Did it again!!

[oncidiumlover]

I must have gotten water in my new growth on my oncidium, again! It's turning brown and transparent!
Does anyone have any tips on how to water without getting water into the new growths? This is not the first time I've done this. I was trying to be soo careful. I take it to the sink and let water from a pitcher run through the bottom.
I was so excited that I did such a good job repotting that I had two new growths, and I went and killed one of them!!!
Someone please help, I don't want to hurt my babies!

[brookn]

Hi, could you get a pic?

[oncidiumlover]

Okay, here's the pics, The last is of the second new growth, which is a little higher up on the pseudobulb, so hopefully I won't be able to damage that one. The first two are of the one that I've attempted to murder, see how the bottom is becoming see through?

[trinigirl]

Hi,

Looks like your plant is being overwatered.

You said you take it to the sink, maybe you could just soak it for a few minutes instead of pouring water with the pitcher.

New growth is susceptible to rot if water gets inside the middle and stays there.

Good luck!

[CharliesAngel51]

I mostly soak my orchids. I too was killing mine when I first started to grow them. I was having the same problem as you, letting water set up on them. Now I soak them in a pan of water just letting the water level get to the top of the potting mix and not up on the plant. If I suspect that there might be moisture on the plant, I turn on the ceiling fan for a while to help dry it off. I know some people water their orchids by letting water run all over the top. That doesn't work for me.

I hope this helps. I know it is no fun to kill orchids. A real bummer.

[oncidiumlover]

Thank you both, I just started using the skewer method, so we'll see how that works out. She normally only gets watered once a week, we'll see if the skewer says that's too often. I'll start soaking it instead of running it through and see if that helps. Last year I killed 2 of the four new growths, I didn't realize how sensitive they were. You live and you learn.

[Brooke]

Pour some peroxide over the bad looking area. You "might" be able to halt the problem.

Brooke

[hulaorchid]

Try watering from the other side of the plant also! It looks like its still trying to grow! Good luck! Watering is a tricky thing for me also!

[brookn]

The problem looks bacterial to me, and Brooke is right, try peroxide. I recommend doing it now, and then in approx. 3 days. It does look a bit over-watered, so the skewer should help. I am one that hoses my plants in the sink, and generally don't have a problem, I use fans to provide good airflow. Could you tell me what the temps have been around this plant? Sometimes this problem can come with water in crevices, and temps a little low. Good luck!

[benetay]

I plant my onc in half moss & they get water by either from the tap or i use a spoon to water it. I let them dry out quite a bit before watering again. I have quite great success with sphag & onc.

I think you are watering it too much & once the water goes into the new growth, it is best to turn on a fan to blow dry it or use a tissue to dab it. I'm sure it will throw a new growth pretty soon. I accidentally 'clip' off mine & in a couple of weeks, another new growth came from the other side!

No worries!!

Cheers!

[oncidiumlover]

I bought this plant last year from Hilltop orchids, it was in a 4 1'2"wide, 5" tall black plastic pot, I had been watering it once a week as per their instructions. I repotted two weeks ago into a 6" wide, 4 1/2" tall clear plastic pot. I used the mix I purchased from hilltop at the spring orchid show last month. The roots actually looked really good, mostly white or tan and firm, only had to cut off a few here and there. I soaked th roots of the plant in water with a few drops each of kln and superthrive, for about 3 hours. I didn't soak the mix because it's pretty fine stuff, mooslty peat, pearlite and fine firbark, I think, and it looked pretty wet in the bag, there was condensation inside the bag.
I watered just under a week later because the top of the mix had looked dry for a couple of days, I thought since the mix was new, it might not retain water as well. I took it to the sink and ran water through and let it drain in a bowl for a little bit before putting it back in it's home.
When I watered I inserted a skewer, so I could stop having doubt about when to water. I have a fan going at least 12 hours a day in my growing area, on low which is enough to make the leaves move. The all sit in an east window in rocks and water for humidity on top of a wooden radiator cover (all of my windows have radiators under them). For the last coulple of weeks my apartments been between 68 and 72 all day, it's usually a few degrees colder, but it's been really sunny lately. Humidity is around 30 percent. I mist in the morning or early afternoon, depending on my work schedule. See pics below.





it's been four days since I watered and the skewer still looks very wet, as you can see in the second picture, so I'm sure that I did water it too soon.

[oncidiumlover]

I put some peroxide in the new growth and just between the outer leaves on the one next to it, since it was sarting to look a little funny too, which I didn't notice til I looked at the pics I posted. Unfortunately, I was trying to open up the leaves a little on the new growth so it would run down in and I pulled it right out!
I'm just not gentle enough, too clumsy. I'll let you know if it helps the older growth.
Thanks for all of your help.
Benetay, I had a phal in sphag that was packed lightly from the grower and it rotted, it took well over a week to dry. I think my apartment is just too cold in the winter, usually between 65 and 68F all day. In the summer on the other hand, It gets inot the 90s in here, I have a fan on my babies 24/7 then.

[brookn]

Okay, I like lots of info . Here's my thoughts, and if it gets too stream of thought on you forgive me, I get a little scatterbrained with kids and college lol.

