Brand new to orchids and have several questions. For my first orchid I
bought a Cattleya that had no tag on it. It is in a 6" pot and has 16
pseudobulbs on it. Each has 1 leaf. Some of the pseudobulbs seem to
have sprouted fron the stem of, and just below, another pseudobulb.
All the leaves are very dark green and firm. Two of the leaves had two
buds on them and the larger set of buds opened today the flowers are a
deep lavender and the lip is a deep purple. They are about 4" in size
and seem very healthy. My questions are ....

1. Some of the leaves have a dark purple tip on them and none of the
books I have read says anything about this...it it normal??
2. Is it normal for a new pseudobulb to sprout off the stem of another
or do they normally come off of the rhizome ??
3. Several of the leaves seem to have a small start of a bud stem
coming out of them that look greenish and healthy but some have bud
stems that seem to be blackish and dead ..is this normal??
4. I paid $30 for it...was that a fair price ??

Thanks for your answers and I look forward to my orchid adventure.

Larry
Atlanta