Hello, I recently aquired a large collection of many different types of orchids that were in a nice atrium doing wonderfully at one point. Then they weathered hurricane Charley last year & the atrium came down on them. They were salvaged & piled under a tree for almost a year un-tended to. They were given to me (all 90 of them) in June & I don't know where to start. Most are doing well. Lots of them are still blooming. All of them have leaf damage & most have scale. The ones I am having the most problems with are what I believe come from the cattleya family. Only a few have tags, but they are of the BL & BLC variety.

Here's my question... I've noticed a few in need of repotting for a bit of rot & overcrowding. Inside they are a tangled mess of roots and I feel like I am dissecting them. When I start there is a lot of growth & pseudobulbs. By the time I am finished I've got barely any roots left & a tiny plant or two with all this wasted greenage. Am I doing something wrong??? And how do I rid 90+ plants of scale?? How do BL & BLC like to live??(light,water,etc.) How can I tell which leaves were damaged by the storm & which have issues I need to tend to??

I'm grateful for this collection that was so generously given to me but I feel like I am in way over my head. Any assistance is welcome!

Thanks a bunch.
Melissa, from W. Central Florida

Well, I've taken some of *my* cattleya plants right down to a few
pseudobulbs from very large plants, mostly due to lack of roots, odd growth
patterns (like pseudobulbs growing down instead of up) and just plain old
wanting a smaller plant. So don't necessarily think you are doing wrong.

Just be sure you are saving 3-4 pseudobulbs for each new growth. These back
bulbs provide stored food to support thre new growth, even if they don't
have any roots. If they are wobbly in the pot you can lace a BBQ bamboo
skewer across the rhizome to pinch it down onto the medium for stability.
Method: take a hot nail, poke 2 holes in the side of the plastic pot low
enough such that when the skewer is threaded through them it will have to go
up and over the cattleya's rhizome. Lace the skewer through 1 hole, across
the plant to the hole on the opposite side, trapping the rhizome beneath it.
Note: most people use a torch to sterilize their cutting instruments between
plants so as not to spread viruses amongst plants., that's how to heat up a
nail.

In terms of scale there are many ways. As long as you are going over each
plant and repottingit, you can use rubbing alcohol to wipe off any scale you
encounter. I will use a spray called Rose Pride , not for its acive
ingredient, but because its propellant is an ultrafine oil that smothers
scale and other bugs. After squishing scale (sometimes using anld
toothbrush to scrub off the leaves and bulbs), and wiping the leaves clean
with alcohol, I'll spray with the Rose Pride, and that's it. I'll inspect
each week to see if any return, then I have to bring out big guns. But
usually the alcohol and spray work well.

Don't feel bad about dissecting the orchids. They aren't like other plants
where you have to be careful of delicate root hairs. Orchids roots are
sturdier, have no root hairs (paphs do, but htat's a differnt story) and
can take some abuse. Just cut away the mushy ones, put the plant in new
medium make sure it doesn't wobble in the pot and you are off and running.

K Barrett

"madddogg" wrote in message
...

Hello, I recently aquired a large collection of many different types of
orchids that were in a nice atrium doing wonderfully at one point.
Then they weathered hurricane Charley last year & the atrium came down
on them. They were salvaged & piled under a tree for almost a year
un-tended to. They were given to me (all 90 of them) in June & I don't
know where to start. Most are doing well. Lots of them are still
blooming. All of them have leaf damage & most have scale. The ones I
am having the most problems with are what I believe come from the
cattleya family. Only a few have tags, but they are of the BL & BLC
variety.

Here's my question... I've noticed a few in need of repotting for a
bit of rot & overcrowding. Inside they are a tangled mess of roots
and I feel like I am dissecting them. When I start there is a lot of
growth & pseudobulbs. By the time I am finished I've got barely any
roots left & a tiny plant or two with all this wasted greenage. Am I
doing something wrong??? And how do I rid 90+ plants of scale?? How
do BL & BLC like to live??(light,water,etc.) How can I tell which
leaves were damaged by the storm & which have issues I need to tend
to??

I'm grateful for this collection that was so generously given to me but
I feel like I am in way over my head. Any assistance is welcome!

