Need advice-bare root orchid in bud

[RSJ]

got a new cattleya for Christmas which was sent bareroot and has 3 bud sheaths. But... I planned to repot into s/h, but do have some bark/pumice mix I could use. Any chance those sheaths can make it (2 are fairly immature sheaths) with this repotting (considering also the shipping and temp fluctuations were pretty significant)? Which has more chance of success for the flowers, s/h or bark mix? Or does it really not matter and I should consider the sheaths lost and pot into my preferred s/h for the future health of the plant? Want to get this baby potted up today if possible since it's back to the grindstone for me after a day of travel tomorrow. Thanks.

Ronnie-Sue

[uncasteeb]

If it wasn,t grown in s/h then i,d wait until you,ve got new growth.Bark mix will probably stress the plant the least & give the plant the best chance of blooming.

[RSJ]

Thanks!

[LJA]

Catts really need to dry off between waterings, RSJ. I think you'll have a much harder time achieving that in s/h than if you used bark mix. If you're careful about potting the plant up, there's no reason those sheaths shouldn't bud out for you as well.

[Jmoney]

I would advise against s/h for standard catts and species. Maybe the minicatts that don't ever rest, but anything that has a definite rest period needs to have that time respected. Just my 0.02...

[OrchidTraci]

How did the catt do for you?

[Tanya]

How did the catt do for you?

Ditto RSJ. I also want to know how's the plant doing now. I also bought a bare root catt, well, a catt type of orchid (no label) last Christmas with sheath and are now doing fine with about 2/3 inch of new roots. Its in pure bark.

[RSJ]

Well, the sheaths were just starting up, and the plants had very small root structures to begin with. Gee, not a good sign when I have to start with a disclaimer, huh?

Both plants have new root growth and haven't shriveled up the pb's or lost leaves though.

One came with three "tiny" little sheath starts. The largest of the three, on the larger pb, has completely dried up. This plant had so-so roots when I got it, but several healthy pb's so the two youngest and littlest sheaths are still green (though stalled) and may yet produce buds. New root growth like crazy, though I potted up in pumice, not bark, because in my cool/wet environment at this time of year anything in bark in my house rapidly bites the dust.

The other plant is kind of pouting, it only had a few pb's and very small roots. Probably no blooms from it for a year or so.

But hey, I've never done bare-root before and it's dark and gloomy here since Christmas with no sunshine except "liquid sunshine" as they so quaintly call it here, so I'm thinking if I didn't kill them, it's all good, right?

RSJ

[RSJ]

Cool, dark and cattleya's not so good...cool dark and my masdies....OH YEAH

New growth everywhere! I expect to have lots of blooms as soon as the sun comes out a little.

RSJ

[Tanya]

Cool . There's hope for the sheath of my Catt to initiate spike. But if they don't, its ok for me. There is always next year .