My First Non-Phal Orchid: Oncidium Care Advice.

[MrsH530]

Hey Everyone!

I have finally branched away from phals! Because of this site, I have been successful in my growing of them, and I felt like it was time to try my hand at another variety. While at the grocery store yesterday, I saw a beautiful Oncidium (I think??) orchid and decided to bring it home.

So, as I know nothing of oncidium care, outside of very, very basic things, I was hoping for some advice from experienced growers.

Here's what I know/have read in the last 24 hours:

No water in the leaves (just like phal care)
Do not let it dry out all the way, likes to be a little moist.
Bright but not direct light

What else should I know about these plants? My plant has 7 psuedobulbs. 2 of them look relatively new, 1 of those new has a spike.

1 of the psuedobulbs has no more foliage. I assume this is the oldest one?

I have no idea what it is potted in. It seems to be some type of dense moss mix (not sphag). What should it be in?

I currently use Ray's K-Lite fertilizer for my phals and have his kelp-max rooting supplement.

Any help is truly appreciated! Thank you!

[jocierk]

Looks like Beallara Marfitch 'Howard's Dream' to me. I have a handful of beallaras and they are water hogs. The pbulbs wrinkle up like crazy if I don't really pay attention to how much water they are getting. Mine do best in the Oncidium mx from repotme.com. they also don't like to be repotted while in bloom, but yours looks like it could really use some more space. The flowers don't last quite as long as a phals so you can probably wait until they fall. Mine also seems to need a 10-15 degree drop in night time temps to get them to spike. I absolutely love the flowers on Beallaras, congrats on your new one!

[gngrhill]

Looks like my Miltassa. Closely related to the Bealleara mentioned by Jocierk. All are oncidium alliance. care is as he/she says

[RandomGemini]

I think it's a Beallara too and Jocierk gave excellent care advice!

[MrsH530]

Thanks for the great advice everyone!!

[MrsH530]

After having this plant for a few weeks I have another question:

I believe that this plant is in serious need of being repotted. I put a skewer in the middle of the pot to help me determine when to water, and even though the skewer is coming out wet, the leaves are ribbing (no wrinkling of pbulbs yet). The leaves seem to droop quite a bit too about 2 days after being watered.

Should I repot it? If so, how will this effect the spikes? The buds on one of the spikes are just starting to open. As much as I enjoy the flowers, I care more about the overall health of the plant.

Also, if I do repot it, do I need to divide it? How do you decide which pbulbs to separate and put in different pots?

Lastly, I do not have a specific Beallara mix, but I have a range of medium from coarse bark to sphagnum moss. I have read that they prefer to have a more water retentive medium then phals, will it be ok if I make a mix of some finer bark pieces and some moss?

Thanks!

[RandomGemini]

No, it doesn't need to be reported unless the roots are crawling out of the pot. What you should do though, is increase humidity. That is what causes leaves to become deformed on most members of this alliance. I actually find mine do best when placed near an exterior door or grouped together on a plant tray. Seems to help raise humidity around them.

[jocierk]

If the media is really broken down or in the case of moss getting slimy and gross you might want to repot. Crappy media will rot those little skinny roots. It will probably drop the blooms though so if you think the media is ok I would leave it until its done blooming. If you do repot don't divide it cause that will piss it off for sure. As Gemini said the problem is probably humidity. It went from a nice humid well lit greenhouse to being shipped in a cold truck to a dry grocery store where it was probably ignored (under crappy light without enough water), to your house in a very short time period. The drooping you are seeing now is from the stress of all that. Try to get the humidity up and keep it evenly watered and it will perk up.

[MrsH530]

Ok! I will leave it be for now. I will see what I can do about humidity, although it's been so cold here the heater has been running on full blast. I have a humidifier in another room that I can move out there during the day at least.

After it's done blooming, I will take a good look at the media and figure out if it should be repotted. So this kind you don't divide? How do you determine that? Lots of questions as I'm a devoted phal grower... I have no idea about other orchids.

[jocierk]

You do divide this kind I was just saying dont do it while its in bloom. Honestly I have never divided an Oncidium type so Ill let someone with more background jump in and tell you if yours needs that when you do repot.