Impulse Buy!

[howze01]

So I was at Shoprite today (grocery store) and I saw this Orchid. I am a sucker for dark flowers and don't have any so I thought why not? I can't do worse than them... I hope and it was $14.99 so I bought it.

It's labeled a Phalaenopsis but it sure doesn't look like one to me. I'm new to this whole thing so I could be wrong though.

Pictures:





Any help IDing would be great. Would love to get it out of that pot but the pseudobulb (if that's what it is called on this plant) looks good to me so I feel OK waiting until it's done blooming. In the picture you can see that it looks like there is a plastic pot inside of the terra cotta one but it doesn't come out. I tried because I wanted to see the roots but no go.

Thanks in advance for any help!

[Daethen]

It is an oncidium of some sort.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I wouldn't grow this hybrid in moss.

It is an Oncidium intergeneric hybrid.

---------- Post added at 03:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:25 PM ----------

Forgot...

Pot's too big too.

[howze01]

Thank Daethen anf king!

Oncidium it is! Would you repot it now king or wait until after it's done blooming?

[SJF]

I would wait to repot until it is done blooming. Did you get it at the Flemington SR or the one by the college?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I differ in opinion. I recommend repotting immediately. Many Oncs are notorious for rotting out very quickly when grown too wet for too long.

If yours does end up rotting because it was grown wet in moss, you will not have enough plant material to save it.

You will most likely lose the blooms, but what you lose in flowers now, you will gain in a healthy plant that will continue to bloom for as long as it is alive.

---------- Post added at 05:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:32 PM ----------

I recommend small grade bark as a potting medium for this plant.

[Bud]

a Phal plant in that grocery store is missing its tag, a small child maybe playfully interchanged tags just for fun....
there is a plastic pot inside the clay pot....use a butter knife and your index finger to pry it out....
NJ in the warmer months is hot and very humid....Philip is right, moss will decimate your plant unless you master the skewer method....Oncidiums have tiny fine roots that easily rots....
if you carefully run water in the sink and pry off the moss from the roots with the help of water pressure=you might not disturb the roots too much.

[howze01]

SJF, I got it from the one in Bound Brook. It's on my way home from work.

OK King and Bud, repot it is! I don't mind if I lose the flowers. It will bloom again!

Believe me Bud, I tried to pry that inner plastic pot out but it seems like it was baked into the pot or or something. One way or another though, it's coming out!

Thanks again everyone for your advice and help identifying my new plant!

[Leafmite]

Good luck! It is very unusual and pretty!

[My Green Pets]

I think those oncidium hybrids are less tricky than phals to be honest.

A well-draining, quick-drying mix could work well. They seem to like a wet-to-dry cycle of about 5 days. I have never grown them in semi-hydro, but they appear to be excellent candidates for that as well.