vuyl. aloha sparks "edna's flame" help

[hypostatic]

Hey, I got this plant in bud a couple of weeks back. It has some beautiful blooms at the moment, but I am worried about the rest of the plant. From what I understand it should be grown pretty much the same as oncidiums?
Here are some pics of the plant









The bulbs all look pretty shriveled, and the main bulb where the spike is coming from seems to have turned a bit brown? Any idea what the reason for this is?

Thanks for the help =]

[WhiteRabbit]

Pbulbs will wrinkle as they age - I don't know if yours has something else going on. Some wrinkle more and/or sooner than others. Looking again at your pix (I'm not on my computer) - they do look dehydrated. Can you carefully check the roots? This can be caused by under or over watering. Over watering causes the roots to rot. With proper watering, the pbulbs aren't likely to re-plump, but new growth should be good.

My Wilsonara also has some dark brown areas on some pbulbs - the areas are firm, and while the oldest dark area is from a few years ago, it has not spread or otherwise changed, nor harmed the plant. I think it's from bright light. The brown area is on one side of the pbulb, and didn't extend into area covered by bract foliage. I have another Onc. alliance intergeneric that also gets similar (tho slightly purplish) dark areas on pbulbs. So if the dark area isn't soft or mushy feeling, and it doesn't get bigger, I think it's ok.

Vuylstekearas can be cooler growing than some other Onc alliance, and like media to be slightly moist. Moderate light.

[FSUOrchids]

My guess is it was probably underwatered before you got it.

[stargazie]

Just bought one of these beauties at the MOS show two weeks ago. Mine is in bloom with many, many spikes, my pseudo bulbs are also older looking, wrinkled but not brown, but my plant, overall, looks healthy and is making new growth. So I agree with White Rabbit, must be the nature of this orchid. Good luck with yours

[james mickelso]

This was severely under watered at some point. Is the darker area soft? It shouldn't be this color even in high light. The leaves would be affected first. Something is going on and I suspect mites? Fungus? I too would look at the roots. I know we all love our flowers but if you want the plant, the flowers are expendable. Of course if done carefully the flowers can be kept while inspecting the roots. From the looks of the media, it was under watered severely and then over watered. That damaged the roots. Now the plant has flowered and is putting most of it's remaining energies into the flowers at the expense of the pbulbs. If the roots are compromised, it may be time to cut the flower spike and put it in water to enjoy for a week or so. Save the plant. It will take some effort but if you can save it, you'll have great flowers in two seasons.