General Question about New Growths

[zxyqu]

Hey everyone. I've spoiled myself with numerous Oncs over the years, and I just had a quick question that I never seem to find an answer for.
Having seen several plants, I get plenty of new growths. That said, for whatever reason, I tend to lose some 30-40% of the new growths. It almost always happens when the plant has 2+ new growths. While the reasons could be condition/environment/etc, I was wondering if it's more just survival of the fittest growths to the Onc. Does the plant just decide one growth is better, or could I be killing off half my growths on accident? Any thoughts?

[tucker85]

My oncidiums generally have several new growths at a time. I haven't had the experience of one of the new growths dying. Oncidiums are very susceptable to fungus problems. Could you be getting fungus on some of new growths? In any case that isn't normal unfortunatly. Good luck.

[Zoi2]

You are probably getting too much water on the new growths when they are in the "nubbin" stage and they rot. I've done that several times so now I REALLY pay attention to the little guys when I'm watering.
Joann

[zxyqu]

Just to get that right Joann, are you speaking of actually watering the new growth itself, and getting water inside the new growth? That might make some sense, I've never worried too much about that.

[zxyqu]

Also, to Tucker's point. I've never noticed a fungal issue. All growths appear healthy, occasional root rot, but easily solved by various methods. Overall I just notice it is more prone to happen after a repot, but that's one of the reasons I've never really thought too much about it.

[Zoi2]

Originally Posted by zxyqu

Just to get that right Joann, are you speaking of actually watering the new growth itself, and getting water inside the new growth? That might make some sense, I've never worried too much about that.

yes, getting water inside the new growth.
Joann

[CTB]

Curious, everything sounds like a water problem, first what medium are you using, and how deep in the pot are you planting?. You can see all the fine roots and hairs around the surface of my oncidiums, only the deep roots are covered with a little rock...

They have good size bulbs which hold plenty of water for them. When you see the new growth withhold the water till the new growths gets somewhat larger and plant is settled in from repotting..I always water less when something has recently been repotted or roots have been disturbed..

It may just be too moist around the new growths. If you don't want to repot pull the media away from the new growths. No reason they have to be wet.

[got ants]

Having lost a few oncidiums this past year, I've moved them from clay pots to baskets. What a difference it has been. Even my Twinkle that had severe black rot is throwing out new leads.

I have also been more regimental of using fungicides. It's not so much me over watering, but those periods of rains we have. Like ALL of september.

[zxyqu]

You all make great points, and I'm thinking watering may definitely be an issue. It's a bit confusing though. I grow in S/H, so I bascially "know" how much water is in the pot. For the better Onc growers out there do you tend to withhold water when you start to see new growth. I've always thought I should ensure watering when I see new growth, and withhold it a little when not in active growth.

[satishsherikar]

The problem is more to do with the water getting to the new growths and not to the roots. If water gets splashed onto the new growths, there is a higher chance of the growth dying back. I've had this problem with a lot of my Dendrobium species Learnt it the hard way, so my blooms during spring might not look as exciting as I initially expected. Now, I've started to water only the roots, by dipping some of the pots with new growths in a bucket so as to not drench them. I switch on a fan when it rains and if they get wet, so that they can dry faster and hopefully the new growths survive.