Thanks a bunch.
Melissa, from W. Central Florida


--
madddogg

Melissa,

I'm sorry to hear you have gotten yourself in this mess. Sounds horrible.

You have to decide what you want out of this. If everything was perfect
would you be able to support that many plants? If the answer is no then you
have to decide how many you want to grow.

Another question is what is the goal of your hobby? Unlabeled plants (Catt
NOID) have little value to collectors and are not judgeable. If your goal
is just to have nice flowers to enjoy and impress your friends then this is
not an issue. Otherwise, you may want to just save your time and start over
with clean healthy seedlings and scrap the mess.

If you got through all of that I would pick the plants that show the most
potential to free up first. Get a soft bristle toothbrush and some warm
soapy water (dish soap). Dip the brush in the water and remove as many of
the visible scale as possible. Take your time and be gentle not to damage
any of the new growths and roots. Remove any paper sheaths from the older
canes/pseudobulbs.

After you have cleaned the visible scale, rinse the plant under a gently
spray of water to wash away any lose scales that may be clinging on. Spray
the plant well with a bug spray rated to kill scale and place the plant in
the shade on a piece of newspaper and let the spray dry.

Process each chunk until you have all the plants you can salvage from the
pile. If you have to cut them away from the mess be sure to use single
edged razor blades and throw the blade away after each use. You don't want
to do all this work only to have spread a virus through the plants.

Now you're ready to pot up your new cuttings. You'll need an appropriate
potting mix, wire pot clips, and pots. If you are using plastic pots you
can cut/melt a hole in the rim of the pot and use a split of bamboo as pot
clips.

Pot up the cuttings and keep them in a humid area. Don't over water them at
this point but mist them regularly until they establish new roots. You have
to keep them from dehydrating and any water a rootless plant takes up is
through the stem and leaves through transpiration.

When you mist you can use a weak liquid fertilizer to give them a boost.
Some people may suggest a plant hormone like SuperThrive. I can't say if it
has value or not.

Good luck with your project. I hope in a few weeks you can report back to
us that you have had great success.

Good Growing,
Gene





"madddogg" wrote in message
...

Hello, I recently aquired a large collection of many different types of
orchids that were in a nice atrium doing wonderfully at one point.
Then they weathered hurricane Charley last year & the atrium came down
on them. They were salvaged & piled under a tree for almost a year
un-tended to. They were given to me (all 90 of them) in June & I don't
know where to start. Most are doing well. Lots of them are still
blooming. All of them have leaf damage & most have scale. The ones I
am having the most problems with are what I believe come from the
cattleya family. Only a few have tags, but they are of the BL & BLC
variety.

Here's my question... I've noticed a few in need of repotting for a
bit of rot & overcrowding. Inside they are a tangled mess of roots
and I feel like I am dissecting them. When I start there is a lot of
growth & pseudobulbs. By the time I am finished I've got barely any
roots left & a tiny plant or two with all this wasted greenage. Am I
doing something wrong??? And how do I rid 90+ plants of scale?? How
do BL & BLC like to live??(light,water,etc.) How can I tell which
leaves were damaged by the storm & which have issues I need to tend
to??

I'm grateful for this collection that was so generously given to me but
I feel like I am in way over my head. Any assistance is welcome!

Thanks a bunch.
Melissa, from W. Central Florida


--
madddogg

Welcome to rgo, Melissa.

I'll add a couple of things. First, if you are cutting away rot, I suggest
that you treat the cut with some cinnamon (great fungicide). If you like,
you can mix it with Elmer's glue before applying. Fo not sprinkle the root
ball, however.

Gene and Kathy gave you good advice about potting and scale elimination. For
me, though, if I were looking at 90 some plants with scale, I'd spray with a
systemic twice, about 10 days apart. I just don't have the patience to
eliminate that much scale by hand. Once the scale is dead, you can then
scrape it off more easily.

For natural remedies to replace the stuff you buy, go he

www.firstrays.com

Ray's site is full of great information.

HTH

Diana

Thank you all so much for your advise. I am only interested in saving these plants for personal enjoyment. If they were all without any problems I would be able to care for them, but since they aren't I am always up for a challenge. I'm sure I will be back with more questions. Thanks again!!!
-Melissa