Don't be tempted to water, WC. Wait for the roots. The old bulbs are not showing any water distress catering to the new growths.

From the above shot, first, the two yellowed bulbs need to be cut out. Now, because your plant is struggling to come back from a near death experience, I would not remove any of the old healthy ones. Normally, you would want at least 3 old bulbs supporting each new growth for optimum performance. That looks about what you have left. You can either toss or try to establish any odd single bulb which ends up not connected.

(this is assuming my eyes are working okay as I sit with my first cup of coffee)

Your ctsm is beautiful! I have the same species, but it hasn't bloomed in my presence so I dont know the color, and I believe it varies some. I'm very impressed with your 7 and 8 new growths at once!!! I only get one at a time.

Have you tried to divide yours? Mine is currently dormit but has a new nubbin of a growth, and I would like to divide it today if possible. I thought these where suppose to be easy to divide, but my gentle pulling did nothing.

Any suggestions???

Also, how did get some many new growths at once??
Thanks :)

Texas, I'm not the best one to answer your questions about dividing, etc. Except for the 2 brown pbs, all the growths on mine will stay in the same pot.

Not sure how the 8 growths came about, but they appeared 3 months after I sprayed w/ bleach by mistake. Not recommended. :)

If your Ctsm is in a pot w/ sphag, you need to wait to divide it until you start watering it again, so the medium's soggy and soft. If it was bare root over the winter, I don't know about dividing it. Either way, withhold all water until roots on the new growths are 3"- 5" long.

Also, take a look at cj's recommendation of having 3 pbs for every new growth. That seems to be the rule of thumb. WC8

Heck of a way to get a plant to put out new growths--make the plant think its dying and the plant will activate the dormant eyes. I can just hear your plant screaming "all eyes grow, NOW-they are trying to kill me!!!" I've had similar things happen when the lead eye gets knocked off by either bugs, fungus or a physical injury. I wouldn't gamble and do that on purpose, but I've gotten a lot of plants out of it when it does happen--I guess they love us and will forgive us our errors. Three bulbs does seem to be the way to go. I wouldn't separate the smaller plants until they needed to be, when the old bulb is distressed or starts to die. By the way that is one real nice Pileatum!!
Mark

Cj, thanks much for the suggestions. Your eyes were working just fine. I'll keep the whole thing in the same pot for this next year.

Mark, good to know you're around. I know - OCG (Orchid Caregiver Guilt) here. Does it count that I've been in an OCG support group ever since? :)

Here's maybe a controversy. A successful Ctsm grower has said that, if you can't see roots on the new growths because they're growing straight down into the medium and can't be seen when you pull the plant, then start watering when the new growth is half the height of its parent pb.

I've done that in the past - mine stay in their pots over winter, and everything's been fine, but there was only one new growth on each plant. Because there are multiple new growths, I'm uncertain. Also, I could have lucked out earlier.

The largest new growth is taller than its parent, and leaves are crinkling vertically.

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks to you all re compliments on the plant.

Mark, the cross is (âÂÂImperialâ x âÂÂPierre et CaudetâÂÂ), and awhile back, you said you might be the breeder and also that it might well be mislabeled.

Thanks, WC8

WC, I assume the half the parent bulb rule is for full-sized mature (8"+) bulbs.

Your problem is there are so many undersized new growths in the same pot which will get watered as well, possibly to their detriment. If you do decide to water, just be very careful not to get water in any of the new growths.

I would repot the plant, look it over really well, and put it back in the same container with new moss. If there are no roots, don't water it yet.

One of my pileatums is very similar to yours, a Ctsm pileatum (blanco x imperiale 'Maracay')

The fastest way to loose a catasetum to rot is to leave it in a large plastic pot with moss and other rotted bulbs or rotted moss. I know.. I've killed a few here and there, if that was my plant, I would take the plant out of the pot, remove any rotted, dried bulbs (just twist them off), rotted roots (use a new razor blade, seal any cut with a fungicide) and separate the various groups of bulbs. Carefully place the separated plants in as small a clay pot as you can (be extra careful with new roots), with some new sphag moss. Water sparingly barely keeping the moss moist and absolutely do NOT get any water in the new growth's crown, Place in well ventilated area (yes, stagnant air alone will induce rot and melt your plant in a hurry)and keep an eye on it for the first few days.

