Trying to recover Oncidium Orchids

[Brown_Thumb]

I purchased these two oncidiums last year as a gift for my Mom. Well, I bought them for her but i love orchids so I figured it would be a cool thing to learn to grow them together. Long story short, I've taking over their care since they have never bloomed.

Both plants have recently been re potted loosely in Chilean sphagnum moss. The one with the stake lost most of it's roots due to root rot (previous re potting was too dense in same media, not enough air flow and not enough light) so it's there to help stabilize the plant.

The current setup is in a planting tray with one layer of glass marbles covered with one layer of LECA clay balls with the ventilated plastic pots sitting on top. In addition I have a tiny house fan set on low about 5ft away from the pots to help with airflow. In terms of light exposure, I live in Northern Virginia, the plants are in an east facing UV glazed bay window and they receive about 4 hrs of direct sun per day.

I've read about the weakly weekly fertilizing philosophy but am a kinda curious about a couple of things. One, I'm still getting used to watering orchids on their schedule and not mine, essentially when they need it. Looking for silvery roots and plump pseudobulbs. Also, with my current setup, when monitoring the moisture of the planting media, I need to lightly water them(fully soak sphagnum but not dunk for 5-10minutes) every 2-3 days. So what I've been doing is every other watering I just use plane DI water instead of my premixed fertilizer.

So far, seems thing to be looking better and I'll try to post more photos of these during the day. If there is anything wrong with what I'm doing, I'm more than open to suggestions to remedy the situation. Thank you all for your time.

[lotis146]

Well for starters, welcome to the board, you've come to the right place.

I can sorta read those tags but can you go ahead and tell us the names of these plants, please?

It appears there's more going on here than them simply not blooming. From what I can see, they've been dehydrated for quite some time; the 'accordion' (kinked, pleated, etc.) leaves are one piece of evidence but even more so are those shriveled looking pbulbs. However I'm wondering what's going on with your leaves. I see that you've cut several of them already but the one that remains looks a little questionable to me. Could we get a more clear shot of that please?

Some here will advise you against using moss however I am of the mind that it all depends on your conditions and your care. For example, moss is safer for me b/c I under-water chronically, but on the other hand there are people who over-water in which case moss could be the end of their plants b/c it holds moisture longer. A good way to figure your watering schedule is to use bamboo skewers. Put one down the middle of the pot, careful not to stab roots too bad, then check it from time to time; when it's dry or nearly so (depending on the plant) it's time to water. A lot of Oncids shouldn't be allowed to dry out between waterings, probably most, whereas Cattleyas typically do like to dry out, just not forever. But you also don't want to keep the plant soggy by constantly watering, that'll suffocate the roots.

What exactly do you mean by they get 4 hours of direct light? Are you saying they only get 4 hours, b/c that would certainly not be enough. Some Oncids like really bright conditions, even Catt-like, whereas others may prefer a bit brighter than Phals. Lighting is one reason it'd be good to know what your plants are.

I assume you keep these indoors all year? How's your humidity indoors? Temperature is another factor to consider with respect to whatever species/hybrids you have. Another thing I'd add is that Oncids don't have the silvery - well not that I've seen - roots, at least not like Phals, and they're usually much smaller. Btw, is that a Phal leaf poking into the first pic? Those wrinkled leaves are telling you that plant is dehydrated, and dehydration is either b/c it doesn't get watered enough or its roots are bad thus it isn't getting enough water.

No doubt more people will come along with more experience than I but this'll get you started. Cheers!

[Brown_Thumb]

The tag on the first orchid, pictures 1 &3 is a Calico Gem 'Sweetheart' (Oda. Cranberry Marble x onc. onustrum).

The tag on the second orchid as shown in the second photo is Oncda. Kilauea 'Hawaii'. note: husky plant with 1-2 spikes (Orc. sphacelatum 'Sunbeam' AM/AOS x Oncda. Charlesworth).

Over the past year it looks like they were overwatered and many roots died. However, with moving them into stronger light and less densely packed sphagnum, I can see the roots transition from bright green to silvery white in between waterings.

In terms of light, the room itself has both east and south facing windows. 4 hours of directed sun and an additional 6 hours of indirect sun.

I want to move them outdoors but I'm hesitant due to our crazy squirrel population. As the plants are fragile, the squirrels will dig into anything they deem loose soil searching for a forgotten nut.

The humidity in the house is controlled by central air, which is about 30%. I have all of the orchids resting on moistened clay pebble bed partially filled with water with no water touching the bottom of the pot.

