Me - the oncidium killer

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

You can mount your Oncs. No moss. Tree fern fiber is good. Coconut fiber mounts will work too. Epiweb or any of these artificial mounts would suffice as well.

If you really want to try growing potted, try using a medium grade bark instead of the small or seedling grade barks.

I don't like Oncs potted in Sphag, too many issues with root rot.

Change out the potting media once a year. Be diligent if you're going the potted route.

[WhiteRabbit]

Hmm... chc retains quite a bit if moisture. - so I don't think lack of moisture switching from sphag to chc should be a problem, unless you seldom water. Could be over watered if you think the chc is dry (looks dry in top), but still moisture laden chips beneath the surface.

I haven't tried mounting Onc alliance besides Tolumnia ... many get very big quickly! Being epiphytes, it should certainly be possible.

I've grown them potted both with small bark mix and chc. I don't like medium bark, just because of how difficult it is to separate the fine roots from the bark, come repot time ... I've also done ok with sphag, but again - it's difficult to remove the sphag from the fine roots.

In pots, have you tried using a skewer to help prevent over watering?

[TOMMYMIAMI]

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

You can mount your Oncs. No moss. Tree fern fiber is good. Coconut fiber mounts will work too. Epiweb or any of these artificial mounts would suffice as well.

If you really want to try growing potted, try using a medium grade bark instead of the small or seedling grade barks.

I don't like Oncs potted in Sphag, too many issues with root rot.

Change out the potting media once a year. Be diligent if you're going the potted route.

I do have pretty much the same issues with my oncidiums, no matter how hard I try, in few years, they just die, the longest one survived for 3 years blooming every year but rotting and dying piece by piece. When I read this, I am getting great idea, my supplier for all orchid needs sells actually TREE FERN FIBER pots, big ones as well, which would fit my 2 big new oncidiums I have for few months. I think I will go for it, this way I can really control roots and over watering much better, great tip!!!

[Leafmite]

Oncidiums do great in lava rock. I grew the larger ones with great success in lava rock (They became too large, too fast, and I needed room so I gave them all away) and now have the twinkles and cheiroporum in small chips of lava rock. In lava rock, when watering, soak until the roots turn green. I, too, have heard that these do well mounted but I never have tried it.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Some Oncs are actually lithophytic, btw.

Just a little fyi tidbit.

[Tommyr]

Don't feel bad, I am a Phal killer! However I do great with Dens.!

[Silje]

I did take a couple of the oncidiums out of their pots to try something different with them today.

One of the Colmanara wildcats, I put in a home-made slate basket with coir and fir bark. I'm not sure why I took a picture of the dendrochilum glumaceum instead (For the record: I know the difference), but you get the idea.



I opted for shallow. I'd rather water on a daily basis or even twice per day instead of risking the growth medium staying too wet. We cannot get hold of wooden slated baskets in Namibia so I had to improvise. I think my arts and crafts teacher from primary school would be proud of me.

And another NOID oncidium I put on a piece of wood with a bit of coir.




Wishful thinking is that the mount might be a bit too small for the plant for long-term, but I figured I'd deal with the lack of space when that (unlikely) problem occurs.

For the time being, I'm just going to cross my fingers and see if they survive the next few months. And grow roots! That would be absolutely AWESOME!