Oncidium 25" Spike No Buds

[My Green Pets]

I'd say mid March to early April for flowers on this one. I'm gonna bet on first week of April for first open flower.

[POLKA]

If I may add my two cents: Please also be careful where you put your ties and clips. Do not cover any of those little bumps with sheaths. They will likely be your side branches with even more buds to bloom for you.

Yes, you have many days yet to wait, and you will be very happy with the result when it finally arrives!

Take care
May all your orchids bloom like crazy

Rex
aka Polka

[Fairorchids]

3-4' spikes are common on the intergeneric Oncid/Odonts. Mature plants in good condition can add a couple of feet.

Blooming plants seen in stores are usually young plants, which are far from full potential.

[Roberta]

Some of these members of the Oncidium group can tease you for months. When the buds do finally develop, keep an eye on its need for support - if the flowers end up mostly at the end of a very long spike, when they open, they have more weight. In nature, the support would be handled by having the spike entwine in surrounding foliage. (Learned the hard way)

[Selmo]

Be patient, as everyone has said it takes time, sometimes more time than we what for these to spike, mature, and bloom. Cannot tell what kind of oncidium you have from the picture. But we have an onc. altissimum that started spiking back in early December, it has not reached six foot , but is a good three and a half feet and has not even started to branch. Just be patient and be careful that you do not break off the spike moving around it . Here is a picture of ours from yesterday. I expect about six to eight more week until blooming

[Ginger9899]

Thanks for all the tips. I'm not covering any of the joints with clips. I just went out yesterday and purchased a pack if giant bamboo stakes. Cut just a little of and it works great. Plenty of support. I'm being super careful, it's so tall it can hit the ceiling if I pick it up and am not careful lol. I can't wait, it's exciting for me. I only have twinkles in the oncidium alliance and a Mtdn. that gets an impressive spike but nowhere this tall. I love your altissimum Selmo!

[Roberta]

Just a hint of what is possible. Here is Oncidium hyphaematicum. those stakes are 4 ft. (1.45 m). the spike is another 2 or 3 ft (.7-1 m) beyond that. This time the spikes started gently arching about the time they got to the top of the stakes, and so support is sufficient. Last year, the spikes got quite a bit taller before they started to branch into buds, and I had the sad experience of looking up one morning just as the buds were opening, to find that the spike has snapped at the top of the stake. So if it goes too far beyond the stake before starting to bud, either extend the stake with another, or use heavy wire (attached to the stake at one end) on the full length of the unsupported part. (This may be better than rigidly staking if it is very tall... not only do you prevent hitting the ceiling, but you get an attractive arch) Oh, by the way, this spike took about three months to get even close to blooming.

[Selmo]

I don't know why it keep uploading the pictures sideways. The last three pictures that I have uploaded it has done this. I have removed them and truest uploading again, several times, but it uploads them sideways. Here is another photo. Tried four times, but seccess, uploaded correctly.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by Selmo

I don't know why it keep uploading the pictures sideways. The last three pictures that I have uploaded it has done this. I have removed them and truest uploading again, several times, but it uploads them sideways. Here is another photo. Tried four times, but seccess, uploaded correctly.

Perfect! Yes, you could have several more months before you see buds developing. The long anticipation makes the wait really worthwhile. Also, these flowers tend to be quite long-lasting (which is lovely... some other kinds take months to develop the long spike and then only last a week or two...)

[Selmo]

Originally Posted by Selmo

Be patient, as everyone has said it takes time, sometimes more time than we what for these to spike, mature, and bloom. Cannot tell what kind of oncidium you have from the picture. But we have an onc. altissimum that started spiking back in early December, it has not reached six foot , but is a good three and a half feet and has not even started to branch. Just be patient and be careful that you do not break off the spike moving around it . Here is a picture of ours from yesterday. I expect about six to eight more week until blooming

Here is an updated photo, from yesterday.