Do you think there is hope for my Catt?

[brit6v]

Hi,
I have a catt that I bought this last Spring from one of the big-box stores. (pictures attached.....a sad sight, isn't it?) After I bought it and brought it home, I took it out of the pot and repotted it (I always do the ones I buy from a big-box store). But 1st, of course, I trimmed the dead roots, and did a cinnamon treatment 1st. As often has been the case with me, unfortunately, I found that there were actually NO roots left after I trimmed. Even so, I repotted the plant in sphag, crossed my fingers and hoped for new roots. (By the way, this is one of the plants that the wind blew off of it's plant shelf on our backporch this last summer.....broke the pretty blooms off) Over the last few months, the orchid has produced 3 new growths, which have been looking healthy. The plant has not grown any new roots that I could see, but I thought hopefully there were some growing down there under the sphag. I have been noticing that the leaves were yellowing and the plant basically wasn't looking healthy anymore and I contributed that to poss. too much heat in my orchid room over the summer (??) then hoped it would regain it's healthy look as the cooler temps. arrived (??). The cooler temps. have arrived now, but the leaves have became more yellow, shriveled and just basically not a happy plant anymore. One of the yellow leaves fell off this morn., and I have been noticing that the bases of the new growths has been turning black/dark (is the darkness at the new growth bases normal?).......so I unpotted the plant to see if there has been any root progress so that I could tell you when I asked for your advice (pleeease?). A few roots (very few) have developed but they didn't look as healthy as some I have observed in the past.

Do you think there is any hope for the orchid and if so, what would you suggest I do? Start from scratch maybe....somehow remove the yellow leaves and/or shriveled and old pseudobulbs, etc.? Or not?

As always, I would very much appreciate your advice.
Thanks in advance,
Vicki

[Cjcorner]

There is always a chance....as long as you have green p-bulbs to work with. You just need patience. Go to the local dollar store and buy a big bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide. Soak the root area every couple weeks...it kills fungus and oxygenates the root area. You can also try the "spag and bag" technique. Some take a plastic bin, put spagnum at the bottom and partially cover the bin with the lid. Every Day, you have to spritz it with a fine mist of pure water. Keep the spag moist but not soggy wet. When you begin to see lots of new roots, put it in it's new pot and don't water for a couple weeks. As weird as it seems, those catts hate wet feet. They MUST get dry in between waterings. The lower the elevation it is originally from the more you must skip heavy waterings. Also; when using a mister...make sure and dry it out and de-fungus it regularly with a natural fungicide. Try adding a couple drops of a root hormone into that plants water the next time too. It'll tell the plant to make more roots faster.
Good Luck
Connie

[Becky15349]

There is always a chance....as long as you have green p-bulbs to work with. You just need patience. Go to the local dollar store and buy a big bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide. Soak the root area every couple weeks...it kills fungus and oxygenates the root area. You can also try the "spag and bag" technique. Some take a plastic bin, put spagnum at the bottom and partially cover the bin with the lid. Every Day, you have to spritz it with a fine mist of pure water. Keep the spag moist but not soggy wet. When you begin to see lots of new roots, put it in it's new pot and don't water for a couple weeks. As weird as it seems, those catts hate wet feet. They MUST get dry in between waterings. The lower the elevation it is originally from the more you must skip heavy waterings. Also; when using a mister...make sure and dry it out and de-fungus it regularly with a natural fungicide. Try adding a couple drops of a root hormone into that plants water the next time too. It'll tell the plant to make more roots faster.
Good Luck
Connie

Connie is right - all these things can help. Basically, I've had the same problem on a few of my catts this past summer. I repotted a bunch, trimmed roots, and then put them in the wrong spot...they weren't able to recooperate enough form the repotting and basically dried out because they didn't have the roots to get moisture. However, once you get roots to grow, the pbulbs should plump back up on their own. You are getting leaf die-back because the plant is slowly dying - what I would do is put it in a low-light area until it can recooperate and grow more roots. That way, you won't stress it any further and it may use some of the sugar stored in the plant to make roots, and it won't try to photosynthesize in the sun and whither further. Just pull it out of the sun, put it in the shade, and water it 1x a week...keep it on the drier side, because its a proven fact that roots grow more when there is less water present in the medium. Good luck! And don't futz with the plant - just let it do its thing...don't repot it, don't bother it, because that'll slow down root growth.

~B

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Some good advice offered. I would only echo and say don't give up!

Cheers,
BD

[e4rly]

Yes of course.. yours looks better than my catt, but mine still pop up new growth even will takes sometimes.. keep it dry for the brown side, but keep moist for the green bulb. Hope it works

[Lambert]

You can save it, with all the great advice previously mentioned and a lot of patience! I have a Catt that is coming back from having been shredded to pieces by a squirrel! It had no roots for a month or so.
What I did also was foliar feeding once a week in the morning to give the plants some nutrients through the leaves and good light ( I put mine under LED lights which don't generate any heat so no added dehydration) as light is now the only source of energy for your Catt.
Patience and good luck, keep us posted on your progress!

[brit6v]

Thanks very much for your help, everyone! I always appreciate your advice! I've already taken care of my catt and repotted it, so hopefully, it's on it's way to a full recovery. Please keep your fingers crossed for us! (my orchid and I, that is)
Vicki