Howdy All!

[C-note]

Hi there everyone As you can see i live in northeast Georgia and just to let you know i have southern and western windows both of which are shaded at least some of the time by large trees. I've had one orchid before and kept it for quite a while but alas could not keep it alive.

That said i was at a Lowes store the other day and decided to get my mother an orchid for mother's day and in the process ended up with one for myself as well. Searching for the perfect plant for my mother i came across several which were in big plastic bags and were all tied up in nets. I had seen similar ones before but not being in bloom sort of looked over them. This time i spotted one with two small blooms on it! It caught my eye and i took it home with me.

Turns out it's an Oncidium Ampliatum
(funny the little tag said "Onc. Ampilatum")and i just wanted to get some feedback on what i should do to help this little guy survive long enough to bless me with a new spray of little yellow flowers.

On a side note i am curious what the info on the tag other than the species means. It reads "19437 ONC. AMPILATUM X SIBLING 8/11/06"

Thanks and i look forward to your feedback.

[kmarch]

Regarding the name of the orchid and your tag: The name is Oncidium ampliatum. Onc ampliatum is a species orchid which means it can be found in the wild. Notice that I spelled it with the lower case A. The specific epithet or the second name (in this case ampliatum) is not capitalized.

The first part of your tag "19437" is probably a nursery inventory code number or breeder's flask number and is only a way for the breeder or nursery to keep track of its plants.

The second part of the tag which reads, "ONC. AMPILATUM X SIBLING" indicates a few things: 1) that your plant is seed grown and not a clone, and 2) that it was made by breeding 2 different ampliatums which came from the same parents (and thus the same seed pod). If you breed an Onc ampliatum with another Onc ampliatum the offspring are all also Onc ampliatum. Sometimes the ampliatums that are bred are form completely different groups of ampliatums, sometimes they are from the same group (called a sibling cross) and sometimes a single plant is self-polinates or bred with itself (called a selfing).

The date on the tag "8/11/06" probably means the plants were flasked or perhaps deflasked on August 11 2006.

Visit AOS | Home and get an Oncidium culture sheet. This will contain a lot of informaton on how to grow your Oncidiium. Take note that this particular species can get very large.

[C-note]

Very cool. I really appreciate your response you told me exactly what i was looking for. Now, as soon as i can i will upload some pics and maybe someone could assess the condition of the plant for me.

I can say that the pseudobulbs look shriveled and spotty but are firm, not at all soft if that means anything.

I'm also excited to know that it can be a large plant and really hope i can provide an appropriate environment for it to thrive in. Pictures of the full blooms of this species look spectacular!!!

[norris]

Hi C-note, (I had to try out Freds new smile )There is so much good information on this forum! Did you see the post of the huge Oncidium in the dishpan? It is titled:
Individually insignificant but together---!
Jerry Delaney

[solay]

Kmarch, you have given me knowledge beyond my orchid years. Thank you.

C-note, Welcome and good luck with your new orchid. Norris is right. You need to see that thread for inspiration.

[patticake]

Welcome C-note! I've only seen Catts. in those bags around here. I have a few that I bought that way last year, and they're doing well. Oh, I let the Catt out of the bag! Good luck with it, and keep us posted on how it progresses.

[patlee]

Patti, I don't believe you said that!! I think a play on words--while it is usually kind of a stretch--is also usually hysterical Good one

[C-note]

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone...

So out of curiosity i decided to poke around at my plant a little more and upon examination the roots look AWFUL. very short and almost all dried up soft and papery not at all like healthy roots. Also seems to be some webby stuff, hope i don't have mites already. What do i need to do to ensure that this thing will survive and hopefully take to a fresh pot. As i said the pseudobulbs are quite shriveled and i suspect the plant has been living on reserves for a while. HelP!


And wow that is one huge specimen!

[norris]

C-note, I'm not sure what's going on with your roots, a pic might help. I got a couple ideas though. First they could be rotted in that case, I would try to cut all rotted roots, soak the plant in a solution of Superthrive(contains a rooting hormone) for an hour or so, then repot in the smallest pot that will allow a years growth, you can secure the plant into the pot with a rhizome clip.
The webbing could be fungus, or spider mites. I didn't think spider mites attack roots, but I'm not sure. Hopefully some members with more experience will be able to help you more

[C-note]

So two months and some TLC later I'm beginning to see some new root growth...

I hadn't touched it since my last post and have put it in an aquarium with some pebbles and water in the bottom to raise relative humidity. In addition I've been misting religiously with both plain water and some "worm poo" fertilizer.

It appears that I may yet lose one of the smaller pseudo bulbs and its leaf but ithe fact that it's putting out new roots keeps me encouraged.


Thanks for the great resource and I'll continue to update as the situation changes.