Oncidium Wildcat "Carmela" care????

[TiffanyP]

MY FIRST I.D'D ORCHID!!!!! She is so beautiful! I know I said I would be done with Oncidiums because I cant figure them out yet, but I've had my eye on a Carmela for a while, but I was going to order online. HOW IRONIC. Any care tips and instructions?

[Silje]

My NOID wildcat also opened today.



I've killed more oncs than I care to remember. Most of the time from overwatering. I know it, and still I can't seem to help myself. Anyway, I can't give you any advice, but I will definitely follow this thread and listen to what the other members tell you. I'm determined to succeed with these. They're so cute.

Good luck!

[Rowangreen]

Ok, I'm a newbie, been growing 'cambria's (including a wildcat noid) about a year, and not re-flowered any yet. On the other hand I've yet to kill one! And I did have one with about an inch of roots, which did nothing for 8 months except lose one pulb, which now has a new growth and roots.

With mine one thing I do is keep an eye on any exposed roots on the surface. If they start going a bit white and papery, that's when I water. Sort of same as watching the roots on phals, but watching the top roots rather than the ones in the pot. Seems to be working for me...

[Rowangreen]

PS: I'd also look at the bottom of the pot: if it's very damp when the top's dry, then cut some holes in the bottom to even up drying a little. Also in Europe a lot of these have a ball of sphagnum moss in the centre which makes it impossible to evenly water. So repot as soon as you can in case that's true there too.

[Leafmite]

I had quite a few oncidiums at one time but the leaf spotting, lack of room for my new orchids, and their rapidly increasing size encouraged me to give them away. I had mine in large lava rock and clay pots. My oncidiums liked to have a nice, long soak and then dry fairly quickly, stay a little dry, then have another long soak. To bloom, they like very bright light. They need a good, complete fertilizer as many of them are constantly putting out new growths which bloom when mature.

[Silje]

Originally Posted by Leafmite

I had mine in large lava rock and clay pots. My oncidiums liked to have a nice, long soak and then dry fairly quickly, stay a little dry, then have another long soak. To bloom, they like very bright light. They need a good, complete fertilizer as many of them are constantly putting out new growths which bloom when mature.

I've been considering trying a couple of them in rocks rather than bark and moss and just bark as I have now. My problem with oncidiums is that they stay to wet, regardless it seems. Even when I've got them in the same bark mix as I use for my phals and water them the same time as the rest of my collection, the roots have a tendency to stay wet and soggy for too long. Don't have access to lava rock, but will try pebbles and a clear pot to keep track of what is happening down there.

[Leafmite]

There are definitely other potting materials that will work. I know people have written about the use of other types of rocks with great success. As long as it is chunky enough to form spaces, it should be fine.

[WhiteRabbit]

Usual Oncidium care - moderate light, media lightly moist.

Silje - remember that pebbles are much smoother than lava rock and won't retain moisture. Maybe try bark without the moss added?

I haven't had much trouble with overwatering most Oncidium alliance (except Onc Twinkle) but have overwatered a great many Phals!

Bamboo skewers or wood chopsticks in the media are a great help to monitor moisture in the media.

I now usually pot my Onc alliance in coconut husk chips mix, tho they did well in small bark mix also, and even in a pinch the mix I make for Cyms and also use for Paphs (mix of medium and fine bark, perlite, pumice). But they do seem to really love the coconut husk chips (retains moisture well, yet still very airy, and drains well - tho I have seen people posting here having trouble with it as a growing medium).

Also, you can add perlite, pumice, charcoal (horticultural) to your mix to aid drainage, keep mix from compressing. Another thing I do is to put a piece or two of styro packing pnuts in the root mass before repotting to create an air pocket - helps keep air to the roots, and media to dry more evenly.

Good luck!