Dividing and repotting large Cattleya orchid

[@ZaneLeroux]

a flower spike yellowing from the base, orchids can always surprise us :D it had really beautiful flowers

[@ZaneLeroux]

Zane Leroux oh, i nearly forgot to ask something, i recieved a dendrobium without any identification to it, and i just don't know how to care for it, i want to see it's flowers, the identification would much easier, but without flowers maybe i can't give it proper care and can't see the flowers, it's a vicious circle :D do you have any ideas what conditions do i have to provide for it, ooor what would you do with it? :D if you want to see it, here's the link: www.orchidboard.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=111469&d=1429905617

[@MissOrchidGirl]

Zane Leroux hmmm not sure if it's a kingianum, resembles it but maybe it's not. When in doubt give bright light and water when media is dry, but not too dry. Give it a mild winter rest when the time comes, they usually all take a winter rest in some way or another. Just reduce watering and fertilizer when growth stops and let the temps go down a bit. When it will bloom you'll know what it is ;)

[@throbbtharnaby1835]

This one likes to grow shallow, so I wouldn't worry about the roots too much. They sulk when repotted, but you did it at the right time. I think you'll love this plant when it gets going for you. Mine has been very hardy compared to some others, and more resistant to fungus.

[@aribh4929]

Hey, if I have a dehydrated phalenopsis should I just water it normally and the leaves will become firm again? I have a sphagnum layer on top

[@familhagaudir8561]

If it has a good root system, yes, water it normally. It will recover slowly. If the root system is weak, go for the plastic bag option : unpot, put a layer of moist but not wet sphagnum in the bag, put your phal in the bag and close it. Place in medium light with no Sun. If condensation covers the whole inside of the bag, the spagnum is too wet. When leaves are firm, which takes a week to a month, repot. This gives faster recovery but is more work and if your moss is too wet, carries a risk of rot.

[@GardeningatDouentza]

Your friends are luckier than mine. My friends have to wait forever to get divisions because I love to grow big specimen plants :D

[@MissOrchidGirl]

Gardening at Douentza I like it too but already this was big so, I'm going for the tidy look as I want to train them to grow straight :P

[@familhagaudir8561]

When you want to repot a Cattleya, the time to do it is when new roots apear as many have a strict period for root growth. Some Cattleya will stubbornly refuse to make roots most of the year. This is less important with vigourous complex hybrids.

[@MissOrchidGirl]

Familha Gaudir fairy tales :))) sorry but I've never had any problems with repotting, it all has to do with the orchid's health or genetical code. But that is just my opinion, I don't have to be right ;)

[@familhagaudir8561]

Okay. I was just parroting what I read on the AOS website.

[@MissOrchidGirl]

Familha Gaudir yes I know what they say, but I think sometimes people miss some details :) as I said it's just my personal belief, I had some orchids that were supposed to sulk after repotting and that didn't happen, they actually took off so.. I will make a video soon on it to debate a bit ;)

[@Begreen9]

I notice for this cattleya you used bark, but the other one that you healed was put in what looked like hydroton. Can either work?

[@nancywismer488]

thanks so much

[@МираДюлгерова]

It was very interesting as always :)

[@jasonwill6778]

Hi, first of all, your video does help a lot! I would like to ask, I purchased 3 pots of hybrid cattleyas last year. They managed to produce small flower buds but they just got dried by their own without even had the chance to bloom. It happened not only once, but thrice. I put it outside and it dried. I put it inside my home near the window and it dried. The buds never grew big, they remained small and dried by theirown. What should i do? PS. Sorry for bad english

[@barunariotama210]

I've just, by accident, injured the new lead (1" height) on my cattleya. I've treated it with cinnamon, and I wonder is it okay to subject it to water tomorrow morning or shall I wait for another day to water? The cattleya is mounted, so it's unlikely that I can water without wetting the new lead. Thank you before 🙂

[@AntoniaOrchids]

Do you want to see a really humongous Cattleya? The flowers I have in my profile picture came all from the same plant! When I got it, it was so big that I managed to obtain four big divisions out of it, and my mom had to help me in cutting them out and literally tearing them apart! I don't have any video about that messy repotting (fortunately, lol), but all the divisions did very good afterwards and they bloomed at the same time: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eWjcfaGeaKl5kLc

[@MissOrchidGirl]

Antonia Orchids thanks for sharing I'll take a look in a bit!

[@BoyKnitter]

Will the division flower a second time?

