ocidium intergeneric hybrid
 

Hi y’all- it’s been awhile since I’ve done a “new thread all is well in my orchid world. My newest what I call a rescue I got a Lowe’s the tag reads intergeneric hybrid. It also on the inside of the tag reads intergeneric hybrids made from the diverse oncidinea tribe. I’m assuming it’s an ocidium hybrid? Blooms when I purchased the orchid again to dry , crumbling. What I’m worried about is the shriveled up pseudobulbs. I immediately repotted the orchid. What do y’all think? Thank you I uploaded a photo

When you repotted it, what did the roots look like? I bet what is going on here is that all or most of the roots are dead, and the plant can no longer take up moisture, so it has to use the water stored in the pseudobulbs, and therefore they shrivel. It can sometimes be difficult to tell just by looking if Oncidium roots are dead or alive, but if they were brown and felt hollow, and the outer layer peels off easily, then they are dead.

In the event that the roots are dead, it will just need time. New roots will come with new growth. Keep the plant warm and humid, and keep moisture around the base of the plant (the sphag potting mix you appear to be using will take care of that).

In my experience, Oncidiums with damaged root systems will sometimes recover, and sometimes not, and there doesn't always appear to be a reason why or why not. Have patience, as this can sometimes take a long time, but when you see new growth, you can be pretty sure the plant will survive.

Also a note about shriveled pseudobulbs: Once the plant has new roots, the pseudobulbs will reabsorb some of the water they lost, and will fill back out a little, but they will never be round and plump and smooth like they were before the roots died.

Thank you jscott! When I repotted the roots to me looked what I would call good they were white not brittle at all. I did cut a few obvious dead ones. I was going to put the orchid back into the same pot replace the broken diwn mushy medium. It would not fit period I really did try. The dead root theory would make sense tho. I think over all the plant looks better. There are 2 small pbulbs down in the moss they do not look shriveled. I will try to capture one of them in a pic. I’m watering this orchid every other day and won’t give up not yet anyway. Check back I’ll keep you posted on the plant.

Hey, update on the rescue orchid above. I’ve got new growth on her. Thank goodness her roots weren’t dead. Plus it’s taking awhile but that sucked up pseudo bulb is slowly getting bigger.

In my experience, Oncidiums usually recover as long as they are not brown. I have even had them start new roots when I thought it was past that stage. By next year, you will probably be wondering what to do with your large Oncidium. :)

Thank you Leafmite, here is a current pic of the ocidium mentioned above. I’m amazed on how well she is doing She has at least one new pseudo bulb developing.