Onc. Twinkle 'Little Star' update and a few Onc. questions

[Olive Cook]

Here she is after I cut all of the damage off:

Onc Twinkle Little Star--after haircut-- 003.jpg

She doesn't look quite so sad now, however one of the bulbs was damaged slightly.

My Twinkle 'Pinkie' will be here soon, with heat pack. (I have a note on my door and in the mailbox to knock loudly since I'm expecting a live orchid.) So hopefully it will arrive in better shape. It's blooming size, but not in spike as far as I know.

My questions are:
How often do they spike once they are spiking age? I've been very upset about the loss of the 6 spikes the 'Little Star' had (4 budded, 2 just popping out) And I'd like to have some idea when to expect her to try again.

Also, since 'Pinkie' is blooming size, what is the time span to spike from now?

I realize that Twinkles are different from Sharry Baby, but I have a blooming size Sharry Baby that is doing well but no sign of spiking.
Are the time spans from blooming size to spiking different for the two plants?

Thanks all!

[orchidaddict789]

Hello! Actually your plant looks much better than it did in the previous photo. I guess with all the damaged leaves gone, it is good to see you still have some good ones left.

My Onc twinkle spikes once a year, usually during summer/fall (though this year, it spiked later and had just finished blooming last month). An easy way to tell is to look at the new growths. When they've swollen into new pbulbs, you should expect new spikes. So it all depends on the new growths. However, since your plant has been through some tough time, it may not bloom for a year or so.

My Sharry Baby bloomed about a couple weeks earlier than my Twinkle, I believe. I guess there's no set rule for when they'll bloom--just give them bright light, fertilizer, and all that good stuff. I put mine on a west-facing window with some good sunlight.

[Dendian]

I'm glad to see her looking soooo much better. They are so cute, aren't they?

I have yet to bloom my 'Pinky' (bought from the same vendor as yours and much smaller than the 'Little Star' one you got) and I bought mine bloom size in July. I don't think I have gotten the water/fert/light right just yet. If they usually bloom in summer/fall, then it passed its bloom time last year and I will have to wait until next bloom time this year. Ahhhh, well........

Thanks, orchidaddict789 for saying how to recognize when they are capable of spiking. Does this also apply to other Onc. alliance plants? I did rebloom one that I bought in April of last year, but it surprised me with that spike. (Very HAPPY surprise!)

[Irene]

Do the Twinkles all like the same culture?

My Red Fantasy was purchased, in bloom, in November. She's still blooming! Now with 3 new growths coming in.

I have her planted in a plastic pot that had parsley in it, previously. She's in a crappy bark, charcoal, whatever else, mix from Lowe's. I also mixed in a little sphag and draped the top with sphag. There is some styrofoam in the bottom. She sits inside a ceramic container that has a layer of pebbles and water in the bottom. Her pot sits on top of the pebbles. I water whenever the pot feels light. She sits in front of a SW window.

Dunno how I'm doing it, but, this one is my happiest plant.


ETA pictures:

From December
Twinkle.jpg

Today
100_0566.jpg

New growths (third one is tiny and still below the moss)
100_0562.jpg
100_0564.jpg

Pebbles inside ceramic pot
100_0567.jpg

Plant, parsley pot, ceramic pot
100_0568.jpg

[patticake]

It looks alot better! The first one that I got that was frozen, was a gonner. It was transparent, and within a few days, ka-put! I think there's hope in your case!