Odontonia Potting in Peat Moss

[LilyFlower6]

Hello All,

I recently purchased a what I thought to be a Zygo-type from Trader Joe's. I was almost sure since about two months ago, I found a Zygolum there as well.
So, I brought it home and repotted in a medium comprised of peat moss, coconut coir and perlite. This works well for my two Zygos.
Flash forward to today when I randomly found the picture of my orchid on Kalapana Nursery's site. Apparently, it's an Odontonia Pacific Paranoia ‘Other Side Of Cool.’

My question to all my experienced peers is, can I leave it in the peat moss medium or should I repot again in something like bark+sphagnum?

[estación seca]

It's obviously growing well. I would leave it.

[LilyFlower6]

I repotted it yesterday in the peat moss mix. That's what I mean. It's a healthy looking plant, but I'm concerned the roots may rot in the peat moss mix since it's not a Zygo.
It was previously is some bark mix though it was very rotten with a foul odor. The original plug was intact as well.

[estación seca]

Fine-rooted orchids can do well in mixes like that. I would leave it rather than repot and cause more root damage.

[LilyFlower6]

Excellent. Thanks for your advice.

[Fairorchids]

Both Zygos and all the intergeneric Oncids coming in from Hawaii are grown in pure spaghnum.

Both groups should never dry out fully, so Spaghnum is the easiest medium to use for them.

[dbarron]

I have one of those just about to flower (buds large), which I grew from a small mericlone. It's very thirsty during the summer, but watch the peat staying too wet in winter.

[ArronOB]

My ‘other side of cool’ is growing in fine bark and is doing very well.

I personally wouldn’t have it in peat, or sphagnum, for very long. Zygos are Ok because they are basically terrestrial or semi-terrestrial but epiphytes are not happy with dense, compacting media for very long. I find other side of cool to be very sensitive to repotting, so I avoid media with short lifespan.

I so much wish we had something like a Trader Joes where we could pick up sensibly priced, mature orchids on a whim. Years ago we used to see the occasional ‘dancing lady’ type Oncidium in our local hardware store, but even those have disappeared now under the onslaught of the dreaded phal.

[LilyFlower6]

Originally Posted by Fairorchids

Both Zygos and all the intergeneric Oncids coming in from Hawaii are grown in pure spaghnum.

Both groups should never dry out fully, so Spaghnum is the easiest medium to use for them.

I got a Zygolum Louisendorf 'Rhein Moonlight' from Trader Joe's and potted it in pure sphagnum for a while; however, I noticed it was not doing well and just hated the medium. I switched it to my peat mixture which is 50% perlite+25% coco coir+25% peat moss. It's thriving in it.

For my other Oncidium Alliance orchids, I put them either in pure sphagnum or sphagnum+bark mix. But I decided to put this one in the peat mixture as well since the roots are very fine, and there is (I hope) sufficient aeration in the pot/medium. So far, it's doing well.

---------- Post added at 08:34 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:30 AM ----------

Originally Posted by ArronOB

My ‘other side of cool’ is growing in fine bark and is doing very well.

I personally wouldn’t have it in peat, or sphagnum, for very long. Zygos are Ok because they are basically terrestrial or semi-terrestrial but epiphytes are not happy with dense, compacting media for very long. I find other side of cool to be very sensitive to repotting, so I avoid media with short lifespan.

I so much wish we had something like a Trader Joes where we could pick up sensibly priced, mature orchids on a whim. Years ago we used to see the occasional ‘dancing lady’ type Oncidium in our local hardware store, but even those have disappeared now under the onslaught of the dreaded phal.

Oh don't get me started with the dreaded phals. In EVERY store I go to, those obnoxious fake blue phals stand tall. I feel so bad for hating a plant, but those phals are so annoying.

[Fairorchids]

Any advise as to medium is actually deficient, as there are multiple factors:

Environment: Greenhouse/Windowsill/under Lights
Water: Frequency of watering
Medium: Many options

Pure spaghnum is fine, provided that you scale back watering accordingly. This is important in a large greenhouse environment.
Bark can be used, provided that you ramp up watering accordingly. This may work well for a smaller collection, but not when you have to take care of 500 or 5000 plants.
Etc.
Etc.