Hi...new the board officially but I've visited in the past for various orchid information. I realized that perhaps someone on here might be able to give me some suggestions for how to best nurture this one particular orchid I have a question about.
The image below is of an Oncidium Splendidum (I had to use our camera's panoramic feature in order to fit the whole thing into an image!). It started growing its spike maybe a few months ago and thought nothing of it until it kept growing and growing...and growing...to the point that I had to move it from the top of a book shelf. The book shelf is roughly 47 inches tall and the spike tip had finally reached the ceiling and was starting to bend the spike.
So again, I thought, "Ok this orchid is sure to pop out those buds any time now...I'll move it onto our spare desk." I didn't want to brace it yet against a bamboo stake to keep it upright, until I knew where the buds were going to pop. So I've been gently bracing it by nestling the spike within the leaves of a lucky bamboo plant we have on the shelf above it.
Well I'm going to need to soon need move this plant to the floor apparently because the spike is now about an inch away from the ceiling...again! The top of the desk is roughly 27 inches tall. So in perhaps less than a month the spike has grown another 20 inches!
I took out a measuring tape, and the entire spike is now roughly 56 inches tall. I'm 5'2", so if I place my plant on the floor, the spike towers over my head! It was amusing at first watching how tall this thing was getting but now it's getting a bit ridiculous...Flower dangit! LOL
I've had other Oncidiums spike successfully before but they've typically been perhaps 2 or 3 feet tall max before it bloomed. This is the tallest thing I've ever seen!...Does anyone have some good suggestions for getting those buds to finally pop before I totally run out of ceiling space and have to risk trying to put it outside?
I live in San Diego (CA)...and our weather has been unusually warmer this winter. It's been an indoor plant in a South/East facing room. I had been watering it every two weeks while it was colder but since it's warmed up, I've bumped up my watering schedule to roughly every week with a very light fertilizer/Superthrive mix.
Thanks for any suggestions!
