Sharry Baby et. al. in crisis!

[sarahbeth]

Hello all! This is my first post, and I hope that someone can help. I think I might be killing all my orchids!!! Sharry Baby and another onc. in particular. I'm completely mortified as I grew up around orchids - my father has been growing prize winners for 30+ years. I live in an apartment and have never grown that many, but the ones I've had have always done just fine. A whole host of symptoms and incidents have been occurring:

1. Repotted into "basket-weave" ceramic pots
2. Cats have nibbled on the ends of leaves/new growth
3. Pseudobulbs have dried/died
4. Leaves fall off

I water them in the shower once per week as I've always done, but lately something has gone way wrong. They live on stands in front of a west facing window that gets afternoon sun filtered through trees. I have a feeling that either I'm giving them too much or too little sun and/or water. Pictures of the problem plants are attached. I've also included a couple pics of my cattleya as it's not as perky as it used to be either.

I have checked for bugs, fungus, rot, etc. and haven't found anything.

Can anyone help? Many thanks ...

[SP2340]

Ouch! Sorry to see that. My guess would be those pots, they store water in the base and don't drain out completely, right? If so the roots probably rotted and/or got a fungus. Have you taken any out and checked the roots?

[sarahbeth]

I've wondered about the pots, but they came highly recommended from folks who know a lot more about orchids than I do :-) It seems like they drain fairly well. The pot is raised above a built in tray - about 2" clearance. The roots seem OK, but there's not many of them. Could too much or a lack of light do that much damage? In a couple of weeks when the temp stabilizes a bit I was thinking of putting them outside on a covered porch that gets partial sun.

Sadly, I think this may be a lost cause ...

Thank you so much for responding!!!!

[Becky15349]

Ouch! Generally a pbulb will wrinkle and turn brown like that because its been attacked by rot - Im thinking that you probably did a combination of overwatering with not enough sun and drying out in between your watering. Did you stick your finger down into the media to see if the plants needed water before you watered them? That's a good way to tell if they actually need water.

This is hard to tell if they will recover; they don't have too many leaves and roots and if they do decide to pull thru, it will take a while for the plant to regernerate itself. Try keeping it dryer for a while...a west window shouldn't be too bad, but they do need some light, so the west window may be too dim... good luck!

[Sun rm.N.E.]

Sarahbeth

I don't know which one is the Sharry baby but if it shows a little new growth nubbin at the bottom of the best pseudobulb and has some healthy leaves left I think you can save it in water culture even in an apartment. The picture of mine below was started from one pseudobulb that still had the capacity to produce new growth. I did clean off all dry/ rotting pseudobulbs and roots with a razor blade before I put it into a vase in nutrient solution. The pseudobulb was tied to a plastic fork and the nutrient solution covered the base of the plant where the roots were.

It does not work for all oncidium hybridds but Sharry Baby loves water culture. If you are interested in trying this you can look at this thread. I give details on the second Page of the thread below.

Onc. Sharry Baby in water culture

[(..._...)]

I love these pots... but as decorations. I find it is MUCH easier to use regular plastic pots, and just slip the plastic pot into the decorative pots when they bloom

[sarahbeth]

"Little nubbin" is the perfect way to describe it! I didn't know you could maintain orchids in water. I think I might try it. So after reading that thread, am I correct that I should remove the dead pseudobulbs and roots, dunk in KLN for a few hours, then put them in a vase of water w/tomato miracle grow (I have some of that on hand anyway)?

Thanks so much for this alternative idea!!!

[sarahbeth]

They are pretty pots! I thought perhaps the air circulation would make them less likely to get stay too wet. All of mine are in those pots now. Think I should try re-potting into plastic?

[WhiteRabbit]

Originally Posted by sarahbeth

They are pretty pots! I thought perhaps the air circulation would make them less likely to get stay too wet. All of mine are in those pots now. Think I should try re-potting into plastic?

I have one orchid (mystery catt alliance plant) potted directly in a ceramic orchid pot and it is doing well in it - been in the same pot for some time



I recently potted another catt alliance plant - a blc - directly into a ceramic orchid pot - but in cocohusk chips rather than bark - and the dang thing never dried out and isn't doing well - I don't know if that is due to the ceramic pot or not ...

[kiki-do]

My take on this is a little different. I see accordian leaves on some. That tells me that it's not getting enough water. You say you water once a week. I water mine twice a week, and I keep them in almost full light. I use those same pots for many of my orchids with no problem. I use mostly a coco husk chips and alifor type mix with a little perlite and charcoal. They drain fine for me. I am thinking....too dry, not enough sun.
Oh, and keep the cats away from nibbling. Did you sprinkle with cinnamon after they feasted? If not, bacteria might set in. I'm no expert, so this is just my And it's way past my bedtime.