Have had this a few years, help with ID please

[andrew__]

Not looking for specifics (which might be difficult because it's not in flower) but at least the group it's in so I can figure out its proper culture.

It's in a 5" pot. (edit maybe a 4")



There's once smooth pseudo bulb but in a recent transplanting it ended up difficult to see (in an effort to get this plant growing towards the center of the pot.)

Also having issues with yellow leaves (has been watered a lot recently, think it's related to that and have stopped) and brown spots:



This recently recovered from scale (the reason for the repotting was to get at all the more difficult areas of the plant.

I've also got one pseudobulb from this with two tiny plantlets doing extremely well sphag-n-bag. Fingers crossed for it!

[Jorch]

It looks like it belongs to the maxillaria tribe? Maxillaria or Zygo hybrid, perhaps?

[andrew__]

I don't think it's a Max... it flowered a while back and I'm trying to track down a picture I know I have somewhere. I'd remember if it was as interesting as a maxillaria flower Looked a little more similar to the Zygo pictures i'm finding. Been a while since it last flowered and I wasn't really paying attention at the time

I checked with my dad and I'm leaning towards a Zygo.

As I understand it I should be good on temp and lighting but should be watering it evenly and letting dry between watering (every2-3 days)? They will apparently get brown spotting on the leaves if under watered (this plant was definitely under watered until recently).

[orchideric]

Dear Andrew,

It is a Zygopetalum, a group very widely grown down under. Keep the potting mix always lightly moist. They are terrestrial in nature and do not require to dry out between waterings as do a lot of epiphytes. After the new roots are about 2" long they can be watered rather heavily. Grow the plants what I call cool-intermediate. They want intermediate temperatures - not cool - but without any hot temperatures or direct sunlight on the leaves which a purely intermediate grower would get.

The parts turning yellow and falling off aren't true leaves - they are bracts below the bulbs. Not that big a deal. This is because your plant is a little stressed. When the new bulbs are plump and not shrivelled they should not drop off. If the 2 leaves on top fall off on newer growths then that would be a problem.

Zygopetalums get a black spotting on the leaves. It just happens and really doesn't affect the plant - it just looks bad. This is usually too high nighttime humidity. But I am telling you, just ignore the spots. And spraying with fungicide is a lost cause.

Ask your Dad if he remembers a very strong fragrance like a sexy woman. If he says yes, its a Zygopetalum - that is why most people grow them.

Hope that helps, Eric

[andrew__]

The flowers looked a lot like this:



May not be exact but very similar shape and colours if I remember correctly. No one particularly remembers a scent from it but that doesn't mean there wasn't one.

[violacea]

I'm not an expert, Andrew, but it sure looks like an Oncidium to me. Try googling Oncidiums and see if anything looks like it. It might also be an intergeneric cross involving and oncidium.

[Roly0217]

Zygopetalums have similar looking flowers and the shape of the plant in general looks more like a zygo to me.

[camille1585]

Just looking at the plant I would say Zygo as well. The bulbs are very round and leaves are wide. Oncidiums, from the ones I've seen, have more elongated bulbs. There are some zygos with flowers close to what you show.
Don't worry about the yellowing leaves. As long as they are the older leaves at the base of the bulbs, there is nothing to worry about.
and hopefully you will have more blooms soon!

[andrew__]

ok thanks for the confirmation. The leaves looked a lot like a zygo but my first (uneducated) guess had been cymbidium because I've seen some with the smaller round pseudobulbs (but the flowers were not even remotely close). Oncidium flowers are similar but from what I've seen a lot smaller than what this had. Just wanted to post that flower before I went and drowned some other less water tolerant orchid

[violacea]

I went to look at the zygopetalums, and the two upper petals seem to be firmer than the ones in your photo.

zygopetalum - Google Image Search

And also, the photo you posted is not exactly what you have got, right? But you stated looks like what you have got.

Oncidiums look like this. And one of the pics had buds which look like those in the pic you posted.

oncidium - Google Image Search

And oncidiums tend to look brown because of one of the species which has this chocolatey colour.

Can you please take a digital photo of your orchid and post it onto this orchid board? Otherwise we are identifying a flower that looks like what you have got instead of actually seeing what you have got.