I don't think the temperature is too cold, and if the leaves sway with the fan that should be good enough to dry it. I would say that it is not an open enough mix, but I have one in pure sphag that does great, I do let it get very dry before watering. I still think it's the mix. There is a grower on here that swears it carries a fungus that made her plants sick. She continued to use it with liberal applications of fungicide. Her reason, she lives in the desert and needed the moisture. I don't think that you need the moisture however, I would bet your humidity is sufficient.

Okay, so I don't like a peat mix, I find it too dense and clingy. My favorite grower uses a heavy mix with bark and peat (lots of growers do), it works beautifully for them, and when the plants come to me I repot or slowly kill them. I find that up to 2 weeks after watering this mix it can still be pretty damp in the middle and bone dry outside of this. For me it seems that it dries the roots in the outer sections too much and rots the ones in the middle essentially really messing the plant up.

Sooooo, you could turn up the fan and water less, or repot with different mix, or repot with this mix and open it up with perlite or something similar. I hate to see you have to repot though, as this is really going to make your plant mad and can't be good on already stressed roots. Good luck, hopefully it's food for thought, and I still don't think that you got water into crevices and it caused this. I think that it's coming probably roots up the peroxide should help, and you can spray leaves and crevices with cinnamon spray after watering.

[oncidiumlover]

Cinnamon spray? Just water and cinnamon? What ratio? What does the cinnamon spray do?
I did just order some cocogro coir, medium sponge rock, medium charcoal and medium coco husk chips to repot my phal, if I do repot, do you think this mix would do well for the oncidium? I read a thread where alot of people really liked it, so I thought I'd give it a try.
I actually did read the growers thread about the fungus in the peat just last night, and it started to get me worried.
It doesn't look like I put it in too big of a pot, does it? I was trying to go by the roots, and I thought this pot, being short and fat as opposed to tall and skinny, was about one size up.
Do you think it's possible that I packed the mix too tight? I read somewhere to pack it in there pretty good so the plant wouldn't move, so I did.
Oooh, so many things it could be. I just hate to hurt them. I talk to them plenty, I wish they could talk back and tell me what's wrong.
Thank you for all of your thought on this, I really do appreciate it.

[brookn]

Well, not to play toot my own horn, but the spray I see it called the Brookn's spray a lot. Here is a link to it: The Best Stuff Ever!!!

Um let's see, the mix I have never used, but I imagine it is like the mix you are using without the dangers of the peat. That's not to knock the mix, you gotta use what works for you. I had to learn by trial and error with different things, different combinations. I still am trying new things as I branch out with different types of orchids, or to help one that is not doing so well. I actually have Oncids in 3 different types of mixes depending on what works for the plant, so you should go with what you feel would be best. I hesitate to recommend a specific mix that may or may not work for you.

The pot is hard to tell, it looks like your newest growth is very close to the edge. This is a pretty mature plant, and you need to give it room in it's pot for about a year's growth. You also want give the roots just enough room to grow in that time also.

I don't pack my mix in tight, as I worry about damaging the roots. Others pot this way. I shake the pot and tap the mix in by tapping the pot on the counter while I am filling it in. Then I water the mix in with my sprayer to settle some more, and fill in with more medium if necessary. If you are worried about it moving around you can stake it or tie it as you are potting. If it still has good roots there should be enough to hold it steady, but be careful not to bury any of the pbulbs as that can also lead to problems. Once it's growing roots and established it should not move around.

You and your plant will be fine, and you are not hurting it. You are just trying to be a good mom.

[oncidiumlover]

I bought some cinnamon extract, so I will mix some up tomorrow and spray in the morning. I'll wait until it's dry to water again, which hopefully won't be to long. How often should I spray? just once? once a day? once a week?
Thank you for all your help and support. I'll update as soon as there is a change, hopefully for the better.

[oncidiumlover]

Okay, the change was not for the better. I had not watered the plant again, the skewer still showing the mix to be quite wet, and could see condensation inside of clear pot, but some of the leaves started turning yellow. I started to really worry, because she's getting more light because the days are longer, so it's got to be that the roots aren't getting enough water. I decided to repot in a coconut mix (coir, chc, charcoal, sponge rock, and turkey grit) and have a good look at the roots.
Well, there weren't many roots left, and most of them wer dark brown and yucky. Had to put in a much smaller pot, 3 1/2 inch I think, smaller than the pot I purchased it in. New pot is semi clear and has slits in the side, hopefully help it dry out faster. This pot was a pretty tight fit with peanuts in the bottom, so hopefully she'll start to perk up.
I soaked the roots in worm tea for about 1/2 hour before potting, then ran worm tea through the mix when finished potting.
I think I originally potted in too big of a pot and watered too soon after potting. Live and learn.
My question, should I put her back home in front of the widow, or leave her in a shadier part of the house for now? Should I let her get very, very dry before watering again? Is it good to spray the leaves with worm tea every now and again?
There are two new growths, very small, with new roots popping out of them, should I spritz the top of the mix every day to make sure those new air roots get water?
pics of newly potted below










Notice the yellowing leaves on newer growth, and the oldest larger growth as well.
also was going to remove pseudobulb with nasty black section when repotting, but one of the newer growths was attached to it, didn't want to harm it.