Hubs just bought me oncidium twinkle pink profusion

[magicatt]

Gah! The picture was beautiful, but how do I keep this one happy? I have a south facing window in northern ohio with electric baseboard heat. I have a humidifier to moisten the air. What else can I do for this precious beauty? Help! I don't want to kill it since my precious husband is one who gave it to me. All advice welcome

[catherinecarney]

Hi Stephanie--

I have an Onc. Tsiku Marguerite which I understand is similar to Twinkle and I am in Ohio, so I hope my experience may help you.....

My house temps are low to mid 60's daytime in the winter (low around 60 at night) and humidity runs 40-50%. I have my Tsiku Marguerite in a south facing window which receives some direct light at this time of year and it seems happy. It's potted in a bark mix and I mist it pretty much once a day. It's flowering and sending up new leads, so I would assume that I'm doing something right....

Electric baseboard heat can by drying, and if the baseboard is under the window that might not be a good setting for your Twinkle. I have ceiling radiant heat, so I don't have any experience with your heating system and orchids (sorry)....

Hope this helps a bit. I'm sure there are many other more experienced people who will chime in with better info for you.

Catherine

[Laserbeak]

I'd say get a thermometer/hygrometer system, they aren't very expensive and you can get ones with multiple sensors you can place inside and outside to measure the weather. You'd be surprised at how off you can be when just trying to judge the temperature and humidity by your own senses.

I live in New York City and I am constantly having to adjust my windows, mist, refill my little ultrasonic humidifier for the Masdevallias, etc. Luckily I don't really have to turn on the old fashioned radiators much since there's so much heat that comes up from the lower floors of the building.

[magicatt]

Thank you both for your responses. When I get paid I'll get that thermometer hygrometer off amazon. I'm just hoping to keep this one alive since my dear husband bought if for me. That makes it special.

Water when almost dry? Do these bloom more than once per year? When? I know nothing about this orchid.

[catherinecarney]

There should be threads about caring for Twinkle in the Oncidum section of the forums. If you do a forum search they should pop up.

My Tsiku Marguerite blooms about every 6-9 months--it seems to grow a new pseudobulb and then send up a spike when it's mature. I grow it in dappled shade on the front porch (south facing) in the summer and in a south facing window (with some supplemental light from a planted aquarium) in the winter. I mist pretty much daily and use the skewer method to test for when it needs a good soaking (use a bamboo skewer inserted into the media--if it's dry to the touch when you pull it out go ahead and water; if the skewer is still damp wait another day or so and recheck). Potting media is a bark mix, which seems to work well for me here in Ohio, but you may want to experiment a bit. Fertilizer is water from the turtle tank and aquariums, but again, experiment to see what works for you.

I'm an orchid newb, so I'm still learning, but I have found my cv to be hardy and forgiving. I suspect that Twinkle is the same way. Keep us posted!

Catherine

[Laserbeak]

This is what I bought:

Ambient Weather WS-1175-X3-KIT Wireless Weather Forecaster with Temperature, Humidity, Barometer, Atomic Clock with Three Remote Sensors
by Ambient Weather

So it's actually four sensors since the handheld unit is also a sensor itself. So you can display the temperature and humidity outside and in three different locations inside. Not bad for $39.99!

Batteries NOT included.

[magicatt]

Hey laserbeak, I just checked that out on amazon.com. It seems pretty jazzy. Its that $8.45 shipping I'll have to think over. Why couldn't this have been free super saver shipping? Darn.