Sunken white and brown marks on Oncidium Twinkle psb

[mvmgems]

A few months ago as I was first getting into orchids, I found out about Oncidium Twinkles and realized that was the type I had been gifted in college (and lost when I moved). I then read they were easy to take care of and they seemed commonplace, but I couldn’t find any in any of my local grocery, hardware, or nursery stores.

I then mail ordered this from Etsy (and have since found out I overpaid, at $40 + shipping). It came with an unbranched spike and three small pseudobulbs with what looked like scuff damage.

The marks have since increased in area to cover all surfaces of each pseudobulb, and one near the base on each side of the largest have darkened to brown and sunken in even more. They are all firm.

The spike is starting to branch, and it seems in alarming portion to the vegetative mass of the plant. The roots were mediocre and don’t appear to have grown much except for one tiny tip at the psb after I used Kelpmax for the first time, two weeks ago.

Can it be blooming itself to death? What is happening to the bulbs? Should I treat them somehow or just continue and hope new growths are prettier? And where’s a reputable place that might have a healthier twinkle in stock?

[SADE2020]

Hi!

1) Over price: yes! For the conditions

2) Can it be blooming itself to death? Not really. Let it bloom and see next. But blooming take a lot of energy, almost all the energy of the plant so you won't see a lot changes before see the flowers; healing will come after that.

3) What is happening to the bulbs? They look like scars but don't know exactly from what, could be insect bites but they seams dry now. **Let see what other seniors says about that".

3) Should I treat them somehow or just continue and hope new growths are prettier? I personally welcome all my plants with a very light fungus and insecticide shot. ( I have a bottle of a 5 in all and spray them, then quarantine. Not the spike though just the plant and surface of the susbstract)

4) And where’s a reputable place that might have a healthier twinkle in stock? ..that should be replay by others

Good luck

[estación seca]

The plant is otherwise in good shape. There is a possibility bush snails did that. They are tiny, shaped like a spiral plate, and hide in the medium. They usually leave shiny trails where they have crawled. Do you see any?

Cockroaches also cause damage like that.

Watering with cooled strong coffee will get rid of bush snails. First water thoroughly with plain water to soak the roots, and prevent them from taking up much coffee. It can sometimes damage roots. Then water thoroughly with coffee. Wait an hour, and water thoroughly to rinse out the coffee.

Did it come in that pot? I would have used a smaller one. The bark may start breaking down before it fills that pot. Now is not the time to repot. You might lose the flowers.

Oncidiums tend to make roots only with new vegetative growth. That is the time to repot. It should flower for more than a month. Then it will begin a new shoot from the base. When you see new roots emerging you could repot.

Specific orchids tend to be available sporadically. There are so many that no vendor can have all in stock. Most vendors buy batches of plants from wholesale growers. Some propagate batches of their own. When a batch is gone, it is gone.

Twinkle, in several color forms, is a very popular plant. It is highly likely you will see it offered again. Go to the Vendor Feedback forum here, accessible from the yellow left menu, and do some reading. And use the Search function in the top maroon menu to find posts by other OB members about this plant.

[rbarata]

You've way paid too much for it. Different countries, I know, but here you buy one of these by 12€, approx. 14 USD.

[estación seca]

Oncidium (Onc.) Twinkle is a primary hybrid, meaning a hybrid between two naturally occurring species. It is Onc. cheirophorum (yellow flowers) x Onc. sotoanum (pink flowers.) Different Twinkle seedlings may have flowers from white to yellow to pink to reddish.

Oncidium cheirophorum is a dwarf plant, and Onc. sotoanum is a small plant. This makes Twinkle much smaller than most other Onc. hybrids. You can look up orchid species at the Internet Orchid Species Photo Encyclopedia.

If you cross Onc. Twinkle with its parent Onc. cheirophorum you get a hybrid that is 75% Onc. cheirophorum and 25% Onc. sotoanum. This hybrid is called Onc. Gold Dust. It is also fragrant, flowers at a very small size, and has flowers of white combined with yellow.

I noticed Olympic Orchids has seedlings of Gold Dust for sale now. I bought one. They are probably healthier than your Twinkle. They arrive in 2" pots with fresh sphagnum moss. If you get one, I wouldn't repot for at least a year. Tiny seedlings don't repot well unless it is the right time of root growth. Let the moss dry somewhat between waterings, but don't let it ever go completely dry. Oncidiums, seedlings especially, need to stay moist. Moss is a good permanent potting medium for these small Oncidiums.

[Shadeflower]

overpriced is supjective, I have paid £25 for plants and lost them, for the condition they were in they were overpriced.

I would have rather paid £35 and not lost them in hindsight.

Most places I order from charge £18 postage. If an orchid costs £18 then that is £36 total

So yes 40 dollars might be overpriced but lets not kid ourselves that we ever get amazing deals. I have gotten worse than I've expected, rarely better