The crinkle you see in the one pbulb is from last winter. When I saw that I realized I needed to be more proactive with keeping this plant alive and took over care for it.

In terms of the clipped leaves, initially the orchids came that way. From what I understand it's a good way to force orchids to develop roots after the initial shock of shipping. I clipped the tips of two of the leaves after doing research on the hardness of our local water. Since I've switched to Distilled water with a mild fertilizer weekly.

Thank you for your words of wisdom. I've purchased a few orchid books that confirm what you have mentioned. I appreciate you taking the time to offer advice and my orchids thank you as well.

[silken]

Welcome to Orchid Board.

Your orchids may start to improve now. I agree with much of what lotis146 says. I myself don't usually use pure sphagnum for much but like to mix it with bark for some Oncidiums. But that's not to say it won't work for you. It can get water logged easily and you just need to keep an eye on that. If it is truly direct sunlight, it could be too much. Watch for sunburn and move the plants back further from the window if the leaves feel too warm. They don't like to completely dry out and prefer to remain evenly damp. Hard to do it seems to me but I water mine well and then water again them before the media is dried out.

I have never heard of snipping off leaves to promote root growth. In shrubbery it is done to help them bush out and get a good full growth when they are newly planted, but not orchids. If they are brown on the tips or have some infection, then yes, cut them back to healthy green leaf but otherwise it is best to leave them. One thing you could use is some seaweed mixed in with your water to help get some roots going. But don't use it all the time. Just for a few weeks and then again in a month or two.

[Brown_Thumb]

I currently have on order fine/medium/large pine New Zealand pine bark mulch. Due to arrive in a couple days. I'm a bit hesitant to repot since I am seeing new green root growth.

If I can wait a month or so, I'm thinking a mix of perlite, bark and 20% sphagnum may work. I really don't want to shock the orchid. It's probably already a bit ticked off at me for having shipped it from California to Virginia last year.

Any tips for keeping squirrels out of orchid pots?

You all are awesome. Thank you so much for your help.

[silken]

I wouldn't disturb them again. Just keep some on hand for next time these need re-potting and then see if you want to try something else. Moss might be great for you. There is nothing wrong with it. You just need to water according to your conditions.

I don't have a good idea for squirrels. They ruin my planters at the lake all the time. Maybe some fine chicken wire but not sure you can really do that too easily with an orchid. The plants will likely be fine inside your home too.

[Optimist]

I have heard of clipping leaves. Seems to me they do this with african violets.

Like others say, the parantage of the oncs give you tips about culture. Fine roots, thin leaves of oncidiums usually means they want more water. The reason is that various genres can live all the way from the desert to high mountains. On the other hand they often live in high trees, bare rooted. The more need they have to store food, the less is available around them.

Distilled water needs to be remineralized. If you can collect rain water, it is a better way to go.

[Brown_Thumb]

Sorry if some images are blurry. I've moved the orchids outside. Unfortunately it's a shady day but on sunny days they are somewhat shaded by a large Willow oak, but get occasional full mid-day sun and about 2 hours of full fun from the west as the sun sets. We've hit a cold spell so temps are between 50-75 degrees Fahrenheit.

I soaked both orchids for about 2 1/2 hours to try and get the pbulbs to plump up with no luck. However, nice to see the new growth really thriving.

[Brown_Thumb]

I'm trying to alternate between DI water and tap water. My city water varies between 36-160ppm TDS according to our water surveys. With the orchids outside, they will be exposed to rainwater if we get rain. This time of year, we tend to get afternoon torrential downpours.

I keep an eye on them all day so I'll let you know if anything changes. I just received my pine bark in the mail today, but right now I'm tempted to hold off repotting since I just did that about 2 weeks ago.

One note and one more question. The note is that you all are awesome. The question is does anyone maintain an orchid log, and if so what are your paramaters? Call me crazy, but when I was in the Navy, we utilized logs to recognize trends for the better or worse so if anything when pear shaped, we could diagnose the problem so it didn't happen again.

Thanks again for all your help. Hopefully this fall I'll get some blooms.

[Ray]

Forget your so-called "humidity trays". In your situation of using fans and having A/C, the infinitesimal amount of moisture they're adding to the air won't even reach your plants, so they are of zero value.

If you do move them outside, I know RH isn't going to be an issue (I grew up in DC), but you don't want them to see any direct sun or you'll burn them.

Your tap water is fine.