Sherry baby won't spike!

[Newt]

First of all, a big hello to all here, as this is my first post. I joined OB because browsing other threads, everyone here seems incredibly knowledgeable, willing to help, and most importantly friendly. I am very excited to be a part of your wonderful community!

The reason I post is simple:

I bought my sherry baby for my girlfriend's anniversary present a year ago, and it still hasn't spiked! Vegetative growth has nearly doubled the plant's size, but still no flowers. My Mom suggested "stressing" it with infrequent watering, but to no avail. All I got were ugly, crinkled leaves! She also mentioned letting it get crammed in its pot(which is large, my noobish mistake w/first re-potting). As a result, newer bulbs are actually sitting on top of the pot, as the plant retreats backward in the pot:


Root structure looks O.K., it gets plenty of indirect AZ sunlight, and I do my best to keep it humid (no gage, but it is constantly in a catch tray of pea gravel w/water). As you can see, it got a little sunburn from the move from CO to AZ, and I fear the front-most bulb with only one leaf might be lost as a result. I may have an insect problem: little gnats being the result of a friend caring for it while on vacation. The gnats are scarce, and I'm not sure what they are. I water about once every 6 days, and once a month feed it Miracle-gro 30-10-10. The plant is also potted in a plastic pot with wood chip potting medium.

Within two months, we will be moving back to CO, at which time I'm thinking of re-potting to a identical size terra-cotta pot. I was also thinking of changing fertilizer, but have not done any research on this matter. Am I doing it all wrong? Why won't my orchid spike? Any input about what I'm doing right/wrong would be most appreciated! Thanks in advance!

[frostedeyes]

yes repot it (unglazed pot)... try using loose tree fern bark with small charcoal, trim off all those run burned and spotted leaves. after that give them a dose of fungicide just a precaution. a 3-4 hours of indirect sunlight... but they dont mind if its direct... just move it slowly and they will happily adapt. ive seen the leaves are pleating (accodion) so... its a signs that you should water them more frequently... check if the roots are healthy. so far... thats all i can give... wish u luck... i cannot give u advice on reblooming since i havent rebloomed mine for 4 months

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Hello, and welcome to the OB.

Okay, here's the skinny...

Potting up a size is not a good idea. I also noticed you pot in a glazed ceramic pot. Glazed ceramic pots don't breathe well, and they keep the root zone cool. Oncidium 'Sherry Baby' is a warm grower and it may not like it's roots cool. You might consider a plastic pot, (a black one if your conditions are a bit cooler).

Another suggestion you should consider is getting a non-urea based fertilizer that's more balanced (try something closer to a 20-10-20 or a 20-20-20 fertilizer).

Macro-nutrient and micro-nutrient deficiencies can also cause physical problems with the plant. I don't remember what all the problems associated with which deficiency are, but a good current botany textbook will briefly describe them to you.

The stress of the plant dealing with the sunburn along with the moving may also cause a delay with blooming.

One micro-environment can be different from another micro-environment. You have to make sure the environments accomodate the plant's needs. Even then, the move itself could cause it enough stress to delay blooming.

Not to mention, overwatering the plant can cause root rot if the media is not allowed to dry out sufficiently. Good healthy roots are white with green tips and firm (if they're brown, beige, or black and they're mushy they're rotten). Root damage cause delays with blooming as well.

Finally, the plant is too dark green. This dark green coloration of the leaves could be a combination of nutrient deficiency and insufficient lighting.

[SP2340]

Hi welcome!! I agree with them

[Newt]

I really appreciate the help guys! However, I do have a few questions regarding your input:

Concerning a new pot, thanks for the black plastic idea King, I'm sure it would like that in the midst of a CO winter. Would ceramic insulate the roots better than plastic?

Regarding fertilizer, I read that a higher nitrogen level fertilizer would help break down the pine/fir bark mixture w/charcoal medium that the plant is in now (nice to know I'm somewhat on there, thanks Frosted!). I've always thought that in a fertilizer the nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium numbers directly corresponded to the vegetative, root structure, and blooming results to your plant respectively. Am I way off with this? If correct, I could understand why the plant is getting so much vegetative growth with no blooms. I will give a new mixture a try, but I am unfamiliar with urea, King. The fertilizer I currently use is urea based (you are awesome!), and I'm wondering a). what it is, and b). what its result is on my orchid?!

The roots on this baby are amazing, I assure you! Due to the lopsided growth, the poor thing jumped off the stand it was on (read: fell over!) and came out of its pot. The only mess I had to clean up was the top level of wood chips that fell off during the fall. Everything else in the pot was entangled in a gorgeous pot-shaped, green and white root nest! I am curious if I should do some root trimming when I repot. Will this encourage new growth, or just stun the existing bulbs?

Frosted, with fungicide what would you recommend? I've never had to do this, and I'm deathly afraid of accidentally harming my babies! Also Frosted, if you notice, the leaf with the darkest shade of brown that is coming out of the front or leftmost bulb (depending on which picture) is the only leaf left on this bulb. Will I lose the bulb if I trim it? The bulb itself has a brown ring around the top where the other leaf was before removal.

Sunlight is and has been my major concern for two years now. Neither of the places I've lived had very good window/sunlight situations, and I've noticed most of my plants are very green as a result. Should I cut back on fertilization for the time being? How much direct sunlight is ideal? Too much?

Thanks a million for the help, and I hope you can get yours to re-bloom Frosted! I'd be happy with just a barren spike at this point!

[isurus79]

I would say that you definitely have the vegetative growth thing down! Lack of sufficient light is the single most common reason that plants dont rebloom. Going by the fact that your plant is a very dark shade of green (as mentioned previously) it shows that your plant is not receiving enough sunlight. I grow my Sharry Baby in very bright, direct Hawaiian sun for a significant part of the day and I get 1-2 blooms from my guy per year. Remember though, orchids need to be slowly acclimated to brighter sunlight slowly over time. Think of your palest friend and then think what it takes for them to get used to going to the beach! It takes time and a little protection along the way, but eventually they can adapt to brighter sun conditions. As for the fertilizer, use a balanced formula all year round and no urea!! When you repot, I would simply pull the plant out of the pot, throw it in the new pot and pack in new media into the spaces. If you cut the roots, there's a good chance that your plant will forgo flowering due to the shock. If your roots are healthy and the media is not all mushy and rotten, just pot up a size and your plant will never be the wiser!

[Ray]

Adding to the good advice already given, excessive nitrogen is great for vegetative growth, but can actually stop blooming altogether!

I had a pro once liken it to eating nothing but sugar - you feel great, but with very little actual nutritional value, you will ultimately "crash" and not be able to perform well otherwise.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Urea is a salt. It is usually present in urine. There are special microbes present in soil that help break urea down quickly. This microbe is not necessarily present in (or at least present in an insignificant population) areas where many epiphytical orchids grow. The occassional urea is not an issue, because it can be flushed out with fresh water low in dissolved salts. But it's when it starts accumulating, that burning of the roots and leaf tips will occur.

[Newt]

Mmmm-hmmm. Urea.

BAD!

Thanks for the skinny King. So I'm obviously not moving it to a chamber pot then...

[learning2letgo]

LOL... This thread has been quite an educational read for sure

Newt, I hope you've gathered a great deal of information from these other guys... Especially King, he's quite knowledgeable about his 'chids... So, listen well...

Speaking of burned roots, I had an oncidium hybrid that was blooming very prolifically and then it just quit and started withering... I pulled it out the pot and its roots were loaded with salt crystals... I flushed it with lukewarm water for about 15 minutes and then repotted it in a new medium and now it has two new pseudobulbs forming!!!

Best of luck with your revival