Odontocidium(colmanara) spike

[pikevi]

The spike from the orchid is growing and growing!. It appears to be thin and weak. Is something lacking(perhaps light)?

The way it is shooting up I may end up with puny little flowers

Any advice?

Thanks.

[flowerchild]

Originally Posted by pikevi

The spike from the orchid is growing and growing!. It appears to be thin and weak. Is something lacking(perhaps light)?

The way it is shooting up I may end up with puny little flowers

Any advice?

Thanks.

Pikevi my oncidium colomnara Wildcat 'leopard' is just bloomed, I think you are ok. You have to play the wait and see game!!!

[Ellen]

Wildcat spikes can get to be more than 2 feet tall even in high light, and it looks like yours is getting up there. Your plant looks green, so I would guess that your light is on the low side. The way I grow mine, the pseudobulbs and leaves have a purplish tinge to them, and the spike does too. Like Flowerchild, mine just finished blooming.

I would not change the lighting at this point, because you would risk burning the spike. Just get a longer stake and see what happens. Post pics and let us know how the flowers turn out.

[pikevi]

Thanks, flowerchild and Ellen.

I moved it to the 'heated' greenhouse today, but I kept the plant behind others to avoid direct sunlight. It is more like diffused light. Days are very good here but nights here still dip down to about 8C or lower.

I will wait but the 'stalk' is pretty thin.

Thanks again for the advice.

[jerrymeola]

The Ondontoglossum in its family tree is causing the thin spikes. They are usually classed with Brassia as spider orchids.

When hybridized with Oncidium they produce larger and more colorful flowers that just the Oncidium.

I have had Brassia with spikes almost 5 feet long and they were as thin as yours. This Brassia from last year is an example. It is the large spider on the left.

I bought the plant after the spikes were already 4 feet long, and it took 10 weeks for the flowers to open. Final size was 53 and 45 inches for the two spikes. For reference to judge the thickness of the stem, each flower is eight inches high.

[pikevi]

Thanks, jerrymeola.

The spike is only about 55cm (22" approx.) but is thin ,about 1/2 the diameter of a pencil.

Is it okay to apply some fertilizer with high phosphorous content now? I do have N,P,K:19,31,17.

Thanks