odontocidium mini mutany 'spring fever

[james mickelso]

That is the best way to repot if you can't wait to repot. Oncids and their relatives don't like to be repotted except when the new growth has put out roots at least an inch or so long. Then they like to be repotted into as small a pot as you can to accommodate the roots with just a little extra room. Oncids have thin roots which are suseptable to rootrot. They don't like to be kept "wet" but just damp. They don't like to completely dry out either. So the media you use is important. Most successful growers I've met use a small bark based media. I've seen CHC used too. One grower up in the Bay area used sphagnum moss and his were very large and healthy but I've never had that much luck using spag. What was yours planted in when you repotted? Just transferring it to another slightly larger pot was a good choice. Make sure it stays just moist but not wet. Tailor your watering to the mix you used. If the pot is too large, repot it into something smaller now before it knows it was repotted. Here is the stage at which it is best to repot oncids. The roots have just started to grow from the new growth. Here is the amount of room which you want to repot into. I use a coarse mix because I want the media to stay moist but never wet. I can water more often in this mix and still keep it just moist not wet. I can also fertilize more often. What mix stays in the roots won't have any consequences when it astarts to break down if any is left tangled in the rootmass next time I repot. I don't have to dig it out and injure the roots when I repot. Hope this helps.

[Talila6]

hello thank you for the long reply. I did not take the plant out of its original pot, as I did not want to disturb the roots while it grew a spike. i just put the old pot into a bigger clay pot and stuffed the whole thing with a rough coconut husk mix, that I purchased from a vendor at a local orchid show. the original pot is rough bark. no spaghnum . i water every three or four days when the medium gets a bit drier. The plant does not have a lot of roots, so I will have to be careful when I do repot it. My concern was that the plant is very floppy and wanted to support the new spike. I mist all my plants a couple times a day. the humidity level is around 60% during the day and 80% at night. I have another oncidium that is shooting a spike, I had a chance to repot that one in bark and a little spaghnum it is doing quite well. Same treatment, I water when almost dry. This next plant is a lot bigger and I hope that I will get more than one spike, but I wonder if I give it enough light. it is in a sunny west window. I have two more oncidium type plants that are a lot smaller, I purchased those two the same day as my bloomer, and I had a chance to repot them. One did not have any roots to speak of, I potted it in a very small pot, in coconut husk, it seems to be shooting some roots now, so I must have done the right thing. The other had a bit of growth on it, repotted in same pot but changed the media to a fresher coconut husk medium. That plant is doing well and is shooting what looks like a whole new set of leaves, and something that looks a little bit like a spike, but I am not sure, it is just starting to grow. On the whole, i am satisfied with my oncidium. I have fallen in love with those plants and they return the favor by giving me some really cool flowers. My next orchid purchase will most likely will be Oncidium type orchids.. there are so many hybrids, so I will have a lot of choices...
The next question would be: should I try to put these plants outside during the summer? i live in the midwest and it can get pretty hot in July, August and September. I would have a shaded area available, but I dont have any thing set up right now.
Thank you for taking the time to look at my notes and to give me some feedback.

[Talila6]

I rambled a bit in my last reply, I just reread your notes, and I might be keeping these plants a bit too wet, I don't see a lot of root growth. I like your suggestion to not be disturbing the roots while transplanting. 'Dont
let the plant know it has been transplanted'.

[james mickelso]

If you put them outside please remember that they will need more water. The humidity will be fine. I have grown oncid types in 20% humidity and they did fine. Water at the roots is important. Of course the more coarse the media the more you can water. FirstRays on this board has a great kelp extract product that will help your plants grow more roots. I tried it last year and it benefitted my oncids and brassias. Also look at tolumnias and brassias. Oncid relatives and easy to grow. I have a brassia rex 'sakata' which grows very well and produces nice pale white flowers with dark spots and lasts at least a month. The spike is about 3 ft long. A medium light level should be good where you live. They benefit from using a good quality water low in dissolved iron and salts. I use the RO water from the machine at the Riteaid and blend it with the horrible water we have here in SoCal. I like your method of planting the entire pot in the CHC. Once the plant gets a good set of roots you can take the whole thing out and plant in a good pot. Plastic is a good material to plant oncids in because they retain some moisture around the inside of the pot where the roots grow. Please keep us informed as to how your treasures are doing. It helps the newer members who grow the same orchid types.

[Myrle Diefendorf]

I can't post the photo because iPad doesn't use URL, but my Odcdm is gorgeous with 33 flowers and is three feet tall. It is Mini Mutany Spring Fever.

[Myrle Diefendorf]

Okay, I went to tapatalk and can post from there. Hurray ODCDM. Mini Mutany Spring Fever

[ron-in-norcal]

I love the ones that have flowers looking like Odontoglossums. That's a beauty. I have to Onc. family orchids with NOID spiking right now. I don't remember if I bought them that way, or if they were given to me. Hope they're as nice as yours!

[No-Pro-mwa]

Very pretty.

[RosieC]

Gorgeous!