Cambria Orchid - General Condition

[Emma_TB]

Hi,

I posted a thread already about how often and when I should be feeding my new cambria, but I also wanted to know what you think of the general condition of my new orchid. I have never owned one before and wanted to know whether it was looking ok?

Here are some pics:









Does it look ok? I don't know a great deal about pseudobulbs or anything, but I see 2? One with the main spike and another smaller one. Will the smaller one flower as well?

[Edit] Are there different types, or 'names', of cambria? If so, does anyone know what this is?

Sorry if these seem like daft questions but I think it's such a beautiful plant and I'd like to take as good care of it as possible

Thanks

Emma

[Zoi2]

Your plant looks nice and healthy. As far as an ID, that's probably going to be difficult as cambrias are strictly hybrids. Someone with more experience will chime in soon.
Joann

[Blueszz]

Hello Emma,
I'm kind of worried about your plant, which might be Burrageara Nelly Isler. This is why:

Including myself some other forum members (and two other people I know) have experienced that the plants were purchased with roots that were not in the best shape. These people live in the UK and in the Netherlands. Over a period of time I saw several of these plants in garden centers and despite I like them and I want a replacement for the one I bought (ill) I did't buy them because the medium they were potted in was old and the plant felt wobbly in it's pot.
A sign that something *could* be wrong with your plant is the slightly wrinkeled pseudobulb.

I want to advise you to stick a skewer in the center of the pot and take it out after an hour or so. If the skewer comes out damp big chance the roots are not good.

I bought a plant that looked like yours in the past and thought it was OK, and thought the wrinkles in the pseudobulbs weren't alarming. Too late I found out (with the skewer) the potting medium didn't dry as fast as the other plants did. When I unpotted and started to clean the roots I was left with almost no roots. The pb was too far gone to produce a new growth, despite I was succesful with this method in the past (other plants).

Maybe the others that have experienced the same with 'Nelly Isler' chime in...

Keep a close eye on this one, not because your plant seems to be in bad shape, but based on experiences and observations I made the past year or so.

BTW have you noticed the smell?

Nicole

[orkie]

The plant looks just like Nelly Isler to me as well (I have one, it smells like roses mid-day). To answer your questions about names, I get the impression Cambria is a general term used in the UK for Oncidium intergeneric orchids. In other words, it is a very general term for orchids that have the genus Oncidium somewhere in their background. Cambria isn't really a proper name for any type of orchid, as far as I'm aware. Although orchids are often sold without tags, all either have a specific registered name (if a registered hybrid) or would simply be named using the cross, 'parent A' X 'parent B'. And species orchids have a genus and species name unique to themselves of course.

I agree with the previous poster regarding watching your plant. I would go so far as to unpot it gently and examine the roots. If they feel soft and mushy, they are no good and should be clipped off with sterile shears. When I did this with my Nelly, I ended up with no good roots. I repotted it in a bark mix, used some wire to stabilize it, and just misted the top of the medium lightly every day to provide humidity. It has made 3 new growths with new roots since, so if you catch it early, you may save it. But if it is already rotted, that is not your fault and shouldn't discourage you! It just means you need to start off with a healthy plant. Bringing back plants that have suffered severe root rot does not always work. I've lost several that way myself.

Good luck!

[orkie]

And to add, is your plant currently making a new growth from the bigger bulb? If so, this will produce new roots, which won't rot if it's properly potted and watered.

And yes, it should flower off every new growth if it's getting what it wants in terms of light (east window or lightly shaded west window, or non-direct sun in a south window).

When properly potted these orchids don't like to get too dry (approach barely moist using the skewer method and then water) and don't like temps much higher than 80 during the day. There are some cool growers in the plant's background. You can look up the parent plants of Nelly Isler on the RHS website or just google around to learn more about it.

[Emma_TB]

Thanks guys for your replies

I brushed a little of the medium away this morning to check the roots:



Do they look ok? The medium is a damp at the moment as it was watered yesterday morning (it was quite dry when I watered).

Thanks as well for finding the name! Having looked at pictures I'd say that's definitely the type of Orchid I have The flowers are identical. I think it's so pretty and I hope it will be ok!

Thanks again!

[orkie]

The roots look pretty good, but you need to give them a gentle squeeze and see if they feel firm or smushy. From the pic I would think they are good, but you never know. And I would still repot it or just remove it from the pot so you know how to water it properly and what medium is in there. It may have a big chunk of moss in the center of the pot that never dries out (greenhouses often start out in moss and when they repot just move the whole moss ball into a bigger pot and pour bark on top of it). Some people don't like to repot while plants are in flower, but I've never had a problem doing it.

[Blueszz]

If you don't unpot at least use a skewer to check of the medium dries properly. The medium seems too wet to me now.

Nicole

[Nic100]

Hi Emma,

I have 2 of these, (one of which I bought this winter from Tesco). I've had a similar experience with my first to the one described above, in that I had a lot of old rotten moss at the centre, and as a consequence the roots were rotting. But I repotted and now it's doing great, with lots of new roots and new growth from the old psuedobulbs so I'm hoping it will reflower this year.

Mine looks great now, and the wrinkled bulbs have all plumped up again.

Best of luck with yours - keep us posted on what you decide to do!

Nicky

[Nic100]

Just a quick update - I've had a quick look at the roots and potting material my newest Nelly Isler is packed in. Did yours come in a gold pot? There were a lot of them around before Christmas...

There is indeed a very soggy moss ball in the centre of the bark, so I'll be repotting it over the weekend into some plain bark.