They just jumped in the trolly...Honestly!!!!

[Sarah_Racheal]

Hi Gang!
My OH very kindly took me to our local garden centre today and they were selling off their orchids! Everything was 50% off or more!
These guys just WOULDN"T stay out of the trolly, I did try to get them to stay on the shelves but they were having none of it.
Now I'm needing a little help with care for 2 of them as *Gasp* they aren't phals! One is Oncidium sweet sugar and the other is a zygopetalum (yes 3 NOID(ish) phals made it home with me ) Now all of these guys were drowned so I made a pain of myself and took them all out of the wrappers and pretty pots to have a really good poke around, I even pointed another shopper to the forum! A staff member walked over to see what on earth I was doing, we had a conversation about the care the plants get while they are at the garden centre and I'm left a little surprised by how much some staff know and how little others do, never mind thats a rant for another day. Moving on I thought I'd share some pics and ask what you thought I should do with both the Oncidium and the zygopetalum as I've never had them and don't really know what to look for to make sure they are getting the care they need.

Thank you guys and gals

(Apologies for the pic quality)

Oncidium pics




Zygopetalum pics



and I thought you might like to see these aswell

Yes I took it out of the vase and now it's drying out -



and this guy is tagged Asian dream but I'm not too sure about the name, the flowers are HUGE!!!

and sitting on the fire place



Last but not least I thought you might like to see a pot I picked up from ikea today, fab for slipping over 12cm plastic orchid pots. Its meant for cutlery!


Hope you enjoy the pics and can offer any advice.

Thanks
Sarah

[patticake]

Now look! I've heard that excuse before! (I've used it myself!) We all know that they didn't jump in your basket! They sneak in when no one's looking!

Seriously, they're beautiful! I love the Zygopetalum. They're all nice! Enjoy! I like the stainless steal basket for over he pots. I love to find unusual things to use for my chids, too!

[orchids4me]

Wow! Awesome find!!!
I get 2 stories regarding oncidiums. I have quite a few actually I find they like a tad bit more light than the phals the conflicting part was watering some things I've read say dry between waterings others like the Phal slightly moist but not completely dry between watering s. I've been trating mine like Phals but have mine in the front row of same window to get more light and like my Phals are on humidity trays. The Zygo I'm still learng my self I have 2 of the darker purple color (love yours by the way) my book says medium light, cool to mild nights and warm days givs no temp range, moderate humidity, keep evenly moist pot. So slunds like phal care there I think your set up and care for phals is compatible for all I have mine set up this way also for all 3 types just giving the onc. The front row of the window. The AOS link for culture will also have these if you want to check temps and cf light levels and humidity ranges can't link it with my phone maybe Kmarch or someone can like it to your thread for you.
Hope this helps
Emmaye

[berniep]

G'Day Sarah Racheal

Good pick up AOS sheets you need are here AOS | Zygopetalum
Lucky you didn't have a bigger basket lol.

Cheers
Bernie

[orchids4me]

Sarah-Rachael,
Sorry for all the typos up there. And cf meant fc the pain meds kicking in fingers slurring on phone buttons. My apologies.
Hopefully it made some sense lol
Emmaye

[jerrymeola]

Oncidium can take twice the light levels of Phals about 2000 foot candles and I find I can push it to 4000. Sweet Sugar is one of the easiest and a good one for your first. I have a neighbor with one 12 feet wide and 5 feet tall. I have grown them wet and also have allowed them to dry between waterings and both methods worked. Currently they are getting about 2 hours of rain a day and in the non-rainy season they go a week or more without watering.

Zygo grow in Phal light conditions and generally like it cooler. In an English home you will find your temperatures to be about perfect. They struggle sometimes in Florida heat. I would keep them slightly moist like Phals.

[orchids4me]

Thanks Jerry for clearing up the Onc. Watering I guess that's why its written both ways I thought my book was wrong since I've seen slighty moist more often and my book said dry .
Thanks again jerry
Emmaye

[Bolero]

They are the most athletic orchids I've ever seen. I bet they jumped a long way to land in that trolley.

Congratulations!

[Sarah_Racheal]

Thank you all loads for the advice
I'm really pleased I read the forum before I bought these, the onc is walking with greenfly, little buggers were hiding when I checked it over in the store! Thankfully all the new guys are quarentined away from my other plants (I am very quickly running out of rooms!)
I'll have to post a pic of my set up once everyone has been dunked in anti bug solution, so you guys can let me know what you think. Lighting is becoming a big issue now for me with all the plants on the window ledges my flat is getting rather dim lol