early health indicators for Cattleya orchids

[plucker]

There are a number of indicators that can be seen in the growth patterns of Cattleya orchids. Culture sheets will tell you about light, temperature, water, fertilizer, grow medium etc and are not covered here.

Most people focus on the flowers because that is why we grow them.
But there are a number of early indicators that can be seen before they get to that stage. These can be seen many months before the plant will even look like flowering.

Indicator 1 - Roots.
When a catt is actively growing they throw out roots. If these roots are thicker than a match, are snow white and have green tips when dry, then the plant is well on the way to success and flowering in the new season. Even my minitures follow this rule of thumb. The bigger the plant, the thicker the root. A guide is minitures roots will be up to 3mm and exhibitions up to 5mm thick.

Some examples are below






Indicator 2. new Psudobulbs size
After you get the roots worked out, everything else follows.
Each new psudobulb should be bigger than the last. I find the psudobulbs are usually a lot fatter at the base on the successful plants.
Photos below.










Indicator 3. Multiple new leads
If you can get all things right the future will see the plant growing multiple new psudobulbs in years to come.
See below.





How can you tell when things are going bad?
The roots will be smaller, rotted or worse. The psudobulbs will not be as big as previous times. The plant will deteriorate without attention.

The first one has flowered 2 years ago, but had a few setbacks for one reason or another. Fungus, repotting, etc. You can see the last psudobulb is smaller in size and the plant needed more care and attention. After a bit of work the latest psudobulb is looking better and it might flower next year.



The other one is showing poor root growth and the new psudobulb is tiny.
This has been caused by fungus, and pests and is slowly deteriorating.



The photos above with healthy psudobulbs and roots I expect to flower next year. Already there are some starting to show flower sheaths.
The root size is my indicator that is visible 10 months before flowering.

[orchids4me]

Very good thread
I recall your potting Cattleya thread also.. Is this the only alliance you grow??
May I ask what is the smoother rock your using for media? I see some lalva rock on other pics you posted (pourous rock) but this in most of your pics is a smoother rock.
Thank you for sharing this info
Emmaye

[kmarch]

Thanks for taking the time to share this. I think it will be helpful to a lot of people. I would only add one small thing:

Originally Posted by plucker

Each new psudobulb should be bigger than the last.

...until the plant has reached full maturity, then each pseudobulb will be about the same size.

[plucker]

Catts make up about 80% of my collection, phals 15% and I have a few others.
The pink rock is just a deco rock that is purchased at the local landscape place. Nothing special, it just looks good and is readily available.
It is non porous and doesn't offer any benefits to the plant as far as I know. It is only used for holding the spag down, stopping the algae growing and helping keep it moist.

[plucker]

Originally Posted by kmarch

...until the plant has reached full maturity, then each pseudobulb will be about the same size.

Yes I agree that is how it is supposed to go, but my greenhouse is not following that rule.
Plants that flowered 5 years ago are still growing bigger PB's now. I think the old ones shrink as they pump energy into the new growths. All the old growths appear the same size now.
The only time I see a reduction in size is after a repot, or division, pests etc. and the plant has been stressed in some way.

[dounoharm]

very nice informative and well illustrated thread....great post!

[11Orchid126]

Thanks for the wonderful information and for taking the time to shoot those wonderful photos. One picture is worth a thousand words.

[Fishmom]

Thanks so much for taking the time to put this up. I've killed more than my share of catts, but I have a mini now that is growing and blooming. I'm on my way to check the root size!

[Reg22]

Thank you for this very useful post. I'm nursing my first flower sheath on a catt right now. (Blc. Kuwale "shin shin") Very exciting! Gotta go check out the roots on the others...

[Puddy1]

I've got 1 of my minis putting out roots like mad. Looks like your pic. Gives me hope now that I may get blooms! Hope my other 2 perk up. Thanks for your posts. The pics w/descriptions were very helpful.

[JungleMel]

Thanks so much for taking the time to post this. I never tried catts due to space requirements, but just learned there are mini's! I picked up two this fall and am still learning how they grow. This is always the kind of information I try to find out when I try something new. I wish culture sheets would include this info when people write them!