New in NC -- Impulse Control Problems

[MisterGuy]

Ok well, as soon as I say all that highfalutin stuff about only potting up unhealthy mixes of plants I got super cheap and don't care about, my wife brought her orchid home from the office that she actually DID develop some sentimental attachment to with strict instructions she wants it to be as pretty as it was before, again.

I just cut the spikes, and looked under the moss it came decorated with, and it's REALLY smushed in there:








I know they like to be tight, but like, repot that before I hydrate right, but don't divide it right? It's got one new growth coming up out of the middle.

If I repot it, I'm dying to put it in a slightly larger heavy pot I can put at the base of my waterfall where it'll get morning to almost midday dappled to full sun.

[Dollythehun]

If it were me, I'd soak it, cut the pot off carefully and repot it in a pot that will take a years growth. Put the new growth toward mid pot, old growth against pot wall. I'd pot it in a clay pot but, that's my preference. You don't say what it is but, it looks vigorous.

[MisterGuy]

Originally Posted by Dollythehun

If it were me, I'd soak it, cut the pot off carefully and repot it in a pot that will take a years growth. Put the new growth toward mid pot, old growth against pot wall. I'd pot it in a clay pot but, that's my preference. You don't say what it is but, it looks vigorous.

Oh sorry, it's not all about me is it

This is the Oncidium unk hybrid that I thought I had posted in this thread but in fact had only posted in the ID thread.



That 6 inch orchid pot it's sitting in has about an inch and a half of clearance between the roots at the bottom of the pot and the clay pot. I was going to pot it up in that, but not against the side because I wanted it balanced and centered. I have the fine part of a bark mix that I've been rejecting and collecting for my phals that I could use as a mix in that pot, but I was REALLY tempted to put it in lavastone and clay pellets and put it it on the ledge under the waterfall.

[Dollythehun]

I only gave you the general guidelines I've been given by many OB gurus. I generally listen to their advise, sifting it to suit my conditions and habits. It is your plant, and you are free to do as you see fit.

The reason they say to pot off center us to make ample room for new growth.

[MisterGuy]

Originally Posted by Dollythehun

I only gave you the general guidelines I've been given by many OB gurus. I generally listen to their advise, sifting it to suit my conditions and habits. It is your plant, and you are free to do as you see fit.

The reason they say to pot off center us to make ample room for new growth.

The plant agrees with you completely. It was SO root bound, there was no way I was willing to try to get the old material loosened and out of there, so it got soaked and pressed up against the side and back filled! Thanks!

[Leafmite]

That is a gorgeous Oncidium!

[MisterGuy]

Originally Posted by Leafmite

That is a gorgeous Oncidium!

Thank you so much! I wish I could take more credit for it, but it was a stunning plant before the spikes opened just gushing with promises and I couldn't resist it. It was ginormous and plump compared to the others on the table. I would love to know how long it takes to get to this size because it is setting the bar for what I want to grow my Sharry Baby into. It doesn't even need blooms to make a beautiful house plant.


*Edit*
Edited this to add some pictures from the waterfall plants this morning without bumping my own thread too many times! I was delighted to have the koi that are intended to provide the fertilizer for my hopeful aquaponic system come up to check me out closer than they have ever been willing to before, even though I was moving around. I fed them again, and for the first time ever, they were willing to eat with me moving around and trying to take pictures of them from only a three or four feet away (my hand at least)!


Grown from a flask by a Triangle Orchid Society member and picked out by my wife at the member sale, this Phrag Rosy Charm looks like it's going to deliver on the grower's hope it would flower this year. I've only had it a few weeks, but clearly it's not too mad at me:

[MisterGuy]

I saw someone quote Ray in another thread saying a common beginner mistake was getting a bunch of different plants instead of spending years mastering one type.

Er. Bingo!

Also, update and root porn on the best of the new canes:

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

[MisterGuy]

I am definitely falling in love with this oncidium as just a house plant but I am not sure it is going to get enough light to rebloom in this window.