera (there's my ignorance showing again!)

Anyway, this may be way too much wishful thinking but if I do well with this little guy, maybe I can take him to a show. . ..One can dream!

Thanks so much, Silken!

[ElenaMarie]

Update:

After repotting, the leaves and tiny pseudobulbs are plumping up slowly but surely.

Thanks for the advice, everyone!