Oh no... snapped off my Oncidium!

[cythaenopsis]

A while back in the mid summer I was in a rush, watering a few plants. I gave my orchids a refreshing spritz of water and as I moved my hand quickly over them, I misjudged the clearance over my oncidium. SNAP! I clean knocked a leaf with pseudobulb right off the plant. I felt like such an idiot. Fortunately for the plant, it had 3 other leaves in good order, so it wasn't going to die. But the leaf I'd knocked off was the tallest and... well, it made the plant sure look a bit smaller.

OK, I know it happens to the best of us. We make mistakes, right? Well, I didn't know what to do with the leaf, so I just tucked it in a little container of water and went about my day. The next day I took a look and the leaf was still green, no sign of shriveling or yellowing. So in the interim of trying to decide what I could do (I ruled out trying to graft it back onto the plant), I kept it watered.

Now over a month has gone by. And you know what? Another leaf is sprouting from the pseudobulb! I really didn't think that would happen. And another... the plant replaced the broken leaf! Another one shot out the side and rose up to the occasion. This wasn't what I was expecting.

SO here's the deal. Here's how the plant looks right now:


(I laid the broken leaf across just for scale purposes--it's the one at the bottom; the new leaf is the one at the top)

Here's the broken leaf as it is right now:



Clearly there isn't much root growth, and the brown coloration suggests that those roots are not particularly healthy. My question is, what can I do to keep this thing alive and nurture it as a separate plant? Is it very much involved? If so... then I guess it's probably not worth trying to keep it going. I'd thought that maybe some root hormone would help, but I've never used it and initial searches turned up rather expensive bottles for a lot of rooting work.

I'm open to suggestions. Thanks!

[Bud]

I would stick it together with the mother plant, tie it to a stick so it wont wobble in the pot. It is now a plant on its own and the roots are alive ( you just think it is dead=it is not) it also produced a new growth so wait until you have four bulbs from this and the last growth will the one to give you flowers.
The new growth on the mother plant will be the one to flower when it matures.
Just give them the proper culture for Oncidiums and you are set.

[cythaenopsis]

Originally Posted by Bud

I would stick it together with the mother plant, tie it to a stick so it wont wobble in the pot. It is now a plant on its own and the roots are alive ( you just think it is dead=it is not) it also produced a new growth so wait until you have four bulbs from this and the last growth will the one to give you flowers.
The new growth on the mother plant will be the one to flower when it matures.
Just give them the proper culture for Oncidiums and you are set.

Hi Bud, thanks for your quick reply! You are a wealth of orchid knowledge, that's for sure.

So you're thinking the roots are long enough so that I could just pot it with the mother plant? I'm just worried with the very short roots that they won't stay moist for long. I've been using medium cut bark with this plant (as you can see in the photo) and while the plant is alive, it hasn't really been thriving. It's still very small, and this is just over 2 years ago when I first got it as a seedling. Should I use a combination of moss and bark? What do you suggest?

[WhiteRabbit]

Did this come with a name/tag? Doesn't look to be an Oncidium to me - but, I certainly could be wrong

[kindrag23]

Originally Posted by WhiteRabbit

Did this come with a name/tag? Doesn't look to be an Oncidium to me - but, I certainly could be wrong

I was kind of thinking the same thing, parts of it made me think of gramms or maybe some type of bulbo crosses. But then I could DEFINITELY be wrong.

[cythaenopsis]

Originally Posted by WhiteRabbit

Did this come with a name/tag? Doesn't look to be an Oncidium to me - but, I certainly could be wrong

It still has the tag it came with it, in the photo. You can see it sticking out of the pot, with "Oncidium" on it. Unless I got the wrong plant? The other two I bought at the time was a cattelya (Sierra Skies Leone) and an encyclia. The encyclia died off and I'm quite sure the cattleya is the other one.

I've read up a bit and advice I've seen given regarding oncidiums is that they may be potted in sphagnum moss or cut bark, depending upon your preference.

My apartment does not get very humid, only on some of the warmer days of summer. I just can't facilitate a sufficiently humid environment, so what medium I use is important. One that dries out too fast won't be sufficient, like a rough cut bark medium that requires daily watering. And yet, I've found that while sphagnum moss can allow for a watering cycle of 5-7 days, it has a tendency to smother roots and encourage rotting. Is it possible to do a combination of some kind that will work best?

[WhiteRabbit]

I certainly don't know everything, so I could be wrong, but I would suspect a tag mix-up, or incorrect tag with the plant. The foliage just doesn't look like the typical Onc foliage. Does the tag have a name in it?

As for media, remember bark will retain moisture longer and longer as it ages. That said, for Onc, finer bark mix is generally recommended (better suited for finer roots, and retains moisture a bit longer than coarser bark chips).
I use chc mix for most Onc alliance.

[Bud]

it is tagged: Oncidium microchilum and in parenthesis 'Mexico'.
This is endemic to southern Mexico all the way to El Salvador....you grow this similar to the mule ear Oncidiums ( I posted a thread a year ago and you may copy my culture since we both grow this kind of orchid in a Manhattan apartment). Just follow the culture and you will be set.
Sonya is right, you need a finer media mix or you can order online an Oncidium mix so you do not damage the roots by putting it on large bark.
You can stabilize the separated plant by tying it to a stick because Oncidium roots tend to sulk on you so when you repot this you need really do it well for your next repot will be in a couple of years. Most Oncidiums have fine tiny roots but the mule ear have larger roots. You may want to use Oncidium mix and then put a thin layer of moss on the surface of the pot halfway covering the bulbs to retain moisture.
You also need a stable heavy cache pot for the spike of mule ears tend to be very long and with multiple flowers....you don't want your pot to topple down from heavy tall flowers.

[cythaenopsis]

Thanks for the tips, Bud. I don't have many orchids so I don't want to buy a big bag of potting mix for just one plant. The bark I do have on hand is a rough cut, but it has plenty of small pieces in it as well as even bark powder. I'm guessing I could just collect up some of the smaller bits to use, do you think? I've found a good stick I can use to help stabilize the separated leaf.

In any event, I like your idea of combining the bark and moss together. I think I found your Oncidium mule ear thread (here). Absolutely outstanding how tall you got that spike! Thanks again. :-)

[WhiteRabbit]

Yay Bud for knowing it IS an Onc! Seems I did know in the back of my head that there are some Onc that might not look like what I think Onc "should" look like.