[@amirazad4245]

Hi Danniy, I would like to ask you about Serama and clay potting mix can you tell me which mix should I use for cattleya? Dendrobium? can you please make a video so I can find out which mix should I use with this new potting mix or at least give me a bit of description of each orchid species Thank you you are awesome

[@MissOrchidGirl]

HI, well I think the mix should be adjusted not only to the species but to the environment as well :) just know seramis can hold its weight in water, while leca is not so good at it. if you need a pot to stay rather dry, a higher leca ratio can be used. If the pot is big, more leca can be used again. If the pot is small, more seramis is better as it will dry faster since it is small. And so on. I will try to make a video on it,t hanks for suggesting :D

[@GiovanniOrchidsKiller]

The roots system wasn't super good as I thought at the beginning of the video :D :D GOOD DIVISION

[@MissOrchidGirl]

Giovanni Orchids Killer it looks decent ;)

[@marlinabasir]

I need your help again .I have a cat fire Fox.it was sick but had recovered.lots of new healthy roots all over.But no new cane .the node from previous was a dark purple colour.not dried Brown though.but it didn't grow any more new nodes.this is really strange.no new cane means no new flower spike.what do I do.

[@MissOrchidGirl]

Marlina Basir Hi Marlina, how long has it been since you have it and it didn't grow new canes? I have a Catt that grows 1 single cane per year, it takes 6 months break from flowering then grows a new cane again. So maybe you just need to have patience. Each cane should have 2-3 available nodes, if they are not alive anymore, it might not grow any new canes. But just be patient for now.

[@marlinabasir]

+MissOrchidGirl I'd think the last bloom was late last year.the catts ice noticed grows a new cane after every bloom.it's quite fast but this doesn't.it did recover from sickness and it's so full of good roots.I can take this as a sign of good health? Maybe the old nodes didn't survive previously so they remained the same.I'm going to pick up the plant and do a 360.check it out properly.thanks for your good faith.I'll be patient.

[@marlinabasir]

Marlina Basir what do you know..I checked today and the node has grown into a small cane!!! I'm so happy!!I don't know if it needed a rest.I brought it last year August.but there are ants, lots of ants.ive flooded them and cleaned up.no pests.just ants studying on the sap.urghhh.

[@growingthings6232]

That is big Catt , At least the roots were in good shape in spite of the media being broken down so much.

[@MissOrchidGirl]

Growing Things yep it was decent :)

[@growingthings6232]

yep?! you taught you English Missy ? it s pronounced YUP lol Yep is the sound a small dog makes

[@MissOrchidGirl]

Growing Things ooops note to self: never use ro slang with Americans lol

[@growingthings6232]

lol yeah watch it

[@jeanfrancesparker2568]

Mine is six times this size I don’t know where to start

[@artistenoire]

Hey Danny, Dan you make some sort of video showing how to care for those cattleya/oncidium roots that wildly outgrow their pot and go everywhere? I am always so scared of drying them out and killing them- they're not like a phal's air roots to me. Do you spray them daily? Do you just water them when you water the plant? I am so paranoid about killing those roots!

[@artistenoire]

***** p.s. that growth habit looked so much like a brassavola!

[@MissOrchidGirl]

***** Hi Astrid, well I don't let them grow everywhere (like this Cattleya) I repot them so I place the majority of roots in the pot to get hydrated. For this one I just soaked the roots along with the pot, you can also spray them once every day if they dry badly. But as long as the majority of roots are inside the pot all is ok, I personally don't hassle too much with the aerial roots unless there are too many of them.. then I repot :P not sure if this is what you meant though, which of your orchids does this?

[@artistenoire]

I don't have an orchid with roots like this yet, but just like the cattleya in this video had so many roots poking out! I see so many people in my OS with roots crawling everywhere, or if you recall my den phals, they were just overflowing with roots EVERYWHERE. I am seriously so amazed at how unruly some people let their orchids grow. I supposed that answer is easy- in my own personal collection, I will just repot! ;) But I worry about orchids that I won't immediately repot or maybe if some of my plants grow roots over the edges of the pot before repotting season comes. I guess I can mist them!

[@MissOrchidGirl]

***** well as I said, a few aerial roots here and there are not a problem, but if new growths grow roots only on the outside, that leads to some dehydration if you don't mist them or hydrate them. They like it outside because it's airy and they have the side of the pot to attach to, but they don't know it rains once a week only there lol you'll probably see that the outside roots don't have growing tips, or they stop growing at a short length compared to the roots inside the pot, this is lack of hydration. In nurseries where humidity is very high, they grow outside the pot like on a mount with no trouble. A house is different though.