Oncidium hybrid skipped flowering?

[camille1585]

The math is very simple.
Oncidiums = Orchids
Phals = Orchids
Orchids = Plants
Plants ALL need the basics : water + food, even if other needs are different.
Lemons and grapefruits both need fertilizer (and very much the same at that), so your comparison doesn't work.
True, orchids need much weaker fertilizers than most plants because of the way the natural grow. However, you are getting 'NO FOOD' mixed up with 'LOW FOOD'. Yes, culture is important, but it's only part of what it takes to grow orchids succesfully. You can have the best culture in the world, but lack of food WILL be a limiting factor at some point. It's not my opinion, it's science.

I don't understand where your refusal to feed your orchids is coming from. Fertilizer is not expensive, and it will only take a few seconds more of your time to mix into their water. You can only stand to benefit from using it. Maybe your non blooming plant has other issues preventing from blooming, but you don't know until you try.

[Arenalbotanicalgarden]

Originally Posted by opal

I have this mix of everything in this plant I own for a very long time. Oncidium/hybirds are my fave group and I have Sharry Baby, Degarmoara Flying High and this hybrid of something I suspect is oncidium x zygopetalum but it really doesn't matter. It has 10 pseudobulbs now. What worried me in the first place is that last year after flowering it pushed 3 new growths instead of just 2. Now I am used that oncidiums I own flower right when they reach size of an old plant but before they fully develop new bulbs. It has been so for a few years but this year this mix just wasn't the right size when my other 'chids bloomed so I thought it will just flower late, when it reaches the correct size.(they flowered in June for me, 2 months earlier than I expected, they should flower in August). Its November, the new growths are bigger than the old ones and they developed nice plump bulbs but there is no flower yet. Should I be extremely worried now? Or should I somehow provide flowering requirements for it? I don't know what went wrong.The thing is, fall and winter are pretty cloudy and foggy here and I can't get provide them with enough light/warmth they require to flower like for my other 'chids.

I did experience weird flowering this year though, some chids went too early into flower, this one didn't, my dendrobiums are flowering late and very long and pushing another spike from an old cane...just a weird year for blooms in general but this is the one I am hoping to get in flower so I can take a good photograph of it. I usually don't like it as it has clashing colors of dark red/yellow stripes and pinkish-purple and flowers are bigger than those of others.

If I do nothing I probably won't experience flowers until Easter and that could almost count as 2 years and no flower.Any advice?

Stress it. Either less water or more light. Or both.

[Arenalbotanicalgarden]

Let me elaborate a bit on that statement. Have you ever noticed how bromeliads all seem to flower at the exact same time ? Nursery grown plants. They go around with a cart and a welding torch and shoot acetylene into the "cup" that holds water to "stress" them into flowering.Flowering anything is a reproductive response to stress. Fear of death/need to reproduce.

[Leafmite]

Have any of the conditions for your plants changed? I have many other plants, roses, grapes, berry bushes, fruit and nut trees, and these are all greatly affected by weather conditions, just as orchids are affected by the conditions we give them. If your plant recieved less light than usual since the blooming stopped, I'd guess that to be the problem. Plants need light to perform the chemical reaction necessary for the creation of energy. Some need more, some less. Sometimes, though, temps and watering also have an effect. Some orchids live where there are rainy/dry periods or warm/cool periods. Light, temperature, and careful watering are the biggest conditions that affect plants. Fertilizer just makes plants grow and bloom so much better, that is why we use it. I don't really care for inorganic fertilizers (salt-buildup) but instead use water from my goldfish which is very popular with all my house plants. I also supplement with an organic fertilizer (hold the nose) which will probably be replaced, for the orchids, with something more suited for orchids but still organic, like worm castings. So, try just a bit more light and a pinch of fertilizer added to the
watering, and hopefully your orchid will begin blooming again. Good luck! I hope we get to see pictures of the new blooms, soon!
Leafmite

[silken]

I wasn't discussing Phal culture other than the fact that one person with a Phal (orchid in a pot) didn't feed and got nowhere with it. When I was suggesting you fertilize, I WAS referring to all orchids in general. And as a matter of fact I grow a number of oncidiums.

[WhiteRabbit]

Some Onc alliance initiate spikes at different stages of growth - I have some that spike when pbulb is just starting to develop, others only when the pbulb is fully developed.

Some also need more light than others.

And, sometimes plants are pushed to bloom out of season for sale.

As for fertilizer - you can use it or not as you choose. In the beginning of my orchid growing, I used very little fertilizer, and very sporadically -
I do get more and bigger blooms since fertilizing regularly. In my experience - orchids can bloom without fertilizer when all other conditions are good, but with few flowers.

You can wait and see with this plant (I do have orchids that miss blooming one year, despite not having changed any growing conditions).
Or you can try something different - generally when orchids grow well, but don't bloom, more light is usually the first thing to try.

gl!

[Gage]

My gut is it needs more light. I agree that all your chids would grow and bloom better if you start them on a fert schedule, but in my opinion I don't think that is preventing this one from blooming. From my bit of experience and mainly from what I have read, proper feeding will only effect growth and how well it blooms (eg. quantity and longevity of blooms). I don't think it will effect the timing of blooming, but I am no expert. And in reference to dividing, this will probably stimulate more new growths, which means more flowers later. And if you're going for specimen, you can always divide and replant back into 1 pot/basket/whatever, and this will really get it growing big. But again, I don't think this has anything to do with helping it bloom, just something you can do. I think if you give it more light it will be in the best position to bloom for you. Hopefully those growths will still respond and give you a show soon. Good luck, and happy growing!

