What to do with a tiny oncidium?
 

I have a very small oncidium (is it a dwarf?) Twinkle "snow" that I've had for several years now. It's never been repotted, so it's in the original bark medium that it came in, as well as the original tiny pot. I live in a very dry climate (Montana, US) and as this orchid has grown, it's become more and more difficult to keep it watered appropriately. I'd like to try S/H to deal with our indoor humidity problem.
Do I just repot?
Do I repot and divide the plant? It currently has around 12 pseudo bulbs of various sizes in the 2.5" pot.
What medium is recommended for S/H for an orchid this tiny?
Is S/H even an option for a tiny orchid like this?
It is actively growing and has been since I got it . I've killed my share of phals, but this tiny thing goes on and on, and I'd like to keep it that way!
Any help you guys could give me would be great!

I think these would easily adapt to leca and plenty of water. I have not tried semi-hydroponics and so I can't give an opinion on that specific method of growing. I grow my Twinkles and cheiroporum in small lava rock chips/net pot that is watered every day as the pots are small, lots of air flow, and the rock dries quickly. I divided my cheiroporum when I repotted into the rock as it was quite a colony. I divided mine into larger groups, six or seven growths, as I like larger divisions but three or four growths is normally recommended. :)

Thanks!
 

Thanks, Leafmite! If I can successfully divide this one, I'd like to gather more of these miniatures. They seem to be particularly tolerant :)

Could perlite be a fair substitute medium? I don't have a local source for medium other than what's offered at our big box store. I see that perlite is a successful medium for hydroponics in general, but I haven't seen any discussion of whether it would be appropriate for S/H with orchids.

I live in an area where orchid supplies are limited. The closest vendor is two hours away. Thus, when I failed with bark, I saw lava rock at a garden center and thought...why not? Leca and lava rock are basically the same idea as a potting medium, property-wise.
Perlite would likely be fine except that it is so light that it floats. I use perlite in my soil mixes and even mixed in with lava rock chips. You could weight it down with stones sold for aquariums. Lava rock is sold at walmart, lowes, many garden centers that support landscaping, etc. People use it for grilling (?)! I started to use it because it is so easy to find and cheap where the bark was a pain to find and expensive (and would break down and stay too wet in the middle). I use it for nearly all my orchids. A few have a combination of lava rock and sphagnum moss.
Phals are actually happy in lava rock but you have to soak the pot in water once a week to give them time to absorb the water.

I have seen LECA at our Petsmart, (we also don't have any hydro stores near where I live) I have also ordered LECA online, it is surprisingly lightweight, so shipping is not as bad as I thought it would be.

-The LECA at Petsmart, is in the reptile habitat section (ppl use it at the bottoms of their Vivariums/Reptile enclosures for drainage purposes and to encourage beneficial microbes (~microbes? or whatever they r called... I don't remember) to grow & live there, they take care of the waste produced) at least in my Petsmart, it is with the coco bedding, sand, etc. the "Substrate" section of the aisle

Hope this helps! :) I'd love to see pics of this mini! I love minis too :biggrin:

Sphag might be an option. I really like it for very small plants. But, it is a pain come repot time for very fine rooted orchids ...