Mtssa. Charles M. Fitch 'Izumi' - watering

[quiltergal]

I would only mist around the base of the plant and not the leaves. They have a tendancy to get little black spots on the leaves if you mist the whole plant.

My experience (and it is limited) with these guys in general is that they don't like to go completely dry. You know you're not watering enough if you start getting pleated new growth. Some of the Onc. alliance get grooved p-bulbs naturally as they age. If the new growth is smooth and fat I think you're OK. I have a rescue Vuyl. that has a new growth, and one existing p-bulb. This plant was in the sale section and I don't think it had been watered in quite a long time. The p-bulb was very wrinkled, and the new growth was showing signs of pleating. After I got back on a regular watering schedule the p-bulb plumped back up and the wrinkles are gone. It was noticable within a weeks time. Unfortuantely you can't undo pleated leaves so I'm having to coax the new growth out as the pleating makes it get stuck.

[wighty44]

I must say that the welcome here on the Orchid Board is fantastic. It has been a long time since I've experienced so many willing to share their experience and expertise - thank you all!

It seems that the general concensus here is that this intergenetic oncidium does not favor dryness to the extent that I was led to believe by the seller. As such I will begin more a frequent watering schedule - perhaps at 5 day intervals during the colder months, and more often as the weather warms-up.

I will also try to limit the misting to the base area of the plant (too late for today...).

I have already pulled back the moss ~½" from the p-bulbs potting mix interface.

Over the past 3 weeks blooms have progressed nicely, and I'll be checking to see if how this new watering guidance affects the plant.

I believe I'll still only fertilize (using FEED-ME! - 3/4 tsp/gal) every 7-10 days for 3 of 4 weeks per month as recommended by yet another source

I do know that the fertilizing rate increases during the growing season, which I believe is ~Mar 20 - Sep 21 for oncidiums.

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