Oncidium with poor roots - Orchid Board

MissB · #1 03-29-2013, 06:15 PM

Hello, everyone! I am new to this forum, and unfortunately, I come to you during a bad time for my family's orchids. We have been raising phals for years, usually with great success (mostly due to luck and intuition -- we hadn't studied them much). The oncidium I bought for my mother this past December is a different story, however. I bought the NoID from Trader Joe's in Chicago without knowing even its genus (the card that came with it didn't even say how much light or water to give it). I just fell in love with its dainty maroon-and-gold blooms and even the pseudobulb. I brought it home to my parents in WV a few weeks later. In the mean time, it had gone from a stem with 30+ blooms to dropping most of those blooms and my cutting the stem. I knew there was not enough light or humidity for it in the home where it had been.

My mother took care of it from the time I brought it home at Christmas to the end of February. At that time, she started noticing that the leaves were browning. She complained that she couldn't figure out what sort of orchid it was despite her best efforts at researching it online and therefore couldn't figure out how to keep it growing properly. By the time I got home in early March, all the leaves were brown and one of the two pseudobulbs had turned brown as well. We stopped watering it -- my mother thought it was too late for it, and I thought it might shape up if the cause had been mere over-watering.

After researching and finding that the orchid is most likely a oncidium or allied genus and getting some vague idea of what the requirements are for that genus, I repotted the plant into a well-ventilated container with a prepackaged mixture of large pieces of bark, perlite, and charcoal mixed with a very small amount of sphagnum moss. The previous medium was very tightly packed sphagnum moss with some small pieces of florists' foam (why?!) that had broken down so that it was not much better than potting soil. I also trimmed away many dead roots. I clearly should have repotted it as soon as I cut the bloom stem.

Long story short: Is it possible to save an oncidium NoID with only one green pseudobulb, dried leaves, and some green roots and a few firm white ones with no green tip? It has just been repotted (see italics above). I plan on misting the leaves once a day and doing the skewer test before I water. It receives indirect light from a growlamp. If so, any advice would be appreciated!

Also, does anyone have suggestions for where to order oncidiums if (when!) we would like to try again? I live in an area where one doesn't come by anything besides phals and native lady slippers often. Thanks

Tim C. · #2 03-29-2013, 08:47 PM

I may be hopeful, but I say yes, it is possible to save an Oncidium with one green pbulb and some healthy roots - IF it has any living eyes on it. You can find the eyes at the base of the pseudobulb, under the first "sheathing" set of leaves. This pair of leaves are the first to appear on a new pbulb, and will be the lowest ones on the pbulb, flanking either side of it, and coming from the base. If there's any healthy eyes - even one - there's a chance it'll come back.

As for where to order them, I honestly have no clue. Of the few growers I still know of, none of them have many, if any Oncidiums or relatives at all.

Lastly, a bit of advice/personal experience: I've never done very well with Oncidiums and their relatives. I've always grown indoors, under artificial light. Either I don't keep them humid enough, or I don't keep their potting mix moist enough. The only Oncidium I've ever had success with was Oncid. Sharry Baby - one of the better known plants back when I first started growing, with LOTS of flowers that smell like a mix of chocolate and vanilla. If you're looking to get into Oncid's, and grow indoors, I'd recommend reading up on semi-hydro on FirstRay's as an option to keeping them happy. It's the only way of growing that's worked for me and my Oncid's.

Hopefully this helps. Happy growing!

-Tim

Gail · #3 03-29-2013, 08:48 PM

Can you post pics? It will reveal the true state of the plant.

Tim C. · #4 03-29-2013, 08:50 PM

MissB will only be able to post pics once she's reached 5 posts. Hopefully we'll have some when that time comes.

-Tim

King_of_orchid_growing:) · #5 03-29-2013, 09:04 PM

Yes, it's possible for a plant with 1 good pseudobulb, and a few good roots to come back.

Will it be easy?

No, it won't be.

I also don't recommend sphagnum moss in the potting mix. The bark, perlite, and charcoal are good enough, imo.

WhiteRabbit · #6 03-29-2013, 09:08 PM

Oncidiums can be very resilient, so it may be possible to save. Most (especially the intergeneric hybrids) like the potting media to remain lightly moist, and not dry out. Due to their fine roots, a smaller grade fir bark chips mix is usually recommended. The finer bark will dry a bit more slowly as well. I have grown some Onc in medium fir bark mix, and they did fine, but the were in good shape to begin with. But removing the larger bark from roots when it was time to repot was challenging.

MissB · #7 03-30-2013, 06:57 PM

Thank you all for the help so far and the welcome! I would say the pbulb I had mentioned earlier and even the second one I thought was dead are looking better today, but I think I'm probably engaging in wishful thinking. I won't be too broken up if I can't get it to perk up; this is just learning experience at this point.

Unfortunately, I do not see any eyes at all on the plant. Maybe I am looking in the wrong place despite your helpful description, Tim, but I think that might be some more wishful thinking.

I will post pictures as soon as the site will allow me to do so.

In the mean time, what are your suggestions for the amounts of light and water the Oncidium should be receiving?

Tim C. · #8 03-30-2013, 08:58 PM

For water, keep the potting mix moist - not too dry, not too wet. For light, I'd keep it low while the plant recovers. Maybe light shade to some filtered sunlight. you'd be surprised at how well oncids can hide their eyes. Sometimes all you'll see will be a little tiny bit of green poking out. I've even had brown ones - that were firm, not soft - break through into new bulbs.

The learning experience lasts a long time. By the time I felt comfortable in my orchid skills, my apartment had 175 plants in it, of all genera, sizes, shapes, and growing conditions. Reading up online taught me a lot, but in the end it's practice and actual experience that'll give you the best knowledge. Good luck, and have fun!

-Tim

Leafmite · #9 03-30-2013, 09:17 PM

Oncidiums are really tough, as already pointed out. I grow my pure oncidiums in straight lava rock. With proper care, yours should recover, begin putting out new growths, and be fine. You can find onc. Sharry Baby at Hausermann's. I gave up the larger ones but found I missed them so now I grow the small ones. I give mine a south-facing window and water whenever they look dry (lava rock dries quickly). Good luck!

---------- Post added at 08:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:10 PM ----------

By the way, I got my larger oncidiums in terrible shape, no good roots, a single living growth. One was free, the other very cheap. I can't imagine the odds are that poor for yours. Mine grew to be monsterous space hogs and that is why they found new homes...that and the leaves (didn't like the spots!).