Orchid 911
 

Maybe I'm overreacting a bit, but I don't want to get to the downhill side of this mountain!

I keep my orchids at my office and I have been away from my office for about 4 days now. I made sure that I gave the orchids a good drink before I left and today, I returned to find that one Oncidium had exploded in flowers and the other is just about fully open now. Unfortunately, it seems that they have been craving water and I'm worried that this will affect them long term. I've attached a few pics below of the PBs followed by the blooms. What I want to know is, the PBs seem to be shriveled a lot, which I take it to mean they have been without water for too long. Am I misreading this and if not, will they recover on their own or is there something I need to be doing to be sure they recover. Also, will this affect them in the long term? They are gorgeous plants and I would hate to be the demise of them!! The pics were taken with my cell phone so they are not the greatest quality and the lighting is bad so the exposure is bad as well.

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http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/b...s/1af7c25f.jpg

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wow did you buy them in spike or did you get them to spike after you got them?

If you have had them a while how often have you watered when you are there?

I dont grow oncidiums so I am not really sure but 4 days does not sound that long between waterings.But I am a chronic waterer also and mine are in S/h for the most part,I do have one in bark right now but it was gifted to me and in realy nice condition so I am keeping it as is and making the attempt to learn how to water in bark ....LOL I was a chicken and figured I would water to much so all The ones I purchase go to s/h when I get home.

Your flowers are beautiful, you've got new growth, and the arial roots look healthy. From the photos I don't see any leaves dying either. That's all good. Now let's see what could be happening with the older bulbs. They do look remarkably dehydrated.

Sometimes old pseudobulbs will shrivel and loose roots as the new growth takes over.

The top of your potting medium looks fine. Have you checked whats going on in the root zone? If you haven't repotted in a while you might want to check the medium surrounding the roots. It may have decayed and caused root rot on the older bulbs.

If you've already repotted with new medium it could have initially been a little dry causing the older roots to dehydrate and expire.

These are just a few ideas that came to mind and it may be that none of them fit your scenerio.

Basically, your plants look healthy except for the older dehydrated bulbs. Blooms and new growth are signs of good health. Just make sure the medium hasn't decayed so it will support healthy roots on the new shoots.:)

how often do you normally water? i dont grow onc. but four days doesnt seem like that long to me.

The smaller one (Oncidium zelenkoanum) was just barely in spike when I purchased it. The larger one, which I cannot identify because the name card won't come out of the pot, had two open buds when I purchased it. This plant has a third spike now and the buds are starting to really become full on it, though they haven't opened yet. The grower that I purchased from a few weeks ago (Parkside Orchids in Ottsville, PA) told me that once the larger one is done blooming that it should be repotted into a 6" pot. The smaller one still has room to grow, I think.

Prior to me going away, I was watering the smaller plant every 2-3 days, as that's what the grower recommended for my office environment. The larger one I was watering about every 5-6 days. Both plants are in a bark mixture.

As I mentioned above, I have not repotted so I don't know what's going on with the hidden roots. Both plants are in a bark mix from the grower. I have to admit, I was a bit nervous about growing in bark because I have no idea how often to water! My office environment is generally in the mid-70s during the day and it's decently humid since we use a chilled-water air-conditioning system in our building. Though, on weekends and during other periods of closure, the A/C is turned off so it can get fairly warm in the office.

As I mentioned above, normally every 2-3 days for the smaller plant and every 5-6 days for the larger one.

As a side note, I have two Phals that are growing like crazy and seem to be perpetually blooming for the last few months! They are in moss, however, which I seem to have gotten the hang of. This whole bark experience is a new one!

i wont take up so much room and quote your post, but i am refering to it. parkside orchids are very knowledgable! i would do what they say. if is only a day after you shouldve watered, it should be ok. i would just go back to your normal routine and it should recover

Ditto what Help says. Parkside is very knowledgeable. Oncidiums need lots of water, and every three to four days sounds about right. Remember, they're not in a greenhouse atmosphere any more. This may just be a reaction to lower humidity or a change in atmosphere. And they keep up with potting, so don't worry about repotting right away.

Shriveled bulb
 

I have an oncidium that stays outside under partial shade for most of the spring and summer. Lately its been really warm here and I've noticed that the bulbs are really, really shriveled. I've brought the orchid inside to give it relief from the high temps and have been slowly watering it more to try and get the bulbs to plump. I read somewhere that you can soak the roots in a tub of water for 24 hours and that would make the bulbs full again. Has anyone tried this technique? I'm hesistant to try for fear the roots would die. Afterall, don't the roots need oxygen to breathe? My other oncidiums seem to be doing fine, but this one is stubborn! Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Just to give an update on my Oncidiums, they are both done flowering now. The PBs are still somewhat shriveled but since transplanting them into S/H a number of weeks ago, they have both actually shown new growth. The larger one has three new PBs forming and the smaller one has one new PB and new growth out of an existing one. As I mentioned, the PBs still look shriveled, though they were that way when I purchased them from Parkside so me thinks it's normal.

In my experience shriveled pbulps will not plump again, or at least not much.
Soaking overnight shouldn't harm your plant (there is oxygen in water) but I don't think it will change the appearance of the pbulbs.
Check the roots - plants can become dehydrated if roots are rotted/dead.
I have skewers in all my orchid pots to help me determine when to water.
gl