Got one! Bratonia Golden Spider ‘Copius…

[lambo1972]

The Alabama Orchid Society is having their annual show and sale at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens this weekend. A man from Florida is growing this orchid and I’m very excited that I got one. It’s supposed to be a good windowsill grower. I’ve been wanting one for a while and I think it’ll do well in the morning east sun. Wish me luck and any growing tips would be appreciated! Ain’t she a beaut!

[lambo1972]

Can anyone advise on this one? I feel like I’m watching this one decline. It had scale, which I cleaned off. Ut what are some good care tips for this one? When reading about this orchid, I really thought it would do well for me but I’m watching it decline. Does it need high humidity? More light? I did not repot it when treating for scale, should I have? I have kept it in an east facing window in an oncidium bark mix and soak it once a week and run water through it if it looks dry. It has lost most its leaves seen in the pic from when I got it a year ago. It did put out a new growth and some roots but just seem like I’m not doing something.Any advice would be appreciated! Thank you!

[estación seca]

Sorry I didn't see this last year. I got an unbloomed mericlone at our April show. It finished its first flowering a few weeks ago.

Keep in mind it's easy grow and should recover.

It has the classic look of an underwatered Oncidium hybrid. It shouldn't ever go dry completely. When pushing a new growth, or in spike, it needs to stay moist. You can't go by the calendar, and in a sunny window it will use more water.

They grow better with fertilizer. I don't know what you've been using. For Oncidiums I use 20-20-20 with micronutrients at the rate of 1/2 teaspoon per gallon at almost every watering while they are or could be making new growth. I have a sunroom where they will grow all Winter, so I fertilize all year. If they slow down inside your home, I would fertilize maybe once a month until it warms up.

Just cleaning off scale may not get rid of all of them. Examine it carefully with a magnifying glass. If it has scale it won't grow well. Look down into crevices.

I wouldn't give it so much light unless it were completely healthy, with a large root system.

I think if you make sure it's scale-free, give it a little less light until it bounces back, and water it more, it will turn around and recover.

[lambo1972]

Thank you!

Originally Posted by estación seca

Sorry I didn't see this last year. I got an unbloomed mericlone at our April show. It finished its first flowering a few weeks ago.

Keep in mind it's easy grow and should recover.

It has the classic look of an underwatered Oncidium hybrid. It shouldn't ever go dry completely. When pushing a new growth, or in spike, it needs to stay moist. You can't go by the calendar, and in a sunny window it will use more water.

They grow better with fertilizer. I don't know what you've been using. For Oncidiums I use 20-20-20 with micronutrients at the rate of 1/2 teaspoon per gallon at almost every watering while they are or could be making new growth. I have a sunroom where they will grow all Winter, so I fertilize all year. If they slow down inside your home, I would fertilize maybe once a month until it warms up.

Just cleaning off scale may not get rid of all of them. Examine it carefully with a magnifying glass. If it has scale it won't grow well. Look down into crevices.

I wouldn't give it so much light unless it were completely healthy, with a large root system.

I think if you make sure it's scale-free, give it a little less light until it bounces back, and water it more, it will turn around and recover.

[lambo1972]

For the first time in a while the orchid is showing signs of life. After cleaning off the scale, I moved it back about 3 ft from both a west and south facing window per your advice. It has sprouted a bunch of roots, probably 8-9 from the newest growth and something is bulging off of it. I'm guessing new growth. And this is after only a few short weeks, my post about it was 9/23. I may repot it too, this time in a sphagnum/bark mixture. Folks in my local orchid group have the most success with at least some moss in their mixes. I know it will be a while, but this orchid seems to be doing something and hopefully will continue to recover...

Originally Posted by estación seca

Sorry I didn't see this last year. I got an unbloomed mericlone at our April show. It finished its first flowering a few weeks ago.

Keep in mind it's easy grow and should recover.

