I don't know what are the rules for bumping threads from 2014, but I've revisited this thread time and time again from the search engine while looking for fragrance information, and I feel like the other posts in this thread are still relevant.
My journey started when I picked up an Onc. Sharry Baby 'Sweet Fragrance' from Norman's. Like most others who have experienced it, I fell in love with its profuse chocolate candy bar scent. Perhaps unlike most others, being a bit of a nerd, I fell in love with the idea of novel fragrances in general, and thus my pursuit for what makes up the components of these fragrances. I have since bought the Onc. sotoanum (from Andy's), and just recently the Onc. anthocrene (from Tropical Orchid Farm) and Onc. leucochilum (from Ecuagenera), making up 3 of the 4 parents of the Sharry Baby.
Out of these, I've so far only experienced the blooms of the
Onc. sotoanum, which began very disappointing but developed into a scent far more complex than the Sharry Baby, and is now among my favorite. Specifically, it started out with a blood, sweat, and make up smell that honestly smelled like, and I apologize for the imagery in advance, a woman's laundry after a sweaty day dancing at the clubs. I wasn't sure whether I liked this or not, but it gave me a funny mood throughout the day. In fact, there is a hybrid between Onc. sotoanum x fuscatum called Onc. Ruffles 'Scent of a Woman', and I can see exactly where that's coming from. After
weeks, it developed into an intense powdery, a little bit nutty fragrance that carried further than the Phal. belina hybrid I have, and probably nearly as far as the Sharry Baby itself. It distinctly made up the musky nutty component of the 'chocolate' in the Sharry Baby.
My second report is the
Burr. Nelly Isler 'Swiss Beauty', which I picked up at Norman's (I'm not sure it is what it is in terms of the clonal variety, to be honest). This one, I think sets up what I think is a trend here. Again, for a week or two, the Nelly Isler had no fragrance at all, which was very disappointing. I questioned it when Norman listed it as having no fragrance and even questioned them at the counter. But only after weeks did it develop a faint scent, at first of sweet brown sugar with a black pepper undertone, then into a more fruity scent, almost like mixed fruits from a can, or a sweeter bellina-type -- like the Phal. bellina, but with the citrus part toned down a bit, and the sweet part turned up, and add in a little spicy undertone that comes in and out. The fruity scent doesn't overpower like the Sharry Baby or the Onc. sotoanum does, it's gentle, but ever-present in the mornings, but almost completely fades by 1 after noon.
Now I can't wait to get and compare the rest, but I'd like to make some inferences based on my experiences and what I've read:
- When people say that certain Oncidiums have no fragrance, they might just need to wait a couple of weeks.
- I'm guessing that the blood part of the sotoanum and the camphor part of the cheirophorum may combine into 'cat pee' in the Onc. Twinkle, and that waiting a couple weeks might bring out its true fragrance.
- I'm guessing, based on an earlier post here, that the Onc. maculatum imparts a honey scent to its offspring, since the Onc. Jungle Monarch (mentioned after after that post) is composed of the maculatum and Onc. Debutante.
- There is a study that found that the intensity of a Sharry Baby is strongest above 70 degrees F, but the complexity increases as the temperature goes up toward 90. From what I've read and in some of my own experiences, it seems that Oncidiums like bright morning light, but maybe we should also experiment with turning on the heater in the morning to see whether there's an effect.
Astrid
Hybrid Mode
