Favorite Oncidium resources?

[Bill U.]

Haha, darn! If you are ever looking to divide it in the future, I would pay for the shipping!

If you want the peace of mind to get it tested, then that may be the best route for you. It's definitely a good practice to try and keep things as sanitized as possible when working with multiple plants.

It's kinda funny when your growing zone starts to get filled up and looks like a mini jungle! My friends have described my room (my growing space) as the mini-greenhouse due to the large number of plants I have. Plant vaccines would be a wonderful thing.

Is the leaf starting to turn yellow from the base or from the tips? I am not an Onc. specialist, but I think that it may be a sign from the unhappy roots. I think that it is good that it is not one of the leaves coming from the Pbulb, so you may be able to keep the roots happy from now on and not lose that bulb.

[kevin1217]

The yellowing leaf sounds normal to me. What a healthy plant you have!

[Onyx]

I'm not really sure where the yellowing started. It seemed to be a very fast change though (less than 3 days). It's match on the opposite side seems to be slightly yellowed, but it's certainly not going so fast. Seems pretty consistent through the whole leaf, though.

I think I'm going to see about sending out plant samples for testing on Monday/Tuesday. If it does come back clean, I'll see about dividing it up then. I have no idea how to ship them (okay vague idea due to my begonias), so that'd be an adventure!


Also, I noticed something strange about my blooming phal's latest open flower. It looks like part of the petal developed wrong. It's like part of the center -- both that yellow part and one of the side pieces (I need a plant anatomy diagram) -- developed on one of the petals. It has a very similar marking pattern to that area and a little raised bit with a yellow tip and everything! It's not 100% open so I'll take a picture of it tomorrow when it should be. So weird! I think the plant got confused when it was developing the bud.

[WhiteRabbit]

The bract foliage (the stuff on the sides of the pbulbs) dies off much sooner than the leaves on top of the pbulbs. It's job of protecting first the new growth and developing pbulb, later spikes if there are any, is finished quickly.

Regarding strange bloom on Phal, sometimes plants get a mutant bloom here or there for no discernible reason. Low temps while spike/buds are developing can cause some deformities, and regular use of hormone products can also.

[Bill U.]

Hmm I think that Sonya is onto something where the bracts are more likely to die off first. It's interesting that the "matching" leaf isn't yellowing as fast. Maybe it is partially die off and then another part is just from stress/shock from change in environment?

Shipping should be pretty easy, but it's always interesting when dealing with plants. Google is a wonderful resource haha.

Yeah, sometimes we just get "funky" flowers that will do something strange, but then be totally fine for the next blooming cycle. Yet, like Sonya said before, the over-application of growth hormones has been linked to deformed flowers.

[Island Girl]

Originally Posted by WhiteRabbit

The bract foliage (the stuff on the sides of the pbulbs) dies off much sooner than the leaves on top of the pbulbs. It's job of protecting first the new growth and developing pbulb, later spikes if there are any, is finished quickly.

Regarding strange bloom on Phal, sometimes plants get a mutant bloom here or there for no discernible reason. Low temps while spike/buds are developing can cause some deformities, and regular use of hormone products can also.

+1

I second that I'm certainly not as knowledgable as Sonya, nor am I too familiar with Onc. types, but I can say that my Promenaeas do the same in regard to the bracts on either side of the p'bulbs, they r short-lived, & they stay to protect young roots and inflorences as they are developing

[Onyx]

Wanted to give a quick update.

I heard back from the lab tonight and both my stable (as in not failing at life) orchids are virus free! I'm glad to hear that because I am kind of a hypochondriac, haha. I did apparently leave it without watering a little too long because it got wrinkly. I'm apparently still learning how to read the skewers. *facepalm* Either way it'll be a lot easier once it's in a medium that I can actually reach and feel, unlike now. Because roots are not a medium.

Because of this otherwise good news, though, I think I'm going to see about dividing & repotting this weekend. I'll probably have to use those green plastic pots and drill air holes in them instead of clear pots (or maybe one green plastic + the clear it came in). That'll be an adventure. I am thinking of using the fine bark mix I bought for my phal, and am debating whether to add some sphag and perlite as well.

My little abused phal also looks like it might survive after all. I think I might see the hint of a new leaf, but it's way too early to tell. Pretty much all my plants seem to be settling down in a sense and I'm understanding how to read them (especially the begonias, so dramatic!) and panicking less, haha.

[Bill U.]

That's great news to hear! It does take some getting used to for all of the new acquisitions!

It's pretty easy to become that hypochondriac with our plants- I still get that way a lot!

Something to watch with sphag in addition to bark is that onc's normally don't like their feet to be too horribly damp for long periods of time- that seems like a good invite for root rot to come visit your growing area... From what I have read, most onc's like that moisture, but it has to be even and still have enough air space to allow partial dry out- which is why putting in S/H works (wet but airy/dry at the same time).

Phals tend to be tough little guys, so hang in there and keep watching. Begonias on the other hand... sometimes not so easy! lol

[NYCorchidman]

Where do you live? I've never seen something like that in any of the hardware stores I've visted here. lol

I had Green Valley Sweet many times. And they still pop up every now and then at TJ.

It is soft yellow with some copper color on the small flowers, but lots of flowers on one branching spikes!
The scent is somewhat questionable. Some people find it good but I have hard time with it.
It definitely smells sweet and good at first, but it's got that chemical like scent to it, almost like naphthalene.

With a plant that size, the next flowering will be quite the show!
You can divide it or keep it as is but I would repot it into a larger pot. It looks like there's no more space for it to grow any more.

and yeah, those clean spot free leaves!!! not common.

[Onyx]

Yeah, if I was adding any sphag it'd be like.. 10% of the mix. Just enough to keep it a little bit moist than bark alone, but not too much, and maybe twice that in big-ish pearlite, the rest bark. I probably will just end up going pearlite + bark though. I'll have to stop by the store and see what they have as other options. I want to repot my phal again, after all. I'm not liking just bark in a tiny (2.5"?) pot. Maybe when it's bigger. I did order a bunch of clear orchid pots though because I did want to be able to see the roots, which means repotting has been pushed back until those are delivered, heh.

I'm in the Los Angeles area. The store I got it from is (as far as I know) a smallish chain on the west coast -- Orchard Supply Hardware. So for those near an OSH, check it out, their oncidiums may be tagged. Not phals, but the onc. have been the last couple times I looked -- not that I need another, that one counts for like 3 plants!

The TJ orchids aren't IDed right? I keep meaning to go over to one of them and see what they have -- they both have terrible parking, heh. I really want to get a big white phal at some point. Though I should probably figure out how all my other plants are fitting together under the lights before adding in more... Minor detail.

There is some spotting on it but I think it's on the underside of older leaves and just pretty faint/small overall. Once it's divided and cleaned up I'll probably hit it with some fungicide just to keep it nice and pretty and keep the few iffy spots where there was, near as I could tell, low air circulation from getting angry. It's such a beautiful plant that I'm glad I snagged it before anything bad happened to this giant!