Oncidium Repots - Question

[lotis146]

So I think I spent the majority of my day today repotting Orchids, more specifically Zygopetalum Adelaide Meadows 'Brabum' x Propetalum Mathine 'Elizabeth'; Onc. Heaven Scent 'Redolence'; Blc. Waianae Leopard 'Ching Hua'; & Wils. Pacific Passage 'Peach Cobbler'.

Wow, let me tell you Zygo/Ptpm. was SO root bound but roots weren't so rotted (now I'm in that stage of worrying they're going to suffer from my repot and won't be so perfect). But obviously that's not why I'm here, it's about the Oncidiums of course!

So Wils. wasn't so bad, thanks James for telling me from the get go that I should repot after the flowers die. The spike was still green however while cleaning it off I discovered a MEALYBUG!!! tucked into the sheath that surrounded the base of flower petiole. I instantly cut the spike and tossed it in the trash. I've not seen Mealys on any other plant...yet...?? After repotting I sprayed it good with Natria (making sure to get it down into the new growth) and left it outside for the night, same for the other two.

Onc. Heaven Scent was WAY OVERDO for a repot. The media was like dirt and packed around the roots, honestly, I wasn't gentle. The root system seemed pretty big as I cleaned the media away. And it was decent once I could really see it however over 75% of the roots were rotted. I would guess this plant may not have been potted after it was as a seedling. Anywho I downsized the pot according to the roots not the plant, there are no new growths; it had 3 spikes when bought, one in bloom, the 3rd is not dying off, and recently found that two smaller spikes are developing.

So what's my point/question? How near to the base of the pbulbs should the new media be? I suspect I potted a little two deep, not crazy but I'll post pictures tomorrow when I can (forgot to get post-pot pics today).

Thanks for all thoughts and advice/suggestions.

[cbuchman]

Pictures would definitely help. I recommend that you inspect all your plants for mealy bugs - there is never just one. Just treat aggressively about every 10 days and you should eradicate them.

Your Onc. might sulk for a while from the repotting, but they will recover. You can kick start the root growth using K-L-N or Kelp seaweed fertilizer.

[NYCorchidman]

As with other orchids, you want the base line ( and by this I mean the very bottom end of the pb where you see roots begin ) in line with the top surface or the potting mix. You can go a bit lower or higher, but not too high because then you risk rotting of the plant.

Yes, mealys and scales can be quite tricky sometimes.

When you water your orchids, spend some quality time with them checking every leaf back and front as well as all the little cracks where little buggers might hide.

Handpick and squeeze them to death right on the spot. hahaha

One of my new paphs from a month ago came with some small mealys on the backside of two leaves.
I picked them all off, kept my close eyes on them thus far and no more mealys, BUT! I found one big brown scale on the bottom most leaf. Such a tricky place and with this plant being parvi whose leaf underside is heavily spotted, it was so hard to tell. Good thing I looked really close and found that sucker! lol

Oncidiums, I love them for numerous colorful (and often scented) flowers, but I hate it when it comes to repotting them.
They have sooooo many roots and it's just pain in the butt and nearly impossible to repot without disturbing the roots quite a bit.

I'm repotting them all in small clay balls. so I can just pot up with some more clay balls when repotting without the need of disturbing the roots.
Now one potential big problem with this method would be in case I want to divide the plant, then it would be a major headache because the roots always tightly bind to the clay balls, and separating them means the death of the roots.

I need a gigantic greenhouse where I can grow them on a huge piece of dead tree and stop worrying about repotting. Wouldn't that be so nice?

Let's go buy lottery ticket, yay!!! haha

[tarev]

With my Oncidiums, I find they like their pbs base really sitting on the media, but not too deep into the media. They like to be very moist, so I use finer bark mix with some clay rocks. And during these warmer months, really thirsty. Does not need to dry out like Phals, water them freely..they like that a lot!

[lotis146]

Thank you everyone!

As I mentioned before I was not all too gentle repotting Onc. Heaven Scent and definitely disturbed the roots. I'm bringing this back up because it's NOT sulking in the way I was thinking it might, actually it pretty much looks the same as it did. I have some pictures so beware that the pbulbs have been wrinkled and shriveled like this since I neglected them over a month ago. It's still growing two more SHORT spikes although I worried one would get bud blast (still crossing fingers). However I have not noticed any signs of new growth and I left it outside for several days giving it more than a day of rain. Today I put it back outside because it was storming but then the rain stopped...hopefully it'll pick up soon because I was only using it to water!

These pictures are from after the repot btw, not the most recent. Sorry it took me so long to get back to this thread.

[lotis146]

Sorry about the image quality!

[lotis146]

Wilsonara Pacific Passage 'Peach Cobbler'

Since bringing inside after several days outside, some being rainy, this plant's new growth has definitely grown taller and the plant overall looks a bit bigger. I think it's safe to say it's happy.

[Optimist]

I've been reading some about plants and electricity. Especially CAM plants. The negitive ions produced in a rain storm are healthful to orchids. I do not kno if this can be reproduced in a house?

[lotis146]

Originally Posted by Optimist

I've been reading some about plants and electricity. Especially CAM plants. The negitive ions produced in a rain storm are healthful to orchids. I do not kno if this can be reproduced in a house?

Sheesh, trying to reproduce this in the house sounds scary to me!

I would really believe that. After putting these two and many others (including the Zygo/Ptpm) back outside for the last storm. The pouring rain was on again off again and I decided to leave out for today too. The Onc. Heaven scent is in bud & in spike but no evidence of any new growth. Wilsonara's new growth as I said before looks significantly bigger. But I'm commenting on what you said mainly because there are other plants that have made big improvements. My Paph. Odette's Vision is in double (short) spike, another Paph spiking, & I really believe my Miltonia is spiking. I'm repeating myself from other threads so sorry for that but I'm pretty excited about this. In this short amount of time I can attest to the fact that being outside does make them happier.

After being so rough with Onc. Heaven Scent's roots I'm actually quite relieved that it's not really pouting but I'm still watching.

There's a lot that we can reproduce for these plants inside our homes so what you've heard about electric storms and their "enrichment" makes sense to me.

Thanks!

[tarev]

You are so lucky to have rain! I wish we have some here..no luck..just have to wait for it in November.

My Zygo and Wilsonara has always been water hogs especially during these very warm days. Zygo is done with its blooms, does it during Spring time here, and my Wils is also finishing now.

I have learned how much of a water hog these plants are especially in summer..so I just freely water them whenever I can, they are in a screened area outdoors so lots of air around. It was better that way, they quickly get wrinkly pbs and leaves..but now that I know how much it likes water and air, that problem has been resolved.