New Cherry Baby Questions

[Dihcro]

Today I bought a beautiful Cherry Baby at my local Farmer's Market and I have a few questions...

1. What species of orchid is it?
2. How often should I water it?
3. How much should I water it?
4. Anything else I should know?

Thanks

[-k-]

Does the tag read Cherry Baby or Sharry Baby?
Both are of the Oncidium family
culture sheet link:
AOS | Oncidium

[Dihcro]

I bought it at my local farmer's market from a lady who grows them herself. She referred to them as Cherry Babies and then before I left she said that it's called a Cherry Baby. Plus, it's cherry colored... so I'm pretty sure it's a Cherry Baby.
Thanks for the link to that website! It's helpful.
And also, I have one more question. Do I ever need to trim it? If so, how and when?

[Phalcycle]

Originally Posted by Dihcro

Today I bought a beautiful Cherry Baby at my local Farmer's Market and I have a few questions...

1. What species of orchid is it?
2. How often should I water it?
3. How much should I water it?
4. Anything else I should know?

Thanks

As -K- mentioned, it is an orchid in the oncidium alliance.
I water all my oncdiums and alliances, every 4-5 days, in summer and 6th day in winter. I am in Zone 6, and currently I am having 90+ days and 70- nights. I am watering every 4 days as they dry out. It all depend on the season, temps, and your own conditions.
With all orchids, I use a hose, and run water through it until it generously pours out the bottom. This way you know all roots get moisture, not just one side of the pot.
Oncidiums like humidity between 50-60%, so I would put them on a humidity tray, if you dont have a humidifyer.
They grow psuedobulbs. which are those round plump 'bulbs' under the leaf. There store water for the plant, and and it will be fine after the plant is old, for it to get wrinkles.

[Phalcycle]

Originally Posted by Dihcro

Today I bought a beautiful Cherry Baby at my local Farmer's Market and I have a few questions...

1. What species of orchid is it?
2. How often should I water it?
3. How much should I water it?
4. Anything else I should know?

Thanks

As -K- mentioned, it is an orchid in the oncidium alliance.
I water all my oncdiums and alliances, every 4-5 days, in summer and 6th day in winter. I am in Zone 6, and currently I am having 90+ days and 70- nights. I am watering every 4 days as they dry out. It all depend on the season, temps, and your own conditions.
With all orchids, I use a hose, and run water through it until it generously pours out the bottom. This way you know all roots get moisture, not just one side of the pot.
Oncidiums like humidity between 50-60%, so I would put them on a humidity tray, if you dont have a humidifyer.
They grow psuedobulbs. which are those round plump 'bulbs' under the leaf. There store water for the plant, and and it will be fine after the plant is old, for it to get wrinkles.


Trimming, Cut spikes near growth, and wait until next year. Consider repotting too.
Unlike Phal, it can't send subspike after it has bloomed

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by Dihcro

Today I bought a beautiful Cherry Baby...
1. What species of orchid is it?

To begin with, it is not a species at all. It is a hybrid. Species orchids are orchids as they are found in the wild, unhybridized.

Secondly, it's important to establish whether you indeed have a Cherry Baby or a Sharry Baby. It's important because they are not both Oncidiums as -K- suggested. Sharry Baby is an Oncidium but Cherry Baby is a Phalaenopsis. These two orchids Oncidiums and Phalaenopsis take different culture.

Does your flower look like this or this or does your plant look like this?

or

Does the plant look more like this or this?

Originally Posted by Dihcro

2. How often should I water it?
3. How much should I water it?

There are no simple answers to this. Watering amount and frequency depend on what kind of orchid it is (Oncidium or Phal), how hot and/or dry it is in your growing area, what it is potted in (how fast the mix dries out),etc.

It's best to learn what the orchid needs then water as much or as little as oyu need in order to give it what it wants.

Originally Posted by Dihcro

4. Anything else I should know?

Well you do need to figure out if ti is na Oncid or a Phal, that's key, but then after that you need a good culture sheet like those found ion this forum in the Orchid Care section or at AOS | Members Only Area.

[-k-]

-Kevin- Thanks for the correction and sorry for providing incorrect info; I did some research and found several described as a Cherry baby in the Onc. family with photo's. But with the amount of Pseudo names out there I guess I fell victim.

[Dihcro]

[QUOTE=kmarch]
Does your flower look like this or this or does your plant look like this?

My flower is like between both of those. The top petals of the flower are maroon, and the bottom petal is light purple with a white center. I'll post some pictures later.

[Dihcro]

Here's some pictures...





They flowers smell pretty.
Maybe next time I'll make the pictures a bit smaller...

[Ochin@]

Yep, that's definitely a Oncidium Sharry Baby. Follow the instructions on the culture sheet -K- posted, and you'll be fine.

Beautiful pics by the way!

[Dihcro]

What's the difference between a Sharry Baby and a Cherry Baby Are they both hybrids Is one more rare than the other
Honestly they look more like Cherry Babies to me judging by the pictures kmarch posted. The lady I bought from had 1 Sharry Baby that looked exactly like the picture kmarch posted, and she had like 5 of the ones like I got. Plus, the petals on mine are more red than purple.

[-k-]

Having never seen a "Cherry baby" it's hard to say if one exists or not. I did some research and found photo's of what some claim is a Cherry baby but this does not seem to be correct.
Sharry Baby on the other hand I am very familar with and yes it is a Hybrid , and produce very beautiful fragrant blooms.

[Dihcro]

So it's most likely a Sharry Baby?

