Shriveling oncidium in S/H; help please?

[irrka]

No matter what I try to adjust for this guy he just doesn't seem to want to thrive. I had tried Physan, no luck, I tried alternating water and MSR waterings, no luck. He is just shriveling and shrinking.

[campchi]

I can see there's mineral deposit in the leca balls, i think you need to flush often. Also, check the roots to see if they are still alive.

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[wintergirl]

What campchi says and I like to put my oncids in clay pots. I know you have drainage holes but the clay allows the roots to breathe better than plastic. Your roots may be rotting and that may be why your bulbs are shriveling. Once they are wrinkled they never will plump back.

[silken]

Was it just switched to S/H? Usually all existing roots die and it needs to move to S/H only when new roots are starting as those are the ones that will adapt to it. So it can be set back until it adjusts to the very different growing conditions.

[No-Pro-mwa]

Wintergirl you don't use clay with S/H do you?

irrka what kind of water do you use? I was looking at the white deposits also.

[wintergirl]

Originally Posted by No-Pro-mwa

Wintergirl you don't use clay with S/H do you?

irrka what kind of water do you use? I was looking at the white deposits also.

No I don't for oncidiums but for some masdies I do. The clay pots wick up the moisture quite well. I use the clay pellets with a clay pot for the oncidiums but no standing water. They retain enough moisture just they way it is.

[PaphLover]

Is there water in the reservoir? I can't tell by the pics. If you let the reservoir completely dry out then you will get a lot of salt buildup in the LECA, which would poison your plant. Flush, flush, flush for now and then always ensure there's water in the reservoir. Do you have it in a warm, shady spot…say, on a heat mat? With extra humidity around plant (perhaps a bag overtop of plant or put in terrarium-like structure sitting plant in pot on LECA in water bath to increase ambient humidity). Ray recommends this to promote new root growth and reduce stress to plant when transferring to S/H. It definitely helps get new roots growing, which would be adapted specifically for the S/H environment.

Also, may I ask why you used Physan? Isn't that a fungicide?

[irrka]

-I use tap water since i got the MSR from Ray that is tap-water set

-the plant was moved to SH several months ago and had a whole ton of healthy of roots, so i didn't think it'd have a problem adopting to S/H. For the past several weeks i'd added KLN to the watering mix and had tried putting it under lights.

-I have all my plants grouped together with some water in the base of the dish from the overlow (there are no holes at the bottom of the plastic so it doesn't wick up) for humidity

-I tried physan because it'd helped me rescue some crown rot in the past and I wasn't sure if this guy had something that needed killing off when it first started to go floppy a month or two ago.

-I may have let the bottom of the pot dry out, wasn't paying too careful of an attention: I'm just so used to LECA retaining so much moisture I didn't even think of it

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So i'm going to try sticking it under a table (maybe in a under a flipped paper bag and just doing water flushes.. with KLN?) for the next couple of weeks. Keeping fingers crossed!!!

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by irrka

-I use tap water since i got the MSR from Ray that is tap-water set

Check your online water quality report for your local water company. I suspect Seattle has low-mineral water, which is good, but I'm not sure. If your water has more than about 250 PPM of TDS it can cause salt accumulation on the LECA. Not watering enough can also cause salt buildup. And, when you water in S/H, you're supposed to completely fill the container so the new solution almost overflows the top, then let it drain down to just the reservoir.

Originally Posted by irrka

-the plant was moved to SH several months ago and had a whole ton of healthy of roots, so i didn't think it'd have a problem adopting to S/H. For the past several weeks i'd added KLN to the watering mix and had tried putting it under lights.

Most or all of the old roots die when moved to S/H. The plant needs to grow new roots adapted to the new conditions. This is why it is recommended to move to S/H when the plant is growing new roots.

Originally Posted by irrka

-I have all my plants grouped together with some water in the base of the dish from the overlow (there are no holes at the bottom of the plastic so it doesn't wick up) for humidity

I don't quite understand this. In S/H, the container has one or more holes well above the solid bottom. The container retains a reservoir of water in the bottom after watering. Is this what you're doing?

Originally Posted by irrka

-I tried physan because it'd helped me rescue some crown rot in the past and I wasn't sure if this guy had something that needed killing off when it first started to go floppy a month or two ago.

The going floppy sounds like the roots aren't able to provide enough water. As mentioned, the old roots die. The plant has to grow new roots to survive.

Originally Posted by irrka

-I may have let the bottom of the pot dry out, wasn't paying too careful of an attention: I'm just so used to LECA retaining so much moisture I didn't even think of it

Normal orchid roots aren't bothered by going dry. S/H roots are different and are not adapted to going dry. So, it's important S/H reservoirs not go dry. If the old air-adapted roots are dead, and the new water-adapted roots are killed by going dry, the plant has no roots at all, and will look badly until it grows new roots.

Originally Posted by irrka

So i'm going to try sticking it under a table (maybe in a under a flipped paper bag and just doing water flushes.. with KLN?) for the next couple of weeks. Keeping fingers crossed!!!

Keep the plant in very bright shade and the highest humidity you can. Also keep the container and roots warm to stimulate new root growth. The KLN should help with that. I wouldn't move it to low light.