[opal]

Originally Posted by Arenalbotanicalgarden

Stress it. Either less water or more light. Or both.

I thought about that as well but am just not sure I will have enough light during winter to produce showey tall spikes that I want. And I don't have enough information about growing oncidiums under artificial lights.

Originally Posted by Arenalbotanicalgarden

Let me elaborate a bit on that statement. Have you ever noticed how bromeliads all seem to flower at the exact same time ? Nursery grown plants. They go around with a cart and a welding torch and shoot acetylene into the "cup" that holds water to "stress" them into flowering.Flowering anything is a reproductive response to stress. Fear of death/need to reproduce.

Interesting information, thank you. I guess they feel too comfortable. Not very hard when you have 10 bulbs to store everything you need for ya and enough roots to suck all the moisture from air you can desire. But this stuff sounds like it could work even on this grandaddy.

Originally Posted by Leafmite

Have any of the conditions for your plants changed? I have many other plants, roses, grapes, berry bushes, fruit and nut trees, and these are all greatly affected by weather conditions, just as orchids are affected by the conditions we give them. If your plant recieved less light than usual since the blooming stopped, I'd guess that to be the problem. Plants need light to perform the chemical reaction necessary for the creation of energy. Some need more, some less. Sometimes, though, temps and watering also have an effect. Some orchids live where there are rainy/dry periods or warm/cool periods. Light, temperature, and careful watering are the biggest conditions that affect plants. Fertilizer just makes plants grow and bloom so much better, that is why we use it. I don't really care for inorganic fertilizers (salt-buildup) but instead use water from my goldfish which is very popular with all my house plants. I also supplement with an organic fertilizer (hold the nose) which will probably be replaced, for the orchids, with something more suited for orchids but still organic, like worm castings. So, try just a bit more light and a pinch of fertilizer added to the watering, and hopefully your orchid will begin blooming again. Good luck! I hope we get to see pictures of the new blooms, soon!
Leafmite

Wow, never thought using fish tank water on plants but it makes sense with all that water treatments and ammonia levels. I was thinking of putting a betta tank between my plants but I dropped the idea. Too much work for me. Plants are enough. I use distilled water on all of my plants. You just can't be too careful when it comes to salt build up, especially in potted citrus or banana. I have a nice variety of tropical plants in my place. Nothing really changed for them, each of them has its summer and winter place (can't really put this monster above heating during winter, although it might make it flower). I kind of think the problem started when it pushed 3 growths. When it was pushing 2 new growths, they grew fast enough to reach the size when flowering requirements naturally occurred, this one missed its correct size for 3 weeks. I can't say for sure what happened in those 3 weeks. The growths had to fight for their space though and right now I can't say I ever saw an oncidium with such long leaves. I had Degarmoara with a monster leaf on a monster bulb when I bought it. Maybe it is a sign I should let them grow that big and then divide them into 3 pieces with those new bulbs as starting ones. Downsizing would help me a lot with space and care. But on the other hand, specimen size is so rare to come by.....

Originally Posted by camille1585

I don't understand where your refusal to feed your orchids is coming from.

Originally Posted by Leafmite

Light, temperature, and careful watering are the biggest conditions that affect plants. Fertilizer just makes plants grow and bloom so much better, that is why we use it.
Leafmite

Leafmite said a lot in a few words. Let me elaborate:
Fertilizer is not a solution for every problem, it can only enhance the outcome. The orchids should be able to produce energy for growth for themselves. If they can't without fertilizing, which doesn't naturally occur in rain-forests, something is not right.If I just use fert but don't adjust growing conditions, the plant will inevitably die when some other stress occurs. Fertilizer can do just as much damage for orchids as it can do good stuff and if a plant dies you won't know why it died. But most important wrong it will do is it will make you feel as if you are growing chids properly when you don't. I grow my chids under so far correct conditions and from all the plants I brought home (and some were dying) none died on me in 3 years. They all lived. I can't say that for many people who fertilized their orchids just to have them die in a year or two (not a month) and they thought they knew what they were doing. Let me ask you something: if you use fert on your chids and then they bloom, did they do that because they like that almost next to nothing in water treatment or did they just had salt build up upon their roots which stopped velomen from properly working thus stressing the chid into blooming? And like I said before this should have the separate thread, I only wanted to discuss the possibilities of non flowering oncidium.

[WhiteRabbit]

I think we are all trying to offer advice and opinions on your non-blooming Oncidium. Fertilizer was advice offered by some. The people offering that advice have been growing orchids (including Oncidiums) a number of years.

I'm not sure what type of suggestions you are looking for.

Some hybrids of cool growing species may want cool temps in winter ... some can bloom with quite low light even ...

I'd actually give the plant another year before I'd be concerned about not blooming, but I think I am more patient in that regard than most.

[opal]

I was wondering if anybody else experienced this and how they solved a problem in oncidium.

Since you obviously have and with no obvious cause then I won't worry about it much. There is only one possible explanation for low light and that is that those growths came out of the middle of clump of bulbs instead from sides and they had very little space or light for that matter as they were kind of overshadowed by larger leaves/bulbs. My light conditions are not optimal but since I can grow CP and orchids to flower with (or at least I thought so) no problem, I thought I didn't have to worry much about it.

I won't push it to do anything, I will let it flower when it feels like it. At least I don't have to clean the fallen flowers after bloom for a while.