[Ochin@]

Since Kmarch specified that Cherry Baby is a Phalaenopsis hybrid. yours is most likely a Sharry baby as the pics you posted are of an Oncidium, not a Phal. Also, all Sharry Baby aren't exactly the same color, so it being a different color from what Kmarch posted as examples does not mean it is not a Sharry Baby.

Sharry Baby is nicknamed the chocolate orchid because of its fragrance. Does yours smell of chocolate?

[-k-]

Originally Posted by Dihcro

So it's most likely a Sharry Baby?

Yes! You have a Onc. Sharry Baby

[Shannara]

I concur with everyone about it being a Sharry Baby. They are fairly common due to their popularity for their powerful fragrance.

I would use that care guide sheet -K- posted from the AOS website to help you with its care requirements...

Shann~

[Dihcro]

Smells more like lilac to me and my dad. My dad said it smells a little like chocolate...

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by Dihcro

Here's some pictures...

If this is your plant, you have an Oncidium Sharry Baby. As others have pointed out it is a very popular hybrid, one that is easily found and which many orchidgeeks members have in their collections.

Originally Posted by Dihcro

What's the difference between a Sharry Baby and a Cherry Baby

As I've already explained in my post above (#6):

Originally Posted by kmarch

Sharry Baby is an Oncidium but Cherry Baby is a Phalaenopsis. These two orchids Oncidiums and Phalaenopsis take different culture.

Originally Posted by Dihcro

Are they both hybrids Is one more rare than the other

Yes, both Onc Sharry Baby and Phal Cherry Baby are both hybrids. As I and others have pointed out Sharry Baby is easily found while Phal Cherry Baby is not.

Originally Posted by Dihcro

Honestly they look more like Cherry Babies ... the petals on mine are more red than purple.

Are you saying this based only on the colour of the petals? Or have you found pictures of a Phal Cherry Baby somewhere? You need to take a look at the whole plant and the shape of the flower, not just the colour.

Flowers aside, the plants of Sherry Baby and Cherry Baby will look completely different. Oncidiums (Sharry Baby) have elongated pseudobulbs with long narrow leaves coming off the top of the pseudobulb and possible off the sides from the base. A Phalaenopsis (Cherry Baby) will have probably about 4-6 leathery broad leaves that lie fairly flat and will not have a pseudobulb. Take another look at the pics I linked to. You'll easily be able to see the difference.

All of this is academic though because the pictures you've posted are pics of Onc Sharry Baby.

Originally Posted by Dihcro

My dad said it smells a little like chocolate...

Onc Sharry Baby is sometimes called the "chocolate orchid" because many people think it smells like chocolate.

[Orchidementia]

It's definitely NOT a Phalaenopsis Cherry Baby - or any phalaenopsis at all. Phalaenopsis orchids don't have pseudobulbs, the enlarged, ovoid part at the base of the leaf that oncidiums (and many other orchids) have. If you look at your plant, you'll see them. It's an Onc Sharry Baby, just as everyone has said; and as everyone has said, just follow the culture sheet K gave you! They're easy and fun!

[Orchidementia]

KMarch - jinx! But you said it better, of course

[Dihcro]

Today at the hospital I saw an Ocidium that looked just like a Sharry Baby, but it had larger flowers. Is it still a Sharry Baby or is it something else? Can the flowers be different sizes?

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by Dihcro

Today at the hospital I saw an Ocidium that looked just like a Sharry Baby, but it had larger flowers. Is it still a Sharry Baby or is it something else?

It's impossible to say without seeing the orchid or knowing the name. Sometimes different orchid hybrids can lookalike and sometimes different plants of the same hybrid can look completely different. We call this hybrid variation.

Originally Posted by Dihcro

Can the flowers be different sizes?

Yes they can. You can have different size flowers on different plants of the same cross, and oyu can even have different size flowers on the same plant.

[jerrymeola]

Dihcro

your confusion starts in that both of the photo links in Kevin's post are Sharry Baby just two common color variations 'Sweet Fragrance' is white on the lip and 'Red Fantasy' is almost all red. Yours leans toward 'Red Fantasy'. There is also a new variation this year lightly trimmed in yellow. The best ID in the world is that this is the chocolate orchid because of its scent like a Hershey chocolate bar. The second set of links show the leaves of a Phalaenopsis. You should always ID families of plants by the leaf structure and ignor the flower.

Dtps. Cherry Baby (Phal. equestris x Dtps. Del Dios) is very different. It is also a 1991 hybrid and probably not in production anymore. Especially with hybrid Phalaenopsis the growers try new combinations every year and very few are ever made again. They are not rare but have nothing special that justifies keeping them in production.

[Dihcro]

Oh OK! I was confused. Thank you!

[Dihcro]

The flowers are all about to fall off (because of age). Do I cut the spike back like I do with phals, or do I just leave it

[-k-]

Cut them back...

[Dihcro]

I was told to cut above the 3rd notch on Phals. Where do you cut them on Oncidiums?

[Phalcycle]

Phals are the only type of orchid that can be forced to rebloom off of an old flowering spike. Only cut off at the second or third node for that reason.
If it is a spent spike, cut it as close to the plant, without hurting the plant, and add cinnamon.

Oncidiums would be the same, cut as close to the plant without hurting it. Oncidiums can't be reflowered.

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by Dihcro

I was told to cut above the 3rd notch on Phals. Where do you cut them on Oncidiums?

You just cut the whole dead spike off. Most oncidiums dont' re-flower off the same spike like phals do.

[Dihcro]

OK thank you!