Winter Time and Catts

[articuno75]

Okay, I'm totally clueless on Catts. In wintertime how often should I water? Once a week, normal? Do I treat them with a rest period or do I treat them like there still in the tropics? I don't know what what to do. My inherited catt is loosing some of the leaves (starting to yellow and fall) and a couple of the psbulbs have yellowed and died. Is this normal? Culture notes say nothing about the winter or a "dormant" period.

Remember this is the Catt from INHERITED ISSUES.

Other than this it looks fine, the roots look fine and what roots that looked bad greened back up and are doing better. What gives

[digitalgate]

when you report you should expect some of these to happen.The rest is really
up to the plant how they want to grow.

[Tobi]

Most Catt hybrids don't typically need a winter rest. I water weekly year round and just cutback on the fertilizing to every 3-4 weeks during the
winter. From my experience, I haven't lost any leaves per say other than
maybe 1 or 2 from my entire collection of about 20. Now I have all hybrids,
so I'm not sure if this holds true for all species of Catts.

[tom499]

just as Tobi says

I have trouble keeping the temps up in the winter, so i just keep them somewhere sunny and fertilise and water less. The plant will slow down its growth, but shouldnt lose leaves or bulbs, except through the usual process of old bulbs. If there new bulbs there may be cause for concern.

Tom499

[Nancy]

i base my winter care on the length of days and the size of the pots my catts are in. There is also whether the catts are in plastic or clay pots. I water those in clay pots more often than plastic. If your catt is in plastic I wouldn't expect it to need water more than once a week. Is it in a period of active growth? These plants I give more water to. It's better to underwater than to overwater. How large is the pot your catt is in? How much light is the plant getting? What do the visible roots look like? A little more information provided might help us to give you a more definite answer.

[PhalPal]

I have only one mini-catt so I'm no expert. But, I got advice from someone who grows them like weeds so I followed his ideas! I have mine planted in straight Dyna-rok (diatomite) in a small bark planter. I water it when I think about it, maybe once a week or longer??? It stays very dry and so far is doing great. I'm really amazed at how well it is growing on very little water, basically growing it in porous rocks.

[brookn]

The plant in question is a huge Guarianthe skinneri 'Guaria Morada'. I have a piece of it that Articuno sent me. It was specimen size and divided, for lack of space, and because of disease (mostly rot) and bugs. The "piece" that I have is approx. a foot tall (each pbulb) with 7" long x 2 1/2" wide leaves, and I got a small part of it with 5 pbulbs. The plant is a monster lol.
I am wondering how often you are watering? I have been keeping mine very dry. Stop fertilization for a while too (if you are fertilizing), I have not used any on my piece, maybe that will help. I also have left mine, once I quarantined it, in with the phals because after they are repotted I hear that you should keep the light low for a while. I think though, that it is just adjusting to your conditions, and some loss after the condition it was in is to be expected. If pbulbs are yellowing, it is probably wise to cut them out and treat appropriately, before it spreads any further.

I did lose the one pbulb to rot, thought you might want an update, it just would not heal. I was afraid it would effect the whole plant, so I cut it out. Since I cut it, the thing looks fabulous. It is not doing anything, no growth, no roots, but it looks great. Leaves stiff and green, no more drooping, now if only it would decide to grow. It is so big though, it looks like Godzilla in amongst all the other plants. The only thing that comes close in size is the Bartley Schwarz. I cannot imagine how big yours must be hee hee.

[articuno75]

Well the visible roots all look green, except for the aerial roots that are white...These are also brittle cause they grew too high, but I left them alone for the fact that I didn't want to destroy those leads and so far these are doing fine. The bulbs and leave that have died were from the older end, but I didn't think that they would have lost leaves or died. Even the smaller divisions have lost a couple of leaves but roots and psbulbs are in great condition. I don't fertilize, just wormtea and water when the bark mix gets dry. They are in bright light by the windows and room temp is about 70 degrees farenheit. I mist daily in the mornings cause even my skin is dry in my apartment. I'm just wondering if it's still trying to adjust or if I'm not meeting some sort of need that it wants. Hmmmmm.

