As long as the sheath is dry, it's generally best to leave it alone. If it
looks at all wet or mushy, you may want to open it. If you decide to give
that a try, cut off the tip of the sheath so that you can get a fingernail
between the 2 sides and VERY GENTLY, being careful to keep equal pressure on
both sides, peel them apart. I've salvaged a number of buds that way, but
I've also broken off more than I care to remember ...

Good growing,

--
Kenni Judd
Juno Beach Orchids

http://www.jborchids.com
"Ted Byers" wrote in message
om...
I repotted one of my catts today, and learned that it must be very
happy. It has ten pseudobulbs, of which the youngest and the third
youngest are putting out new pseudobulbs, and the youngest is making
four new roots. And there was a very large amount of healthy root
mass.

The only disappointment on this is that it has a sheath on the
youngest pseudobulb, that is half the length of the one that just
produced a flower, which has remained thin and turned brown. I assume
this is what I'd see if a catt is suffering bud blast. Did I do
something wrong, or might it have lost the new inflorescence because
of winter dryness?

This beauty is sitting on the sill of a south facing window.

It is a Lc. Stephen O. Fouraker 'Elmhurst' HCC/AOS (so says its tag).
I have had it since the beginning of November, and it bloomed just
before Christmas.

Cheers,

Ted