Do I new to repot Banfieldara gilded tower "Mystic Maze" ?
 

Hi,

I am new to the forum and a relatively new orchid lover.
I recently (last week) acquired a bnfd gilded tower "mystic maze" form my local orchid guys and I was wondering if it needed to be repotted as it is in its nursery pot in sphagnum moss. what would be an ideal potting medium and pot for this gorgeous lady? Also it is currently in bloom.

Do you have any advice for an orchid newbie?

Thanks

Tim

Hi Tim, Welcome to the Orchid Board! We're glad you joined us. Columbia is a great town. You picked a really great orchid!

Your plant is a hybrid among genera in the Oncidicum group. A lot of people keep these in sphagnum moss all the time. Others use different media. Some people repot all new orchids right away. I personally would leave an Oncidium that came in bloom in the sphagnum until it is done blooming.

They grow and bloom quickly, so it is unlikely the sphagnum is so old it would cause a problem, and this kind of orchid likes plenty of water, so sphagnum makes sense. Other kinds of orchids run into trouble with being too wet in sphagnum a lot more often than do Oncidiums. I have some in sphagnum; I have to keep Oncidiums very wet or the new growths develop pleated leaves, which is a sign of inadequate water. I can't let mine get even just moist. With my low-humidity growing conditions and heat, I would have a hard time keeping up with their water needs if I grew them in bark, the way many other people do successfully.

You can usually ease an Oncidium in sphagnum out of the pot and keep the root ball intact. This will allow you to examine the roots and medium. If they are good you don't need to repot for a while. Dead roots are soft, brown and mushy. Good roots are firm and white with green tips if new, or brown and firm if older.

Oncidium hybrids tend to begin new growth from the base of the pseudobulb soon after the flowers fade. New roots and a new shoot usually form at about the same time. This is a good time to repot the plant if you want to. I have attached a photo of an Oncidium hybrid I got in October 2015 in spike. It is Cyrtocidium Midnight 'Ebony & Ivory', and its flowers smell very sweetly! It is just beginning to grow a new shoot, the pointy green thing you see at the base of the pseudobulb. No new roots yet.

Choose a new pot big enough for 1 or 2 more growths as big as the one that just flowered. If the current pot has room for another growth, and the roots and sphagnum look OK, I would consider leaving it in this pot until after the next growth blooms. You don't want a new growth hanging over the edge of the pot with its roots dangling, trying to find someplace moist. I could leave my Cyrtocidium in this pot, because the sphagnum is OK and there is room for another growth.

There is a forum of this board devoted to Oncidiums. You can read a lot more about them

here.

And if you use the Search function in the top maroon menu, you can find more threads dealing with your exact plant.

You can also learn a lot at your local orchid society. I see there is a

Central Missouri Orchid Society.

I couldn't tell where they meet, but I bet it's not far from Columbia. You will find information there tailored to your local climate.

Good luck, and we hope to see more of your plants!

Wow!! that's what I call a warm welcome! thanks a lot for all these info estacion seca!

I will wait for the bloom to fade away before I do anything.

Here is a picture of the lady in her current pot. I cannot ease her out of the pot and it looks quite crowded to me.

Also are ceramic pots better or plastic ones are ok?

Thanks again for your help!

Tim

It looks great. You're very welcome. I would repot that one when it starts making new growth. There isn't enough room for another growth, and the roots are filling the pot.

Ceramic or plastic are both fine. Just be sure there are drainage holes (unless you decide to grow with the semihydroponic technique or S/H.)

You have at least a month before it will be time to repot it, so you have time to read some more about pots and growing. There is a lot of information here.

By the way, your label looks just like mine. I bet the same grower produced both plants.

Tim, you've gotten good advice so I'll just say, welcome to the board.