Oncidiums that grow but don't flower

[snowflake311]

Originally Posted by Zabeta

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping you can give me some perspective on oncidium care. I have a couple that keep growing like crazy (4-6 pseudobulbs in a year), but they show no signs of blooming. I've had both for about a year, and only one was blooming when I got it.

1) Oncidesa Lemon Heart 'Baby Face'. When I received this in April 2015 (was not in bloom), I put it in coconut husk. What I have is 1/2 of a division (the other half didn't make it). It didn't do well in coconut husk, so in Oct. 2015 I changed it into full water culture (I keep a small amount of water at the bottom of the container - not enough to rot the roots, but enough for it to constantly soak up the water). It's not ideal, but the plant has plumped out and is growing new pseudobulbs. It was an emergency measure to help it get the water that it needed (in a horribly dry and hot climate), but eventually I'd like to put it in bark.

2) NoID "dancing lady" type. This one's in orchiata and sphagnum, and I try not to let it completely dry out, watering one to three times per week, depending on weather.

For both, I fed with small amounts of K-Lite, punctuated seldomly with Kelpmax or pure water. I use reverse osmosis. They both get bright morning sun and diffused afternoon/evening sun in a south-facing window. Temperatures are generally warm to hot in the summer, with up to a 40 degree drop at night. The winter has been very nice this year with cooler, but not cold, temperatures and lots of humidity (lots for me is 60%). I have recently added DynaGrow fertilizer to the rotation, and stepped up the frequency of Kelpmax.

My suspicions:

- I'm not patient enough (?).
- The K-Lite alone was too much nitrogen and not enough phosphorus, and I should have rotated fertilizers.
- The hot, dry weather last summer was too much and now they need to recover.

Any thoughts? They seem to be happy-ish, judging from the fact that they keep growing more and more pseudobulbs, but I'm getting really bored, and I'm wondering if there's something wrong that I need to address.

Oncidiums are Bomb proof for me. Because they love the Perfect amount of Neglect that I give them. The more neglect the more they grow. My poor spider orchid had a rough start with me. I left it outside in the cold, more then the others. I under watered, it I burnt it's leave. At one point I just gave up. I brought it back inside before it got way too cold. I did not want to kill it, so when the Night temps were in the 40s she was inside. A few months later I had a spike then all bloomed. Now I have 3 new growths.

I have day and night temp change I think they really like that. I also have LOTS of sun. I am getting ready to put my orchids back out for the summer in a few months. I just kind of leave them out there and water when I can. No fuss.

I say more light and less fussing. For me My climate seems to be one that grows Onc. Where do you live?

[Selmo]

I am with you, Zabeta. Easy-peezee is the way. They grow on their own in nature, with out our help. They want to live and grow, then ultimately flower. You don't have to have it perfect, just close enough. They have the ability to adapt. Watched pots never boil, and hovering over your plants day and night worrying about what you are doing wrong and why they are not doing what you want. Is not doing any good for you or your plants. Patience. Enjoy the beauty and joy that they bring and keep on growing

[u bada]

Wow, good for you Zabeta, you got a whole crowd chiming in... guess i just wanted to join in just to join in...

i vote for:

-fertilizer not the issue
-try more light
-try putting outdoors for spring and summer, and -back in when temps drop just a little too low, but not lower (great insight Tarev!)
-patience! probably they just need more time to recuperate... only people in the living world feel at all rushed about anything, ok maybe gazelles and wildflowers perhaps...

that all said i had a sharry baby in a studio i barely spent time at- stayed inside, watered at most 1/week, nor fert and it bloomed every year... some plants just have it in them, or their genetics to bloom regardless... others not so much, but it's about the journey, right?

[bil]

Originally Posted by tarev

I do not give them a lot of fertilizer and still do well for me.

I put 1 g about in 6 litres of water. That's for every day water. 2 for twice a week plants and 3 for once a week. It's very low, but the results are great.

[Zabeta]

Originally Posted by u bada

i had a sharry baby in a studio i barely spent time at- stayed inside, watered at most 1/week, nor fert and it bloomed every year... some plants just have it in them, or their genetics to bloom regardless... others not so much, but it's about the journey, right?

My Sharry Baby is the only oncidium that has re-bloomed for me so far. It's one of my favorites! It actually bloomed twice in three months, so clearly it's a lot happier than my other ones! :-)

[OhioBob]

I have several noid oncidiums that would never bloom for me although they grew real well. I had them in bark and someone on this board suggested they needed more water. So I moved two to semi-hydro and within six months they bloomed but not the other two I had left in bark. So now all my ocids are in SH. None of my other orchids are in SH but it helped for me.

[snowflake311]

Originally Posted by OhioBob

I have several noid oncidiums that would never bloom for me although they grew real well. I had them in bark and someone on this board suggested they needed more water. So I moved two to semi-hydro and within six months they bloomed but not the other two I had left in bark. So now all my ocids are in SH. None of my other orchids are in SH but it helped for me.

Onc. do like water more than other orchids we grow. I never rot my Onc roots but have done a number on many Phals. SO maybe it is a watering issue.

[bil]

Originally Posted by snowflake311

Onc. do like water more than other orchids we grow. I never rot my Onc roots but have done a number on many Phals. SO maybe it is a watering issue.

I have a couple of oncs/thin leaves with pleated leaves which is a sign of being too dry, but better that than rotting roots.

[Ray]

The three top reasons orchids won't bloom is often stated as:

1) insufficient light
2) insufficient food
3) excessive nitrogen

I was one to spread that fairly often, a while ago, but I'm rethinking that second item, since switching to my surrender feeding regimen, and realizing that "insufficient" is probably better described as "none for an extremely extended time".

I also know that some low-light plants, if grown too brightly, will bloom less reliably.

I also thought that "excessive nitrogen" was just a formula thing, and I warned against the use of 30-10-10 blends. Once I started thinking in terms of mass of nutrient, rather than ratios, and learned more about what orchids can get in nature, I had to completely redefine that!

[Zabeta]

Originally Posted by OhioBob

I have several noid oncidiums that would never bloom for me although they grew real well. I had them in bark and someone on this board suggested they needed more water. So I moved two to semi-hydro and within six months they bloomed but not the other two I had left in bark. So now all my ocids are in SH. None of my other orchids are in SH but it helped for me.

I've never done semi-hydro, but I've been thinking about it. Maybe I will try it with the oncidiums - thanks.

---------- Post added at 09:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:54 AM ----------

Originally Posted by Ray

The three top reasons orchids won't bloom is often stated as:

1) insufficient light
2) insufficient food
3) excessive nitrogen

I was one to spread that fairly often, a while ago, but I'm rethinking that second item, since switching to my surrender feeding regimen, and realizing that "insufficient" is probably better described as "none for an extremely extended time".

I also know that some low-light plants, if grown too brightly, will bloom less reliably.

I also thought that "excessive nitrogen" was just a formula thing, and I warned against the use of 30-10-10 blends. Once I started thinking in terms of mass of nutrient, rather than ratios, and learned more about what orchids can get in nature, I had to completely redefine that!

Thank you!