Repotting unknown hybrid

[monivik]

Ok, so I got this new orchid about 1 1/2 month ago, which is an unknown hybrid to me (the tag said Cambria, so that doesn't say much). I have to be honest and say that I've been purposefully trying not to buy any complicated hybrids (as I'm worried I wouldn't know how to care for them, bad experiences in the past, when they died). However this one I got from a, what do you call it... orchid grower? It's like a beautiful tropical park, and they've got huge nurseries and a store. Anyway, I was there with a group and we were leaving quickly and I sort of picked 2 orchids in a hurry (one should never do that LOL) thinking this one was an Oncidium (I'm familiar with Oncidiums and know what to do with that). The flower buds weren't open yet.

Anyway, so the thing is that I've almost only got Phalaenopsis orchids at home and I'm used to water them by submerging the pot for a couple of minutes in water. Well, so the thing about this one though is that I noticed that it would be soaked! After 7 days the skewer I'd put in it to check if it was dry would still come out wet. Green stuff was starting to form on the top layer. I was like: this can't be good. The flowers also well, they all bloomed (I only had one bud blast after bringing it home) but I had the idea that the flowers didn't last that long (well although I do not know how long the flowers on this one should last anyway, as I don't know what this hybrid is)...

So I decided to repot it, and I decided to treat it like an Oncidium. To my surprise the potting mix didn't look like anything I've even seen on an orchid. It hardly had any bark pieces at all. (See picture) Although I have to say the potting mix once I poured it out, it didn't look bad in the sense like it had gone bad. But I still went ahead and repotted it.

So what I got it repotted in now is the same stuff that I've got my Oncidium in, I mixed the separate components myself. I got small bark, spaghnum moss and perlite. Now using the little knowledge I have (and just a gut feeling) I figured if it was sitting in a very water retentive media, this is probably an orchid that doesn't like to dry out. So I added more spaghnum moss to this one that I did with the Oncidium.

Ok, so that's it... but now I'm wondering, did I do right? Should I not have repotted it? And now that I did, will this potting mix be appropriate? It did have some roots that had gone bad, so the soft mushy roots I got rid off. (See picture)

[aliceinwl]

I don’t know what your orchid is either, but I’ve had horrible luck trying to keep roots alive long term in peat based mixes like what yours looks to have been in. I think you made the right call to repot.

[monivik]

Originally Posted by aliceinwl

I don’t know what your orchid is either, but I’ve had horrible luck trying to keep roots alive long term in peat based mixes like what yours looks to have been in. I think you made the right call to repot.

Thanks. I think from the replies I had to another post that this is some sort of a oncidium/odontoglossum hybrid, as someone suggested.

So I'm just going to make sure that this one never dries up completely. I'll be keeping a close eye on the medium.

I've just learned from another post, the skewer trick. I think it's an excellent way of checking when to water.

I'm learning so much on this forum.