What is it? Scented, tall spikes with tiny orange flowers

[HeatherALee]

In September, I got this beautiful scented orchid as a gift from dear friends. It was purchased from a florist, and had no id tags (and no care instructions!) All the blooms have since gone by the way-side and the bulbs have all gotten fairly shriveled. It does have some new growth and as we head into winter I want to make sure I care for it properly. Would love help with identification! Based on the rittershausen book, growing orchids - my best guess is an Oncidium?



-Heather

[WhiteRabbit]

It's an Oncidium alliance intergeneric hybrid - possibly Wilsonara ...
Most Onc. alliance intergenerics like moderately bright light (east or west facing window), and lightly moist potting media. Older pbulbs will shrivel or wrinkle slightly as new growth comes in, but if shriveling is more severe, the plant has been either over or under watered. Check the roots.

Most orchids in this alliance are very resilient.

[Paul Mc]

Hello and welcome! I agree with the above statement. If the rots look good as are not dying, then monitor the growing medium closely to know when to water. If the roots look like they are dying, then that's a sign that the plant is unable to absorb what it needs to hold the psuedobulbs.

[RosieC]

Welcome to Orchid Board

I also agree with Sonya. If the p-bulbs are severely shriving then it could be either over watering (rooting the roots so it can't take up water) or under watering.

Best thing to do is check the roots and repot at the same time. You will need some fresh orchid bark or moss to put it back into.

Looking more closely at your picture, what sort of pot is it in, are there any holes in the pot? If there are no holes it's possible it's sodden in the bottom.

[HeatherALee]

thanks so much for all these comments! It is in a plastic orchid pot (lots of drainage at the bottom) and in a decorative pot with bark at the bottom. So I think it is getting enough drainage. What I though was moss, upon closer examination, looks more like the roots pouring out of the pot! I know orchids like to be crowded, and since it does have new growth on it, I'm reluctant to repot just yet. I think it was probably a problem with inconsistent watering (since both of my pseudo-bulb orchids have shriveling slightly). Will keep you all posted and thanks for the help!

Heather

[james mickelso]

This is putting on a very nice inflorescene right now and if also putting out new growth it is doing what it is designed to do. That is expending a lot of stored water and nutrients for that growth. Pbulbs become wrinkled when new growth is being made. It is natural. Be careful you don't kill it with kindmess like overwatering it. It can stand underwatering much better than overwatering. Leave it alone for now and water it only when the pot and plant are light in weight. Then water it sparingly. Once the flowers have faded you can take it out of the pot and inspect the roots to your hearts content. If you unpot it now you will lose the flowers. Oncidium alliance orchids are very suseptable to root loss if unpotted at the wrong time. Oncids do not like to be repotted very often at all. It reaslly sets them back. They have very thin roots that do not like to be disturbed and they also are very suseptable to rot if watered too much. The plants like to be kept just damp and never soaked. let this finish flowering and and water only when the [pot is light in weight. Also remember thet the new growth will be at least half way to maturity before it puts out new roots from the new growth. My Wilsonara pbulbs grow to maturity before they put out new roots. My Gower Ramsey puts out new roots when the pbulbs are half grown. Old pbulbs rarely put on new roots. Once the flowers fall, your job is to nurture the new growth. The old pbulbs are done and nothing but storehouses of energy for the new growth. When you repot this make sure you don't damage the existing roots. Repot carefully. Onc don't like their roots disturbed. Pot in a medium mix and water when nearly dry. But don't let the plant dry completely. Place the pbulb mass all the way to the side of the pot with the old pbulbs reasting against the side of the pot so that the plant has 2 or 3 growth cycles before it needs repotting.

[james mickelso]

I should have put on my glasses and read your post more thoroughly. Cut the spike off at the base. Water only when the plant is light in weight. Don't repot until you see new roots developing from the new growth. When new roots are forming on the new growth carefully remove the plant from the old mix and inspect the roots. As you do this, carefully dislodge what media you can. It's not necessary to remove all of the old mix as oncids roots are easlly damaged. Oncids do not like to be repotted very often and repotting can set them back if done too
often or at the wrong time. Once you have taken off as much of the easily dislodged media as you can, cut off any damaged or dead roots as you can. Old roots under the oldest couple pbulbs are most likely dead and can be cut off. But make sure these roots are paperly and not still firm. Oncids have very thin roots and the ones that are papery can come off. The ones that have substance to them should remain. If the roots are a tangled mass and very long, you can cut the bottoms of them off to enable it to be potted into as small a pot as you can. 1 inch of extra room around the outside is plently. The top of the root mass/bottom of the pbulbs should be a little below the top of the rim of the pot. Place a little potting media into the bottom of the pot and firmly place the root mass on top of this. Now take the pot in hand and firmly tap in on the table. Place potting media into the pot and tap to settle it. Don't try to jam the media into the sides of the pot. This will only damage the roots more. Just tap the pot onto a firm surface and once filled to the hieght of the bottom of the new growth, that is sufficient. Water well with good water. I prefer RO water. Ray (FirstRays), who is a member here, has some nice supplimental nutrients that will help it root. Or Superthrive which can be purchased at Home Cheapo or Lowes. Now water this plant well and again when the pot starts to feel light in weight. If it dries out completely, don't dispair. But try to keep it just moist but not wet. Water in the morning so it will dry before it gets cool in the evening. Here are a couple pics of oncids new growth. The first one shows an unwelcome guest. Notice that the newset big plump pbulb is putting out new growth. The second pbulb has started to wrinkle and is the parent of the big plump pbulb. And then notice the very wrinkled older of the pbulbs. This was the parent of the slightly wrinkled pbulb and so on. This is normal. This plant was producing two huge spikes on each pbulb and was expending prodigious amounts of each bulb's stored energy reserves. The second pic is what can happen if potted at the wrong time or given too much water. The rest are self explanatory. New growth before old enough to put out roots and old enought to start rooting. Old pbulbs wrinkled and new pbulbs putting out new growth. Hope this long winded tome helps. Any questions please ask.

[euplusia]

Yes, an Oncidium intergeneric hybrid. Try also a search on Burrageara and Vuylstekeara.