[Nancy]

This plant is a species with seasonal growth. This is what has been written about it in Rebecca Northen's book, "Orchids as House Plants". C. Skinneri makes its new roots along with the new growth starting in about April. Its growths are mature by the end of summer, and during the autumn the sheathsturn brown and become quite dry. Flower buds form in the dry sheaths in thhe winter, sometime during January or February, and open in about two months. Now this information comes from around 1976 but I doubt it's changed much. I hope this helps. Good luck with your plants, I think it's a beautiful species.

[brookn]

It's probably still adjusting to your conditions. As for the older pieces that are dying, I would just cut them out. Perhaps the plant since it's division, has just used them as reserves for the adjustment. If it is not spreading, then it is fine, you are doing great with it. I am sure that you will see some blooms on it this spring, every pbulb on my division had bloomed previously, so all this worry will be worth the wait lol. I personally can't wait to see what it does, this plant is really vigorous even though it had condition problems when you got it.

Thanks for the information Nancy, it was helpful to me also .

[articuno75]

Thanks Nancy and Brookn. The information is both welcoming and encouraging. I just worry and panic, that's all

[Nancy]

What is the humidity reading where the plant is growing? I would suggest that you put a plastic bag over the plant and expose it to a little less light. I find new divisions like to spend some time being babied. Good luck with yours.

[articuno75]

Nancy, our humidity is low. I'm talking 30%-45%! I mist once to twice, sometimes up to three times a day. I have to run a fan because if I don't then I'm battling fungus. I bought the wormtea and it really helped and I now got my misting down to 1-2 times a day. I would try the bag method, but I'm scared that it would create more fungal growth which I'm fighting. Right now I'm looking into make shift humidity trays....hmmmmm

[Nancy]

I use a humidifier and it seems to do the job. My humidity runs about 60% now. Is something like this out of the question for you?

[PhalPal]

Jenny ALL of my orchids, including one catt, grow in humidity below 40% all year. 40% would be high humidity for us, average is probably 25-30%. Everybody is doing fine and have acclimated to it quite well. I used to have brown tips on my Cymbidiums outside (even lower humidity) but even they have gotten used to it. I never mist because the moisture only lasts a few seconds if the air is really dry. After Christmas I am setting up an orchid room upstairs (I have boxes of T5 lights in my hallway right now - Yippee!!) and will add a humidifier. The research on equipment continues!

Nancy what kind of humidifier do you use??? I don't want the type that leaves a white residue on everything.

[Aleksa]

I have one Cattleya which have 6 bulbs. I would like to repot it and to divide it! Can I do that now, in winter?

[Tobi]

Aleksa,
The best time to repot a Catt. is when the new growth has developed to a stage
where the new roots can just be seen, but haven't grown sufficiently to be damaged
when repotting. Since mature Catts. are beautiful specimen plants, I would not divide
unless either space is a factor, bad roots are evident or you want to share the division.
In any case if you divide, 3-4 pseduobulbs per division is best.

[articuno75]

Originally Posted by Aleksa

I have one Cattleya which have 6 bulbs. I would like to repot it and to divide it! Can I do that now, in winter?

If your Catt only has six bulbs, I'd wait to divide because if you were to divide this down now you could risk the chance of it skipping a bloom for a while. I would wait. As for repotting, I agree with Tobi. Look for new growth, unless you have root issues like rot.

[PhalPal]

I agree; catts just get prettier and prettier the bigger they get. I saw one that was bigger then a basketball, completely round, and covered with blooms. It was absolutely stunning and sold for $1600 dollars!! Sixteen Hundred!!
My first car only cost $500.....the man could bought himself three Ford Fairlane 500's.

[fred]

Aleksa I have the same opinion as articuno75

Quote] If your Catt only has six bulbs, I'd wait to divide because if you were to divide this down now you could risk the chance of it skipping a bloom for a while. I would wait. As for repotting, I agree with Tobi. Look for new growth, unless you have root issues like rot.


I would not divide the Catt repot into a new pot the next size up is the way I would go.