The Orchid Whisperer: Expert Secrets for Growing Beautiful Orchids by Bruce Rogers

Author:Bruce Rogers
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Nightmare
ISBN: 9781452113708
Publisher: Chronicle Books LLC
Published: 2012-04-27T04:00:00+00:00

A classic cattleya hybrid

REPOTTING

Repot only when new green growth and new roots appear at the base of the plant. Ideally, this will coincide with the development of new roots about an inch long under the new growth.

Before you repot, give the plant a good watering. If the cattleya is growing in a clay pot, you might find that the roots have strongly affixed themselves to the clay. If this is the case, take a thin dinner knife, slip it between the root(s) and the pot, gently pry off all the roots, and remove the plant from the pot. If the catt is in a plastic pot, squeezing the pot will be enough to loosen some of the roots, but cattleya roots are tenacious so you might need to use a knife to pry them all off the plastic. Gently remove all the old potting medium and cut off the dead roots as close to the bottom of the rhizome at the base of the bulb as possible. If the oldest bulbs are dead, cut the bulbs and rhizomes off where the live growth begins. If the root system is large and healthy, select a pot that will allow for two years of new growth (meaning room for the rhizome to produce two more bulbs). If there are few roots, use a smaller pot allowing for just a year’s growth.

To repot, use one hand to hold the plant suspended in space inside the pot, with the bottom of the bulbs about ½ inch below the top of the pot. Using your other hand, distribute wet fresh potting medium equally around the plant, tapping it down as you go and making sure that you do not cover the rhizome or new growth. Water the plant after repotting until the water drains clear and free of debris.

TIPS ON REBLOOMING

As your new cattleya growth matures, you will notice a flower sheath forming at the end of the bulb at the base of the leaf. This is where the new flower spike will emerge. If this sheath starts to yellow before you can see the new flower spike forming, this could indicate bud or sheath blasting, which means that a rapid temperature change outside of the sheath has caused condensation to form within the sheath, where it will rot the newly forming flower spike. To fix this, you must carefully tear or cut the sheath away without damaging the flower buds and spike within.

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