Oncidium after flowering care help

[edytka]

Hii everyone
Well so i had this beautiful oncdm. golden red star and unfortunately the flowers dropped and i cut off the two stems. Now some people say that I should stop watering it for 2 months or so , and just put it in bright light untill it shows new growth. Whats your stand on this ?
Do the pseudo bulbs need a resting period ? How does it work. Also this oncdm. has one big pseudo bulb and a small one ...both are wrinkled up , Please help ...

[TOMMYMIAMI]

Oncidium??? Are you sure? I do not know any Oncidium that needs rest, so I would definitely not do that. I do take pretty much the same care about my Oncidiums year round, less water in the winter when it is not so hot, but definitely I do not think Oncidium can survive 2 months without water. This is for Catasetum and Dendro Nobile hybrids.

[terracotta7]

My oncidium 'Sweet Heavenly' is at the same point right now. My plan is to let it go a little drier for 2 weeks and then resume regular watering. At some point it will need repotting too. I will be interested to hear what others say.

Good luck! Oncidiums are one of my successful orchids so I hope yours will be, too!!

[Dendy83]

I'm interested in reading this too, but there's no way you let it go completely dry. Perhaps it's more you go longer between waterings. But if you go 2 months without watering at all, that plant will wither.

[Bill U.]

The only reason I could see why you would decrease the amount of watering that you give your oncidium is because the plant will be entering a minor "resting" stage after blooming. This is not dormancy- just recuperating from the major energy expense of blooming.

This being said, I have found in my personal experience and with what I have heard from other growers, that the plants will enter a minor resting stage in which they do not take up as much water- because they are conserving energy. When they aren't using up as much water, the mix doesn't dry out as fast, which should lead to watering less often.

My best advice is to just monitor your plant and water as you would normally - if it's approaching dryness, give it water, etc. The main thing will just be to make sure that you watch how quickly it is drying out (or not). That will affect your watering schedule until it enters full growth phase again.

Does that help? PS- wrinkly PBs is a major indicator that your oncidium is thirsty...

[Vanda lover]

I agree with Bill U. I water a little less during the winter because it takes longer for them to dry out, especially in our rain forest environment. If there is new growth I fertilize. But I never let them dry out completely for very long.

[NYCorchidman]

Whoever told you not to water your plant for two months, don't listen because if you did that, the plant would pretty much dry up and die (or nearly so).

Depending on the type, oncidium related hybrids may or may not start growing cycles right after finishing flowering season.

Even when you don't see any activity, you want to water it so that you dont' see those wrinkles show up. When you see them, soak the plant and they may disappear.
Then if you take notice how long it took from your last watering to this slight wrinkles, you can have an idea of how often you want to water the plant for the time being.

Then once you see new growth starting, you can up the watering accordingly.

For now, other than watering, I would place the plant somewhere bright and relatively warm.
Sooner or later, you will see a new growth starting.

Good luck!

Do you have a picture of flowers on this plant by the way? I don't think I've heard of the name.

[edytka]

Thank you all for the great tips and information , I will let you know how it goes

[My Green Pets]

Mine started growing new pseudobulbs just two weeks after I cut off the spike...keep your eyes peeled

[RandomGemini]

Mine started growing a new pseudobulb before the spike even died. It was still in full flower.