It has the classic look of an underwatered Oncidium hybrid. It shouldn't ever go dry completely. When pushing a new growth, or in spike, it needs to stay moist. You can't go by the calendar, and in a sunny window it will use more water.

They grow better with fertilizer. I don't know what you've been using. For Oncidiums I use 20-20-20 with micronutrients at the rate of 1/2 teaspoon per gallon at almost every watering while they are or could be making new growth. I have a sunroom where they will grow all Winter, so I fertilize all year. If they slow down inside your home, I would fertilize maybe once a month until it warms up.

Just cleaning off scale may not get rid of all of them. Examine it carefully with a magnifying glass. If it has scale it won't grow well. Look down into crevices.

I wouldn't give it so much light unless it were completely healthy, with a large root system.

I think if you make sure it's scale-free, give it a little less light until it bounces back, and water it more, it will turn around and recover.

[lambo1972]

Thank you again for your help and advice.
My orchid is still not doing well. It did make a new growth, as I mentioned. But the growth has seemed to stop and not fully extending or developing.
Also, the middle leaf is all jammed up inside the others. What causes that? I did repot it in sphagnum and it seemed to perk up, making some new roots.
But now, the few leaves on the new growth are yellowing and browning at the tips. Maybe this orchid just isn't for me, but everything I read about it said it was an easy grower and would do fine in an east facing window. Any ideas?

Originally Posted by estación seca

Sorry I didn't see this last year. I got an unbloomed mericlone at our April show. It finished its first flowering a few weeks ago.

Keep in mind it's easy grow and should recover.

It has the classic look of an underwatered Oncidium hybrid. It shouldn't ever go dry completely. When pushing a new growth, or in spike, it needs to stay moist. You can't go by the calendar, and in a sunny window it will use more water.

They grow better with fertilizer. I don't know what you've been using. For Oncidiums I use 20-20-20 with micronutrients at the rate of 1/2 teaspoon per gallon at almost every watering while they are or could be making new growth. I have a sunroom where they will grow all Winter, so I fertilize all year. If they slow down inside your home, I would fertilize maybe once a month until it warms up.

Just cleaning off scale may not get rid of all of them. Examine it carefully with a magnifying glass. If it has scale it won't grow well. Look down into crevices.

I wouldn't give it so much light unless it were completely healthy, with a large root system.

I think if you make sure it's scale-free, give it a little less light until it bounces back, and water it more, it will turn around and recover.

[estación seca]

Can you post photos?

[lambo1972]

Here they are. Most of the damage to this orchid was done BEFORE I repotted it. It caught scale. Bad. I soaked in an alcohol/soap solution if I remember correctly. It got rid of the scale for sure, but killed a few young roots. The pic with the flashlight on the right of the plant is the 1st growth that I got off that plant. It dis not develop fully and I think you can see the leaf all hung up inside. The newest growth happened before I repotted it too. It also dis not fully develop and you can see the leaf hung up inside. Since I planted it in Sphagnum, I have seen good root growth but not much else. The last pic is actually from an Oncostele Eye Candy Punky that I got at our local orchid show back in September. It has made 2 new growths. All leaves but the last middle one which is likely on top of the pseudobulb extended properly. As you can see in that last pic, there is a little wrinkling on that middle/last leaf. Thank you again for any advice!

Originally Posted by estación seca

Can you post photos?

[Selmo]

It needs more water! If the leaves are jammed up or folded like an accordion, it needs more water!
If it is getting enough sun, the leaves should be a light green color. If they are dark green, give it more light.
And a few photos are always good, in helping identify problems.

[estación seca]

It looks better than I expected. The pleating is, as Selmo said, from insufficient water. It won't go away, but future growths can be normal. Now that temperatures will be warming and there will be more light, it will produce more growth. I suggest not letting it get as dry before watering. Give it as much warmth as you can, and bright light. Fertilize regularly. I suggest 1/2 teaspoon per gallon / 15ml powder per 3.78 liters of MSU or 20-20-20 fertilizer with trace elements.