Help me Identify, Trim and Repot??? I think it's an oncidium..

[jenilee]

Hi everyone!

My wonderful husband got me an orchid of the month club this year and it's WONDERFUL...problem is, they never come with a description! So could you help me identify what this is? I believe it is an Oncidium. I'm sure if it were still flowering, that would help (I promise to take a picture sooner next time)....Also, now that it's finished flowering...do I cut the spikes back? How far? What will happen next, will it grow another spike from one of the groups of leaves or will it grow a completely new thick bulb looking thing like at the other groups of leaves have? ...Also, would now be a good time to transition this plant over to SH?

THANKS!!!!You're all the best!!!

[jenilee]

Sorry...forgot the Pictures...

[Zoi2]

It does look like the Oncidium family. You can cut the spike to about an inch or so from the pbulb. New spikes will come from the new growths. The plant does look like it's ready for a clean up and possible repot but unless you have new root growth I'd wait to transplant to s/h.
Joann

[jenilee]

Is the pbulb the fat part that seems to be full of something? The part that the leaves come off of? What do you mean by clean up? should I be removing the older pbulbs or leaves?

[Zoi2]

Yes the pseudobulb is the fat portion, roots grow from the bottom and leaves grow from the top. These are basically water storage for the plant. Do not remove the pseudobulbs, new growth will come from these. Clean up is just taking the plant out of the pot and cleaning up the dead roots. You can put the plant back into the pot if the media is still good or change to fresh media.
Joann

[shadytrake]

Hi there. Me again. I haven't had the best of luck with my Onc alliance in s/h but I suspect it is due to my fertilizing and watering. What I do know is that in my personal experience, Onc alliance chids don't bloom as well unless they are really overgrown or tight in their pots. They seem to really like that. (others chime in if other opinions).

Once I realized that and put all of my Onc alliance chids in much smaller s/h pots, (and fixed my fertilizer) I finally got a really nice spike on my Onc Gold Dust which is ready to open very soon.

I am pretty sure that most Onc. alliance like LOTS of sun. I have all of mine at the highest part of my shadehouse and even have supplemental light on them for the winter. You can tell if you are underwatering if they throw out wrinkled leaves. Once I figured out the light and the pots, I also discovered that they hog the water (probably because they are tight in the pots and the humidity is down due to winter here). So I am supplementing with extra humidity too (the SHouse is holding steady at about 60% average).

I tend to repot whenever I get a new orchid but in this case, I agree with Zoi2. Check the roots. In my opinion you don't need new roots but you definitely want good roots. If the medium is trashed already (used up), then it is beneficial to go ahead and get the chid into a better enviroment (whether s/h or orchid bark or whatever).

If the roots are bad (black, brown icky), then I defer to others who are more experienced with Onc alliance than I.

I do know that I purchased some bare root cuttings which were basically dried (but good roots) and I plopped them in s/h with no issue. Now I haven't bloomed them yet but I expect that they will bloom next season.

Good luck.