Oncidium and Intergenic losing blooms - Orchid Board

zxyqu · #1 10-15-2009, 12:41 AM

Hello OB. Hopefully I can get some expert help on a problem that seems to keep happening to me. I used to only prefer Phals, but recently several Oncs have sparked my interest. I've bought 4, a sweet sugar, an Alexanara (alxra), and some noID "wildcat" like intergenics.
I bought them with some still in bloom, except the sweet sugar which was fully bloomed. Anyway, those with buds almost all blasted, and the spike quickly died and went red then brown. Only one went to heaven, quickly
lost it's leaves and the pbulbs didn'take a new growth.
Anyone had this happen before. I water about once a week, and they are in a sunroom getting some East/North/West lights. Would love some
comments

Blueszz · #2 10-15-2009, 07:02 AM

One thing that I'm thinking of is that the bud blast is because of not getting enough water. Some pictures from the plants, especially the leafs and speudobubls would be helpful diagnosing the problem.
Maybe you under water but if the plants suffer root rot, they also can't take up the water which causes dehydration.

I found out they don't like to dry out as much as Phal's. I keep them moist all the time (as long as the temps are good). They only time I keep them dryer is after they finished blooming, as that is what I read everywhere, but I don't know if that makes a big difference.
I water mine when I see the first signs of the pseudobulbs shriveling. *The first signs*, I don't let them realy shrivel.

Can you easily see the roots in the pot? Maybe you should lift the plants out of their pot to have a peek at the roots?

I know Phal's can blast buds after being transported and while they have to adopt to a new environment, but this never happened to me with Oncidiums and their intergenics.

Nicole

zxyqu · #3 10-15-2009, 09:38 AM

Thanks Nicole, and I'll try and post some pictures when I get home. But on the pbulbs, I can never get them to fully plump. I know that some are naturally shriveled, but I rarely see them get any more plump than the day I bought them, and for that I never know how much to water.
But since you mention it, why should I not go experiment with a brand new one! Ha.

Blueszz · #4 10-15-2009, 02:40 PM

Sometimes it can take a while if pseudobulbs dried out severly. I have a Onc. Sweet Sugar that neede months before the older pb were plump again. But certainly this is a reason the check the roots out. These might be the problem.

Nicole

zxyqu · #5 10-15-2009, 11:26 PM

I can't speak for sure about the roots of some of them, as I haven't yet unpotted them. But the one that didn't make it had a good set of roots, or so they appeared, which really makes me think it's a watering issue. I'll try watering a little more often and see how that goes. If anyone else has other thoughts, I'm open to try anything.