oncidium questions

[bryce.martin23]

This is my first time posting on any board. My girlfriend picked up a oncidium sunny daze 'hilo bay' the other month and had a few questions. I have read that the blooms only last for a few weeks to a month and that is about right with this one. I just picked off some of the last wilted blooms today. My question now is what to do to prepare for the next bloom. I have a bark mix that im going to use and know about trimming any rotten or unhealty roots back, but im unclear on what to do with the stem that the blooms were once attached to. Do you cut those back or leave them the way they are? and also fertilizing, I have been using orchid plus better gro 20-14-13 every week as the bag directs and on every 4th watering i use the orchid bloom booster 11-35-15. Just wondering if I should keep up this regiment while blooms are not present. Any advice will help as I just got out of the saltwater hobby on an unexpected note, so my girl got me some flowers to keep me busy and I dont have the slightest idea of what to do.

[jrodpad]

Bryce -

Welcome to the OB! This is the best place that I can think of to turn to when you feel like you "don't have the slightest idea of what to do." The people here are great, friendly, knowledgeable and very active posters. While I'm not an oncidium ('onc') expert, I have a few in my collection and they seem to be doing well.

After blooming, I wait for the flower spike to turn yellow/brown and then I nip it off with a pair of flame sterilized scissors as close to the p-bulb as possible. I put a very small dab of ground cinnamon on the wound as it's an anti-fungal.

Unless there's an issue with the existing medium, like old or sour potting material I wouldn't be in a hurry to repot (although there are wildly diverging views on when to repot, so you'll have to figure out what works for you). With my oncs, I usually wait until I see active growth of new white roots or new p-bulbs poking out and then, if the onc is due for repotting, I put it in fresh media and trim roots as you suggest. If you do switch out the potting material, be sure to soak the bark mix for a good bit of time 12-24 hours before repotting - also, when trimming roots be sure to use a sterile blade.

With respect to fertilizing - you may be using too much. For oncs, I only use 1/3 to 1/2 of the concentration recommended on the label, and I fertilize every other week.

Hopefully, someone with more experience in the oncidium alliance will chime in.

Good luck!

- J

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Hi, welcome to the OB.

I recommend checking the bottle to see if the fertilizer is urea free. Urea is too stable a form of nitrogen to be used for epiphytical plants (epiphytes usually grow on trees). Urea also breaks down as a result of microbes present in soil.

As was said, a lower concentration of fertilizer would be helpful in preventing problems such as leaf tip die back or root tip burn. The Oncs that don't have thick, succulent leaves are prone to problems related to over fertilization and high concentrations of dissolved minerals in the water.

The cutting of the spike can be done when it dries out, at which point there is no need to sterilize your tools. Cutting dead plant material without having to sterilize will not do any harm. It's the cutting of living tissue that can cause problems if the tools aren't sterilized.

[bryce.martin23]

as for the fertilizer it is urea free. I havnt seen much problems with overfertilizing at this point as everything looks nice and bright green but I think I should cut it back to every other week, I have read that half the concentration is ideal, just didnt want to stray from the directions untill I was for sure. Will I need to keep fertilizing when there are no blooms present and should I keep the same ratio of fertilzation of every fourth time i fertilize to use the bloom booster.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by bryce.martin23

as for the fertilizer it is urea free. I havnt seen much problems with overfertilizing at this point as everything looks nice and bright green but I think I should cut it back to every other week, I have read that half the concentration is ideal, just didnt want to stray from the directions untill I was for sure. Will I need to keep fertilizing when there are no blooms present and should I keep the same ratio of fertilzation of every fourth time i fertilize to use the bloom booster.

If it doesn't have a dormant season, then it needs to be fertilized and watered year round.

[bryce.martin23]

ok, that gives me somthing to go on. I will keep on searching for info. Thank you for setting me in the right direction

[marydaniellesantos]

Hello and Welcome to the Orchid Board!

I agree with all of the previous posts, if I were you I would repot, you never know when the vendors did it last. I may also suggest in use boiling water to kill bacteria that grows in the medium. I do this with all my chids. (orchids) As for the bloom booster fertilizer, I would cut it out til you see signs of buds starting to form. And fertilizing every other week sounds proficient with the regular fert. I also use ground cinnamin on the area that was cut. I use Super Thrive on all of my orchids once every month, it's not really a fertilizer, but it supplies other vitamins to the plant.

What type of "flowers" did your gf get you as you mentioned? Are they orchids also? If so you can post questions on those also if you need help with care, etc.

Take care!!

[bryce.martin23]

so far just this orchid, i really do enjoy having a green thumb but im not quite there yet. I had a really nice reef tank before this and it broke on me and i lost everything. I guess she thought i had a green thumb for saltwater corals so she got me some orchids. Im just not that good at flowers yet.

[marydaniellesantos]

Do you know what species you have?

[CTB]

Welcome to the orchid board. Hope your orchids thrive under the care of over 14,000 members willng to help. Enjoy!