Newbie Question

[Kassey77]

I'm from Australia and we seem to have so many varieties of Oncidium Alliance orchids out at the moment. I bought some a few months ago and I'm now waiting for them to flower. I'm posting a picture of a Wilsonara I bought earlier. Does anyone know if it's ok for the older bulbs to be slightly shrivelled? I keep getting different responses.

[kmarch]

Hi Kassey and welcome to the forum. Lot's of Aussies here. It's not uncommon for older back bulbs to be a little shriveled. Occasionally one of them will have fulfilled its usefulness and it will dry up and turn brown. As long as your general culture is good and the rootsare healthy etc. There's no cause for concern.

On a different note. Your Wilsonara is LOVELY! Very nice shape and colour.

[Kassey77]

Thanks!
Websites and books only offer so much information so it'll be great to be able to contact some knowledgeable people when something goes wrong. Unfortunately the main bulb of that plant managed to rot from the inside, but I amputated the diseased area and sprinkled it with some sulfur. There are 2 tiny shoots, so fingers crossed. Any ideas on why, my chances of saving the plant and any recommendations?

[digitalgate]

i have never seen an old bulb(that has bloom and produced keiki) that is fat and plumb.

[kmarch]

It sounds like you acted quickly and correctly in removing the mushy bulb so that was good and of course the new growth is good. Do you have a good Oncidium culture sheet? If not check out the orchid care section of this forum or visit AOS | Home and look at their culture sheets. From this point on it sounds like good culture is all you need and your orchid should do fine.

Digitalgate, are you talking about another genus, Dendrobium perhaps? Oncidiums don't keiki.

[digitalgate]

i was saying any orchid in general, no just the Oncidium genus.