Why are my pseudobulbs never as plump and smooth as they are in the store????? - Orchid Board

astrid · #1 11-30-2014, 08:07 PM

Hey guys!

You know those lovely, shiny, storebought orchids right? You see them and they have pseudobulbs so plump they look like they're about to burst like a water balloon, right?

Well why in the heck do my orchids' bulbs all get wrinkly when I take them home?
I water my oncidiums, brassia, and miltassia type orchids pretty regularly (I live in a 40-60% humidity climate with low light all winter and my room temperature is probably 65-75 degrees fahrenheit). I waver between weekly watering via soaking their pots for a couple hours, to watering every four days at most.

I think what I'm doing is great- one of my plants even is in spike now and everyone has new roots growing and shows overall great health.

But I just don't understand.
I feel like I'd rot my plants root systems off if I watered them more.

But somehow, the plants in the store have smooth, fat pseudobulbs, and my plants at home have pretty fat, yet wrinkly bulbs and it drives me crazy!!

What do you guys think?
Does the wrinklyness matter?
Do the nurseries have deals with ancient wizards to get such fat and juicy pseudobulbs?

I'm at a loss here.

King_of_orchid_growing:) · #2 11-30-2014, 08:24 PM

Please post a pic, I don't want to tell you the wrong thing only to have you get pissed off because I gave you bad advice off of limited information.

NYCorchidman · #3 11-30-2014, 09:51 PM

Well, it's nearly impossible to compete with the professional greenhouse growers.
They can maintain high humidity in the air in the growing area and frequent misting and watering keeps the orchids in great conditions.

Now, as much as I hate the wrinkles appearing on my oncidium intergenerics, sometimes there is not much you can do once the wrinkles set in.

So the best thing is to try and maintain the plump pb plump.

I'd say as long as your plants grow normally and bloom fine, it's mostly just aesthetic issues, which many people do not seem to care and others like you and I do not like so much.

I think you can water more often than once a week and by trying that you might be able to avoid wrinkles appearing on certain plants.

Certain oncidiums will easily plump back up once they are soaked while others never bounce back once the wrinkles set in.

Also, certain integenerics with cool growing species in the breeding background seem to suffer from heat in the summer more easily and no matter how well you water them, they will still get some wrinkles.

When I had lots of intergenerics and ondiciums, they were mostly in bark or moss in 4 in plastic pot.
I watered two three times a week depending on season. While they are actively growing, you can water quite often with no problems. Nearly all my plants had plump pbs.

King_of_orchid_growing:) · #4 11-30-2014, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

Well, it's nearly impossible to compete with the professional greenhouse growers.
They can maintain high humidity in the air in the growing area and frequent misting and watering keeps the orchids in great conditions.

Now, as much as I hate the wrinkles appearing on my oncidium intergenerics, sometimes there is not much you can do once the wrinkles set in.

So the best thing is to try and maintain the plump pb plump.

I'd say as long as your plants grow normally and bloom fine, it's mostly just aesthetic issues, which many people do not seem to care and others like you and I do not like so much.

I think you can water more often than once a week and by trying that you might be able to avoid wrinkles appearing on certain plants.

Certain oncidiums will easily plump back up once they are soaked while others never bounce back once the wrinkles set in.

Also, certain integenerics with cool growing species in the breeding background seem to suffer from heat in the summer more easily and no matter how well you water them, they will still get some wrinkles.

When I had lots of intergenerics and ondiciums, they were mostly in bark or moss in 4 in plastic pot.
I watered two three times a week depending on season. While they are actively growing, you can water quite often with no problems. Nearly all my plants had plump pbs.

Generally speaking, yes, this is true.

Please still post a pic anyways to narrow down the prospects.

I'm also leaning towards the water more than once a week advice. I just want to make sure that the advice is also geared specifically for your plant.

It'd also help to know what your Onc is.

I have an Oncidium trulliferum, and it gets watered more than once a week, and it is doing just fine. No wrinkles, no rot, (knocks on wood). Had it for almost 1 yr, (I believe it will be 1 yr proper some time in Feb, 2015).

---------- Post added at 06:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:56 PM ----------

I forgot…I have an Oncidium peltiforme, which is an absolute water hog. I've messed this one up several times, which means, yeah, I got the accordion leaves on the new growths, the new growths are all currently stunted, and I had the old, mature pseudobulb shrivel up on me several times during the time I had this plant. And this is after watering everyday with a small grade bark potting medium.

