Got one! Bratonia Golden Spider ‘Copius…
 

The Alabama Orchid Society is having their annual show and sale at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens this weekend. A man from Florida is growing this orchid and I’m very excited that I got one. It’s supposed to be a good windowsill grower. I’ve been wanting one for a while and I think it’ll do well in the morning east sun. Wish me luck and any growing tips would be appreciated! Ain’t she a beaut!

Can anyone advise on this one? I feel like I’m watching this one decline. It had scale, which I cleaned off. Ut what are some good care tips for this one? When reading about this orchid, I really thought it would do well for me but I’m watching it decline. Does it need high humidity? More light? I did not repot it when treating for scale, should I have? I have kept it in an east facing window in an oncidium bark mix and soak it once a week and run water through it if it looks dry. It has lost most its leaves seen in the pic from when I got it a year ago. It did put out a new growth and some roots but just seem like I’m not doing something.Any advice would be appreciated! Thank you!

Sorry I didn't see this last year. I got an unbloomed mericlone at our April show. It finished its first flowering a few weeks ago.

Keep in mind it's easy grow and should recover.

It has the classic look of an underwatered Oncidium hybrid. It shouldn't ever go dry completely. When pushing a new growth, or in spike, it needs to stay moist. You can't go by the calendar, and in a sunny window it will use more water.

They grow better with fertilizer. I don't know what you've been using. For Oncidiums I use 20-20-20 with micronutrients at the rate of 1/2 teaspoon per gallon at almost every watering while they are or could be making new growth. I have a sunroom where they will grow all Winter, so I fertilize all year. If they slow down inside your home, I would fertilize maybe once a month until it warms up.

Just cleaning off scale may not get rid of all of them. Examine it carefully with a magnifying glass. If it has scale it won't grow well. Look down into crevices.

I wouldn't give it so much light unless it were completely healthy, with a large root system.

I think if you make sure it's scale-free, give it a little less light until it bounces back, and water it more, it will turn around and recover.

Thank you!

Thank you!
 

For the first time in a while the orchid is showing signs of life. After cleaning off the scale, I moved it back about 3 ft from both a west and south facing window per your advice. It has sprouted a bunch of roots, probably 8-9 from the newest growth and something is bulging off of it. I'm guessing new growth. And this is after only a few short weeks, my post about it was 9/23. I may repot it too, this time in a sphagnum/bark mixture. Folks in my local orchid group have the most success with at least some moss in their mixes. I know it will be a while, but this orchid seems to be doing something and hopefully will continue to recover...