Cattleya root problem? help! pics included

[greenleaf]

Hi all~~I got this catt and it looked sooo nice with nice leaves and pbulbs but I decided to unpot and check the roots. It is planted in bark btw. And ! 1/2 the roots were dead ...I cut the dead roots off. But the remaining roots have dark patches on them--I heard that roots can get "stained" by bark, but I don't think these dark patches are stains. Is there a fungus that attacks the roots?

These pics are 8 days old. Now, the pbulbs are a lil more wrinkled and I saw 2 roots that are becoming soft and brownish at the tips (it's in a plastic pot so I can see what's going on). I am watering once a week when the mix is dry. I don't get why the roots keep on dying, so far, about 1-2" of the root tips are dead.

Will my catt be ok? What are the chances that it'll survive? and do I need to spray with fungicide? I'm worried the roots will keep dying starting from the tips and progressing on. Don't want my plant to die 'cause I really love it.

~~Thanks all~~

[domresvanis]

I am sorry for that.I am not an expert with Cattleyas and i dont know if it is fungus what i see on the roots.I know that it is not so easy for Cattleyas to die becouse they have Pbulbs and they can grow new roots from them.
I am sure that someone who knows more about Cattleyas is going to help you more.
Dont worry too much and i wish you the best for your Cattleya..

[delphiguy]

how many pseudo bulbs does you catt have? you did a real good job trimming off all the
bad roots.... i wouldn't be too worried about the dark "stains", just to be sure i'd apply
fungicide to it. Personally, I wouldn't pot up a catt in this state immediately.... I'd let
it dry for a few days before potting it. What mix are you using? they require quite an
airy mix...

[kmarch]

Before you take delphiguy's advice and "let it dry for a few days," notice that he is writing form the Philippines where it is quite warm and humid and where I understand dampness and fungal problem abound. I see you're in the US though you don't say specifically where. That makes it difficult to say precisely what might be best in your climate but I'd recommend:
1) not worrying about the spots on the roots - as long as you have removed all mushy roots and all those remaining are crisp they should be fine.
2) potting up your cattleya using a medium or large grade bark and start treating it normally - Cattleyas are for the most part quite tough. When it's growing cycle comes around it will grow a new growth and some new roots off the new growth and it will be on its way.
3) getting a good cattleya culture sheet - go to AOS | Members Only Area or to the orchid care section of this forum and get yourself a good cattleya culture sheet. This will give you information about what kind of growing conditions your cattleya wants. Give ti a good read and let us know if you have any questions.

Let us know how it goes!

[syndywindy]

Hi welcome to the forum. I grow a lot of catt's and what you are showing doesn't look too bad.I have learned not to overwater them, I let them dry out almost comepletely before watering again. I use a medium bark with coconut husk chips, perlite and charcoal for my catt's and also grow many in S/H. I use the skewer method for watering purposes. Unfortunately, I am leaving for work and don't have time right now to search and post the site for you. Maybe someone will come along and post it for me. If not, search the site for this method. It works very nicely.

[11Orchid126]

What kind of light is the catt getting? They like lots of light.

[greenleaf]

Thanks all the great replies~~

to answer questions...my catt has 5 pbulbs with 1 leaf each, 1 small backbulb without leaf, and 1 new growth about 5 inches tall.

It was originally in bark but the bark was crumbly (meaning it's bad I think) so I repotted it in an orchid mix I got at Home Depot containing bark, perlite, and what looks like charcoal pieces. Pot size stayed the same (4") and the plant gets afternoon sun (oh I let it the roots dry overnight before repotting, here where I live near D.C. the humidity is pretty low at home).

thx I read the article

Yep I'm trying the skewer method, trying to get the hang of it.

i'll post more info later if needed, need to go to bed, thanks again for all the help!

[berkeleysgr8]

I'm far from an expert on growing Catts (I have about a half dozen plants) but this time of year the roots on my plants usually look a bit like the ones you've shown. I don't see anything overly concerning in the pictures you've posted. This is about the time of year that new roots really start to take off on my plants... hopefully the same will be true of your new Catt!

[plucker]

I dont see any problems with the roots. The psudobulbs look healthy enough too. Just pot it up in the advised media and wait for the flowers. Fungacide is probably not worth the worry at this stage as the brown markings look like stains from the previous media.

You also mention that the orchid has one leaf per psudobulb. Sounds like the flower should be medium to large, which should be great.

[Sandrilene]

I've noticed that if I let my chid with roots like that (not a catt) get fairly wet that the roots do that but as they dry out they went back to white so perhaps it is just that.

[greenleaf]

OK thanks all! I guess the roots in the photos are alright then, but now, I think I made them worse...some bad news...

Over a week ago, as I said, I repotted the plant into a new mix. I did water it a day after repotting. Then I placed the pot into a ceramic cachepot and put the plant on the windowsill. Now, a week later, I checked the roots and OH NO!

So basically the surface of the media is dry, but underneath, there's tons of water vapor (droplets). I also saw cobweb-like stuff and green dots on the pieces of bark. Note that my pot is transparent so I can easily see the roots and everything. I unpotted the plant and yikes, the roots are covered with "cobwebs" and green mold. And everything's still wet! What in the world...

Where did my potting mix come from? Well it came out of a newly opened bag from Home depot. At first I saw some cobwebby stuff so I decided to pour boiling water over the mix in order to kill the fungus. Only after that did I add the mix to the plant.

My questions:
1) Why's the bark so moldy (even after boiling!!)? Is that why it didn't dry out even after 1 week? My other plants are dry by now...and I've never had moldy bark.
2) Now there's mold growing on the roots, and more roots are turning brown. The inside of a dead root looks like brown jelly. Now do I need a fungicide? And what kind (specific brand)?
3)Anything else I should do?

Oh great. When I took the photo there probably wasn't much of a problem (I agree with you guys above). but now I really messed up with the repot and caused a real problem.

yeah the flower should be huge, white petals with purple lip

thanks all for your help!!

[berkeleysgr8]

Don't take too much blame for causing a "real problem". In nature, the materials that orchids grow in get moldy too. I've also purchased bark and potting soil that seemed moldy in the bag... a big disappointment. I have used a mild bleach solution on some of my orchids when I've seen that the medium was moldy. I'm not sure that is the best solution, so I'd wait for advice from others about what to do next! Good luck!

[dounoharm]

dry dry dry for catts....and they like large chunky bark or chc (coconut husk chips) that doesnt decompose rapidly....and they like to be tightly potted.....when i repot i dont water for days, just let the orchid sit dry in the dry media.....that will encourage new root growth and the plant will be fine...when you water, make sure you water copiously, and let it drain before putting it back in the cache pot....and use a larger cache pot so there is air circulating around the roots....gl, catts are tough, i doubt you have done much harm...

[11Orchid126]

Then I placed the pot into a ceramic cachepot and put the plant on the windowsill. Now, a week later, I checked the roots and OH NO!

This may be your problem. If the ceramic cachepot doesn't have drainage holes, any water poured over the plant will just accummulate in the bottom and keep the roots soggy wet.