Once I stuck moss in as the potting medium, the old pseudobulb plumped right back up, and showed no signs of wrinkling whatsoever.

You want proof, I'm not afraid to show you.

So, yup, not all Oncs will stay wrinkled forever. Once the pseudobulbs get wrinkled and get plumped back up again, some stay wrinkled, some do not.

Please wait for my photo...

King_of_orchid_growing:) · #5 11-30-2014, 10:19 PM

Here it is in all of its accordion leafed, and stunted growth glory! Behold!! My Onc peltiforme!!! The plant I've had for 2 - 3 years and have watered practically everyday up until I got lazy and couldn't keep up with the watering anymore. Hence the moss, which still prompts me to water the orchid now 3 - 4 times a week. Still alive and kickin'...

Surprised?! Well, I was too when I found out how demanding this species was!

Leafmite · #6 12-01-2014, 12:16 AM

Oncidium culture can be tricky. Many of them need quite a bit of water and yet the roots rot easily. There are many ways to solve this puzzle. I have mine growing in either lava rock or Aliflor (expanded clay pellets) and basket pots and I water them each time until the roots turn green. With this type of pot and medium, it is very difficult to rot out the roots.

snowflake311 · #7 12-01-2014, 02:31 AM

The only one of my orchids that wrinkled on me and will not get smooth is my Spider orchid. The biggest Growth was smooth now has some wrinkles that will not go away. BUT this bulb is growing a new bulb. So I wonder, maybe when in active growth do the Bulbs tend to wrinkle more?

My Zygo I just bought had almost Shriveled raisin like bulbs when I took it home. They have plumped up a bit. They are the old growth anyways. They get wrinkles with age just like us. I do not think they will ever be perfect. So all I can do is focus on the new growth.

Jade · #8 12-01-2014, 02:49 AM

Very interesting thread! I would like to add my experience with onc.

I have two, and I grow them in the kitchen. Same regimen, but my onc.sweet sugar has plump ps, with not even a wrinkle, while my other noid onc. looks shriveled.

tarev · #9 12-01-2014, 04:34 AM

In my Onc. I notice the newer bulbs are more plump while the older ones are more wrinkled, but they feel very stiff, not at all mushy, so I am reassured it is just being itself, looking haggardly thirsty.

During summer I deliberately put them in standing water even for a couple of days, and they do not mind, I do see some improvement on the very wrinkled pbs but those marks just stay at the very outer part, but it tries to drink as much as it can. It is very dry and very low humidity here in our area anyways, so it is a much welcome relief for the Onc.

But during colder season, just to be on the side of caution, I do not let them stand in water, but I do water them, just running water enough for the roots to be wet maybe once a week. It does not go dry fast anyways because of the cooler temps.

It is actually a nice incoming winter for me...Wils Hilda Plumtree 'Purple Wings' is in an off season bloom and my Onc 'Sharry Baby' is in spike...both having those wrinkly pbs, but the pb where the spike/blooms emanate are quite plump and chubby..only the older ones are wrinkly. And I notice how much it likes light, so both have very nice positions by my south facing windows.

astrid · #10 12-01-2014, 04:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

Please post a pic, I don't want to tell you the wrong thing only to have you get pissed off because I gave you bad advice off of limited information.

Here are four pictures. The least wrinkled is my Miltassia Charles M Fitch "Izumi" that my boyfriend got me for my birthday a few months ago. I am counting the days until it will be ready to bloom!
It has pretty much no wrinkles except on the older bulbs and they are very faint.

The next is my NOID brassia (maybe brassia tessa) from the store. It has developed slight wrinkles in a month's time, but overall it looks about the same as when I got it (minus a blooming infloresence).

The last two are the one that is the wrinkliest!
It is my Odontocidium wildcat. It has massive bulbs that are all just kind of wrinkled no matter what I do. They were more wrinkled this summer but have plumped up slightly. They always kind of look the same. However, when I got the plant it had smooth bulbs (and an earwig infestation).
The first image shows the plant shortly after I got it with mostly smooth bulbs.
The second image shows the plant a couple weeks ago, starting its new spike, and with those darn wrinkles just hangin' out!

Also, King_of_orchid_growing, I couldn't get mad at you if I took your advice! I would only ever take advice that made sense with my own thinking, and if I went against that and my plants died, it would kinda be my own fault!