I'm new to the board, and pretty new to orchids, as well. I've been collecting for about 8 months or so. The first plant I got was a Cattleya. Slowly but surely, it has not been doing well.
Environment: I am in Phoenix, where it's dry. I keep them in my bathroom, in and around a large bathtub. I have taken shower curtains and covered the open side and top, but it is not sealed shut. Oh, it's in front of a west window with sunscreens on it. I use 2 all-spectrum lights and a humidifier. As hard as I try, I can't get it to stay much above 50-60 percent humidity, and sometimes drops into the 30 range. The temperature is about 75-82 during the day and the low 70s at night. That's about the best I can get in the warm/hot weather.
Problem: The leaves are shriveling up, and I know the plant isn't getting enough water. This morning I decided to take it out of the pot and look at the roots, as I suspected that was the main problem. I sure was right! It has NO viable roots. I cut off everything that was dead, brown, and rotted, and am left with nothing. There is some black at the bases of a few of the bulbs (plant has about 8 bulbs total). Should I cut them off completely? Oh, watering - I take a pencil and stick it into the planting medium. When the pencil comes out dry, that's when I water it - about every 7-10 days. We have very hard water, and I run water through it for about 5-10 minutes, after soaking for about 5 minutes.
Is there any way to save this plant? If helpful, I'll post a photo - just let me konw. I sure would appreciate any advice.
I have more questions, but let's take care of this first
. Thanks so much.
Julie