Does anybody know what orchid this is?

[Suse]

Dear All,

I bought this orchid just over one year ago. I think it might be a Miltonia hybrid, but I am not sure. The plant has been doing very well until recently. It has grown three new, plumb-looking pseudo bulbs since I got it and the new bulbs have developed three flower spikes each! The plant still is in bloom (the blossoms have a lovely clove scent), but I am a bit worried that it is not doing so well any longer.
The bulbs look quite shrivelled now. I thought I have been careful when watering it - waiting until the pot got lighter, but maybe I was to generous with water after all. I have taken it out of the pot today to have a look at the roots and they look brown and are a quite soft to the touch. The leave on the old bulbs are turning yellow (but I think this is normal, isn't it?).
I am trying to find out what plant I have exactly in the hope that I may find details on how to care for it properly so that I can rescue it.
If anybody knows what hybrid this may be and how I could try to nurse it back to health I would be really grateful to hear from you!!!

[Florida_guy_26]

I'm not too big into the oncidium/miltonia crosses, but it looks like a hybrid of oncidium/miltonia but I do not know the exact ID. Regardless of what kind of plant it is, if you are a new owner, you face the problem that 80% of new owners face- watering your plant too much which kills more orchids yearly than anything else and all other things combined. If I were you, I would let the plant slightly dry out and keep it on the drier side until you see new growth and new roots. I keep most all of my orchids growing semi-hydroponically but in sphagnum moss and they seem to love it. Maybe let your plant start to dry more thoroughly, and sprinkle cinnamon powder around the roots (cinnamon which is just the cinnamon you buy at the store in the shaker) to disinfect and keep the plant from developing any new problems. The cinnamon will keep any fungus or bacteria from infecting your vulnerable plant. Let the plant dry more as I said before, and cut watering to once or twice a week but let the plant stay on the dry side until new growth appears and then you will have to clean the plant, roots and pot before repotting into new media - *after flowering* but you will need to think about a repot as the best course of action. I hope this helps because if the roots are brown and soft, they sound dead from overwatering. Make sure the whole plant and media is dry by lifting the plant out if you have to to check to the bottom. Try that and see how it goes and let me know how you do and you can email me on here. Good Luck

[stonedragonfarms]

It looks like an oncidium/miltonia intergeneric cross to me. I beleive that you have found the problem yourself--there are no roots on the plant that are capable of delivering moisture to the plant as they are all dead. I do not grow these, so hopefully someone else will chime in with exact culture, but if I were in "rescue" mode, my first step would be to remove the spikes (there is no sense letting the plant sustain flowers when it is stressing already stressed pseudobulbs). Next, I would remove all dead/dying roots, as well as any brown dry sheath material/leaf bases on the pseudobulbs. At this point, you may want to give the plant a soak in a nutrient solution (K-L-N would probably be my choice), and then put the plant somewhere shaded and with average humidity to dry a bit (you want the clipped roots to dehydrate). From here on out, there are a number of ways you can proceed: some will advocate sphag in a bag, others potting the plant in a small pot and staking it for support until root growth resumes (you will need to be very careful with your watering practices so as not to rot newly forming roots) or you might consider mounting the plant over a pad of moss (you will have to grow it humid until you see the formation of new roots, but it will be much less prone to overwatering). As I said, I do not grow these--I keep my gh too cool for them, hopefully one of the others can give you more appropriate information in lieu of general advice.
Good growing and keep us posted,
Adam

[Suse]

thanks for the advice. I thought I had been quite careful with the water only giving it some when the pot felt quite light, but apaprently that was still too much. I am now thinking about mounting the orchid to avoid future overwatering (although I don't have a greenhouse just a window sill).

[Florida_guy_26]

The best thing to do is to cut the blooms off the plant and just let it sit on top of live sphagnum moss for now if you have some. If not I want to recommend the bag idea with some moss in it, but the humidity makes it a good place for mold fungus or bacteria to start and especially in a dark or shaded area. The best thing you can do is keep the plant outside if you can for now and keep it over a small cup of wet sphagnum moss. Once new roots and adventitious buds form, then you can try mounting but keep in mind if you mount the plant, you will need to water daily to keep the plant from drying out fully. I have found that letting an orchid dry out and then water heavily is the easiest way to kill the roots for some reason, so if you keep the plant in sphagnum moss, keep it constantly moist but not soaking wet. I hope the advice helps.

[Mike O'C]

Originally Posted by Suse

Dear All,

I bought this orchid just over one year ago. I think it might be a Miltonia hybrid, but I am not sure. The plant has been doing very well until recently. It has grown three new, plumb-looking pseudo bulbs since I got it and the new bulbs have developed three flower spikes each! The plant still is in bloom (the blossoms have a lovely clove scent), but I am a bit worried that it is not doing so well any longer.
The bulbs look quite shrivelled now. I thought I have been careful when watering it - waiting until the pot got lighter, but maybe I was to generous with water after all. I have taken it out of the pot today to have a look at the roots and they look brown and are a quite soft to the touch. The leave on the old bulbs are turning yellow (but I think this is normal, isn't it?).
I am trying to find out what plant I have exactly in the hope that I may find details on how to care for it properly so that I can rescue it.
If anybody knows what hybrid this may be and how I could try to nurse it back to health I would be really grateful to hear from you!!!

The flowers look a bit like Oncidium ornithorhyncum. do the flowers have a vanilla like scent? Check the flowers out against Oncidium ornithorhyncum which is probably one parent of any hybrid that your plant may be.

[britishbulldog]

Hallo Suse,I've got the same plant...the only info I have been able to find is that it's an Oncidium Hybrid Von Holm.Mine is currently flowering with 3 spikes :-) ....they do seem however to take a lot out of the plant resulting in shrivelling of the pseudobulbs.Chop them off,put them in a vase and enjoy the wonderful scent,while letting your plant recover....and go easy on the watering.
I hope this is of some help!!??
Simon

[Suse]

Hello,

thanks for the info and advice. I have cut off the flower spikes now and have a started spraying the leaves with water once a day to slow down dehydration.

Yours, Susanne

[ronaldhanko]

There are plants being sold as Oncidium Von Holm but no such cross actually exists. One forum lists the cross as Onc. ornithorhynchum x Miltonidium, but that is no longer an oncidium but a Miltonidium and there is no Miltonidium Von Holm. It appears to have Onc. Ornithorhynchum in it, but beyond that I don't know what it could be.

[britishbulldog]

I've done a bit more research,and it seems to be a Miltonidium Katrin Zoch-although,apart from photos,I've not found any other information.