Beallara Peggy Ruth Carpenter

[dounoharm]

just lovely!!

[Gthumbz89]

Splendiferous! A most excellent white flower.

[NatalieS]

Third spike this year, and the most buds on a single spike since it bounced back from its sulk. Not as much purple, but the form is still nice. Thanks for looking!

[wintergirl]

Wow! Those are beautiful!!!

[terracotta7]

Thanks for the repeat! Just love this one...where did you find it?

[NatalieS]

Thanks! I got it a good few years ago at one of those home/garden stores with the fancy kitchen gadgets etc. It was just happenstance really. I live in Ireland and I think these mass-produced hybrids all come from some big commercial grower in the Netherlands.

[silken]

That's lovely! I have this cross but it is the cultivar 'Morning Joy' and looks a bit different. It was my first orchid and it did OK for a few years, then I nearly killed it. It hung on but is in it's own sulk for a long time now. Do you have any tips on what turned yours around for you? I really like it and am always afraid I will lose it.

[NatalieS]

How long has it been sulking for, and do you remember where you got it? Other people have told me that the way these are forced to grow excessively by big commercial growers prior to sale kind of just wears them out, and then they spend a long time trying to build up their reserves again so they can put out new growth. Or they just grow like mad and keep putting out new growths and spikes, but each time the growth is smaller and smaller. If that happens I've been advised to cut the spikes and let the plant put the energy back into its growths.

I remember when mine first went into its sulk I tried several different potting methods. Nothing seemed to happen and I thought I was just making it worse, so I left it for a long time (even contemplated tossing it). It just sat in a corner with medium amounts of light and intermediate temps, and I watered it once a week to keep it from getting dehydrated. Then I noticed it starting a new growth, but it was growing very, very slowly. I could see it starting some new roots, but the roots weren't reaching the medium, so I tried repotting again, this time into a terracotta pot with a mix of bark, with some sphagnum moss on the top and around the base of the new growth. As soon as the new roots could stay hydrated, it took off. I did some reading on the parentage of this cross, and apparently they have sensitive roots - same issues occur with Tahoma Glacier. So maybe you should try changing your medium, or if its in a plastic pot, try clay or terracotta instead? Though you've probably already tried that. I really hope it recovers!

[silken]

My sister got it from Paramount, a fairly well known orchid vendor in Canada years ago. She couldn't get it to re bloom so she have it to me. It was my first orchid. It did well back then when I mostly ignored it! I divided it into 3 at one point and lost 2 plants, so it obviously didn't like that! I really worked to save the last piece which has grown somewhat since then over a few years. It just seems to not be robust like many other Oncidium types. It has bloomed but only a couple flowers compared to more in the past. I should look at when I last re-potted it. It is in a clear pot and treated the same as my other mostly healthy Oncidiums. It's in fine bark with a bit of moss. It's definitely not over-potted or anything. And it won't be terribly over due for potting as I keep up with that pretty well.

[NatalieS]

I guess if you got it from an actual orchid vendor it was at least not 'forced' like the mass-produced ones. And based on what I've seen mine do, that makes sense what you said about dividing it. When it was in the height of its sulk and I was repotting it a lot, I noticed it had pretty poor roots and yet loads of back bulbs. And although the back bulbs were shriveled and miserable looking, they were still green and never dried up or shriveled entirely. Then, when the roots on the new growth took off, all the back bulbs plumped up. I mean, you can see that they've been shriveled before because their surface isn't nice and smooth anymore, but they're really plump and still being actively used by the plant. So, I guess what it lacks in roots it makes up for in storage, and having some of that storage removed upset it.

Maybe the next time it starts to spike, cut the spike and see if it will produce another growth instead. Maybe once it has a good number of bulbs it will start spiking nicely again? Just an idea, I suppose.