Oncidium repotting - Orchid Board

Atzau · #1 03-25-2014, 07:28 PM

hi all, just finished repotting my oncidium (after blooming with a couple of new shoots developing). Took forever to tweeze out the old spag and repotted in charcoal, bark, perlite orchid mix (pre soaked). But the pseudobulbs have become wrinkly and and don't seem to be bouncing back (even after about 2 days)... Is this potting mix not suitable for oncidiums or does the plant just need a little more time to adjust?

WhiteRabbit · #2 03-26-2014, 05:24 PM

Hmm... I wouldn't expect pbulbs to shrivel from a repot.

What size media did you use?

Atzau · #3 03-26-2014, 07:08 PM

I'm not sure, medium maybe? it's a premixed bag. says it's for potting catts, phals, paphs, dens, cyms and oncidiums... bark chips around 3/4 of an inch long? theres a fairly large root ball and very little potting media...maybe that's why?

reliablefool · #4 03-26-2014, 07:13 PM

I know that when I first switched my Onc. Twinkle out of peat (I think) into bark it shriveled a lot, but I found out it was because it wanted more water than I was giving it. I now have to water this plant twice a week compared to 10 days or so when it was in the peat mix. I think the shriveling is because it was in such a water retentive medium and now it is in a very airy, well-draining mixture and may want more moisture or is simply going through an adjustment period.

Atzau · #5 03-26-2014, 07:52 PM

yeah, I've increased the watering too though I'm all paranoid that I'm going to cause root rot... but rechecking the pot I'm surprised by how little media i got in there... Is there such thing as too little? maybe i should use a bigger pot so I can stuff in some more media? but there's only 3 pseudo bulbs and 2 shoots.... It looks like there's lots of room for growth but there's such a huge root ball (not that I'm complaining about that! Lol) that there's not much room for the bark

silken · #6 03-26-2014, 08:22 PM

The root ball should have a little bit of room but not too much. I usually pot by the size of roots, not the plant. Oncidiums usually need a slightly more moisture retentive medium than Catts and Phals. The roots are fine and dry out quickly. If it is fitting the pot tightly you may want to move up to a slightly larger pot and try and get some more potting media in there. Or add a bit of moss to the mix to help it stay a bit moister. New bark dries out much quicker than old bark also so it may just be too dry at the moment.

Atzau · #7 03-26-2014, 08:24 PM

Thanks silken, there may be a little more room to fiddle around in there, maybe I will try to put more media in between the roots also.

silken · #8 03-26-2014, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Atzau

Thanks silken, there may be a little more room to fiddle around in there, maybe I will try to put more media in between the roots also.

See if you can stuff a bit between the roots. If there are any soft mushy roots remove them to make more room and prevent rot from spreading. Good luck.

Atzau · #9 03-26-2014, 11:20 PM

Will do...illvkeep you guys up to date...hopefully the pseudobulbs will plump back up soon....

Cym Ladye · #10 03-27-2014, 06:32 PM

Shrunken pseudobulbs mean that they are not getting enough moisture from the roots. Broken roots do not carry water well if at all. With all the tweezing you did to remove the old mix, you simply broke too many. There has also not been adequate time for the roots to branch to bring in water. Keep the humidity up around the plant so the leaves will not draw out as much moisture and pack as much media around the roots as possible, after removing any soft or rotten ones.

Cym Ladye