My new Oncidium hybrid is dropping flowers
 

I bought an Oncidium hybrid at an orchid show on Saturday. It has about 5 blooms, and two spikes with tons of buds on them. Well, I noticed last night that two of the flowers (newest ones) are shriveling up and one had started opening on one of the other spikes but dried up before opening all the way. Why is this happening? I haven't gotten the hang of watering it yet... it seems to be planted in gravel or something and the water goes right through it so I've watered it twice already (the second time was this morning after I saw the dying flowers), and I've been misting it also.
I have it on the bottom shelf of my south-facing garden window. It's on the edge so I don't think it gets direct sun at all, but I haven't been home at all hours since Saturday to check.
Anyone have any ideas? I've only had it for 3 days and I'm already having trouble with it! :(

Sometime the change of environment causes buds and blooms to drop.

Make sure the warm dry air from the furnace isn't blowing on it.

Also, I'd recommend checking the potting mix for moisture using a skewer, freshly sharpened pencil, or even your finger before watering.

I agree with WhiteRabbit, but I am curious about what you are calling "gravel." Could you post a picture of this? If it's in a clear pot, is it in the entire pot? If it's not in a clear pot, perhaps use your finger to dig down just a bit to see.

There is a rock/gravel like media that some people use. I do find I need to water a tad more when I have an orchid in that medium. But, a picture would assist.

I think you may be over-watering it. Orchid roots like to get watered and then have some air and dry out. Oncidiums do prefer to be moist more than some but the roots can rot easily too. As mentioned above I would see what all of the potting media is like and then adjust your watering schedule.

I also agree that buds can blast from change of environment. Did it get a chill or sit in a hot car while being taken home from the show?

I wouldn't mist the buds either and misting can cause spotting on leaves, especially Onc. leaves.

I took a closer look at the medium it's potted in and it's like a mixture of bark, some hard Styrofoam-looking pieces. and moss or something. Kind of weird.

sorry I'm posting with my iPhone and it flips the pictures around and won't let me upload more than one at a time.

And a close-up of one of the flowers. :)

Could you take a photo of the whole plant and the psuedobulbs?
The white stuff is probably perlite.
From here the media looks pretty chunky. Which means more frequent watering.
But I can't be sure.
Are you on tapatalk?
I find that on my android of I turn my phone to the side when I select my photo it turns itself the right way when I post it.
Not sure if that helps you.


As stated buds can drop from a change in environment.

To be honest I'm really not all that great with oncidium and intergenerics.
I've killed a great deal and finally have 4 that are growing.
They don't like me lol.


Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

Ok, here is a pic of the whole plant, and a pic of the pseudobulbs.

I highly recommend leaving a bamboo skewer in the pot that you can pull out and check the moisture level with. This has helped me a LOT in knowing when to water.

I have only recently gotten into this but I have acquired a lot of orchids in the past few months from a lot of different sources (big box stores, local orchid shop, AOS show, and ordered online) and to me it really sounds like your plant is just stressed from the sudden change in its environment. Some of them seem unfazed by it, but some get pretty stressed and the main way mine have shown it is by losing/drying up flowers. It sounds like you need to get a watering schedule worked out but other than that I think I would just give the plant some time to acclimate and know that it might mean you don't get the best flowers this time around.