Oncidium Pseudobulbs Brownish and Red, Help Please!!!
 

Hi all,
I've had an Oncidium orchid (actually, it may be a hybrid Oncidium) for about a year now, I purchased it at a farmer's market when it was in bloom. It's been sitting on a windowsill of a south-facing window. It recently bloomed (maybe about a month ago?) and now the flowers are starting to wrinkle up. The problem I'm having though is with the pseudobulbs! They've developed this weird brownish-red covering that doesn't seem to be an insect. Additionally, a couple of the pseudobulbs have started to develop a little white indent (visible in some of the pictures). Also, I just noticed today that one of the pseudobulbs that's brownest is totally green where it's covered by another leaf, so I'm thinking; maybe this is too much sun? What else could it be? Should I move my orchid? Can I save it? Any help is much appreciated! Thank you!

I think what you're seeing is just a "suntan". The leaves look fine, and aren't showing signs of burning, and it's recently bloomed. I think you're fine. It's probably at the max amount of light it can take without burning. I'd say it's just right. If you haven't repotted in awhile you might want to consider doing so. It looks like you have some mushrooms in your moss. :)

Welcome to the OB!

:waving

Agreed. Nothing wrong. Change potting medium if you haven't done it already.

And...the third pic on the bottom appears to be a new root.

:rofl: You do have a mushroom in the moss!

Almost certaily sunburn as the plant otherwise looks healthy and is flowering well. I have a photo od what looks an identical plant in my gallery.

Thanks so much everyone!! I had no idea plants could get a suntan/burn! My only other question is: what do you think of the white-ish spots you can see on the pseudobulbs on the third picture from the left of the top row? They're small indents, and I'm not sure if that's normal in the aging process or something I should worry about.
Finally; what do you all mean by "mushrooms"?? Thanks again for helping this beginner out!

Oncidiums can also that brown coloration when they are dehydrated and stressed.

As was said, that puppy needs to be repotted ASAP into a moist, but airy medium. Those old roots look a little weak to me.

I wouldn't worry about the white spots. They look more like mechanical damage or mineral deposits than a disease.

Hi Ray,
Thank you! What kind of medium would you recommend? This orchid was actually repotted fairly recently, do you think I need to repot again and trim the older roots? Or should I just soak the orchid to try and rehydrate those older bulbs? Thanks so much!

cool