The clay pot will allow more air into the roots area as they are porous.

What possessed you to spray the plant with bleach? Was it some culture advise given somewhere?

Cj, the largest new growth is in the 5th shot above. Pb is 4" tall; growth is a little over 5. Leaves are now crinkling horizontally, as well as vertically, and now roots are visible - about 3/4" long.

Yeah, that's the dilemma - watering now will kill the smaller growths, but I'm wondering if they'd make it anyway.

Help me out w/ the repotting piece. In the past, I've waited till the only new growth was half the height of the pb, then soaked the old sphag - getting growth and pbs wet, pulled off old sphag, cut off some roots, and repotted in sphag.

Is there a way to repot now without harming the new growths? Well, I could soak the old sphag from the bottom. What do you think?

Is there a shot of your pileatum somewhere?

Thanks, WC8

Ben, thanks for the suggestions. No plastic bags here - lost a couple of orchids early on that way. Also, plants have good air circulation and E/SE light, supplemented by T8s, where this Catasetum bloomed the 2 years before last summer.

Once the pileatum is stable, it'll go outside, as it has for 2 summers. (Nothing went outside last summer.)

As for the bleach thing... I mistook it for homemade insecticide intended for the sticky leaves. Even if it had been the right spray, it went in the crown of the new growth (my lack of info), and I lost both spikes.

That there were 8 new growths 3 months later is testimony to the will to live. :)

The old, dried sphag is hard as concrete. If I soak it from the bottom - careful not to get any water in the crowns of the new growths, then cut off dead roots and repot, d'ya think that'll work?

Also, in my environment, sphag in small clay pots needs watering every day, thus the plastic pot inside clay for stability. Everything here is in sphag in plastic, except for a few in bark in plastic. Even though the temp in the orchid room reached 94F one day, relative humidity has gotten as high as the 40% only once.

Yes, we're in different environments, but I'd much appreciate your thoughts. WC8

Do what Ben says.

I don't see how a short soak could do more harm then leaving them the way they are. Pull the rootball out, dip it in a pan of water until you can work with it, keep the water out of the new growths. Repot and let dry out.

I have noticed through the years than when orchids of any genera have a near-death experience, they tend to put out a flush of new growth hoping that one will survive. The problem is that so many new growths drain what's left of the plant. When one of my orchids does this, I will choose the one or two strongest and rub out the others -- unless they are on separate leads.

Took this photo in a hurry last spring. It was a gift from a catasetum-growing friend in Idaho.

Here is a link that might be useful: Catasetum pileatum (blanco x imperiale 'Maracay')

WC8: here's an Idea--water the plant with a systemic fungicide for a week, then alternate that with a topical fungicide during the week, so the plants are getting some water, then after they start to grow larger and the roots are out start to water with fertilizer as well the sys&top fungicide. That way you don't have to disturb the roots that are already there and you are protecting the plantlets that aren't quite ready for their dose of water. The cross is Pil x (Pierre Couret x r.r.v.)---its all a Pileatum, so no matter how many names are in it its still just a Pileatum--the red color gives it the name imperial. CJ the cross you have is also a straight Pileatum they crossed a white Pileatum (Blanco is Spanish for white) with an imperial form of the Pileatum-red

Cj, gorgeous flowers & nice friend. Yeah, I figured most of the new Ctsm growths might not make it.

Ben, maybe clay pots till everything's stabilized. I'll be watching it like a hawk anyway, so now way it'll dry out.

Mark, thanks for the suggestions. I'm going to get a glass of Belgian beer and meditate on the various options. Or, just get a glass of Belgian beer. Also, I'll make a new label for this plant. It's great to have the real name.

Thanks, everyone. WC8

Meditate sounds like what I'm doing, only with wine. I just won a catasetum at our OS tonight, so I'm reading, looking for info on how to grow it. I'll probably post a another thread when I've some spare time Thurs evening. Some good info here for starters though.

Good luck with your plant, the blooms are so pretty.

Sheila :)

Sheila, congrats on the win. Which Ctsm is it? Or, I'll just wait for your thread. Suspense. WC8