Oncidium Help, yellow and floppy leaves

[OOAJ]

I recieved an Oncidium Bllra. Purple Haze from a fellow orchid society member. He said that he got it from Home Depot a couple years ago and it was in bloom, but hasn't done anything since then. He said that he never reppotted it, so that was the first thing I did with it.

It was apparent that the original grower grew the plant in a small pot of bark and then just dropped the whole thing, bark and all into a ball of spagnum moss which was so tightly packed that no roots had grown into it in all that time, they were only in the bark. There seemed to be some serious root rot since almost everything was mushy and brown. I cleaned off all of the dead roots and put it in a clay pot filled with a medium sized off the shelf orchid mix from home depot, (the AOS stamped bag).

I've had it for about a month now and it seems to be doing ok, at the very least, it doesn't look any worse. most of the leaves look ok, but there are some with yellow tips and a couple that are floppy and some of the newer growths are crinkled. I took some pictures for refference.

I've been wattering and fertilizing lightly on a weekly basis as well as keeping a humidity tray under the plant. I'm wondering if this was all the right thing to do, and if the "damaged" yellow and floppy leaves can be expected to bounce back or if I should expect that this is how they will stay. I know that the crinkled leaves are from lack of water, (or root function), and there's nothing to do about them, but I would like to get this plant healthy and flowering.

Do these issues sound primarily like water/old potting issues or are there other concerns/factors such as light that could have caused this or that I should be taking into account.

[WhiteRabbit]

The yellow, floppy, and crimped foliage won't bounce back, but new growth should look good if the plant is getting better care.

The crimped foliage on new growth could be due to lack of good roots - hard to say if the problem is current (underwatering), or from the previous root rot. Water before the media is completely dry. New bark will dry quickly the first month or so, so if it's been a month, it should be starting to retain moisture a bit longer by now.

The floppy foliage could be due to insufficient light, tho the poor condition of the roots may have been a factor.

If it hasn't gotten any worse, I would suspect you are on the right track. Watch the new growth, as the older growth won't change.

gl!

[tucker85]

It sounds to me like you're doing a pretty good job. Oncidiums have thin leaves that are not as resiliant as the the thicker leaves on other orchids. I often find a yellow leaf or two on my oncidiums. It's nothing to worry about. Judge the health of your plant by how the new growth looks. Good luck.

[OOAJ]

Good to know, I'll post if anything takes a turn for the worse.