Onc. Mendenhall mounted?

[Vivienne]

Hi everyone!

I have/had 2 struggling plants - an Onc. Mendenhall 'Hildos' and a Howeara Lava Burst.

The Howeara I finally figured out was retaining too much moisture. I kept loosing pbulbs to rot. I have just mounted it to cork. Looks great! Hope it survives.

The Onc. Mendenhall was given to me in bad shape. VERY shriveled pbulbs but 3 nice leaves... and one spike which already bloomed. The spike was broken... now trimmed to below the break. It has done nothing the past month... hasn't gotten any worse, but hasn't gotten any better. I'm thinking of mounting that to cork as well. Suggestions??? If mounting, which way with the leaves - up or down or sideways?? HELP!!!

[Vivienne]

And another question on the Onc. Mendenhall 'Hildos'. I was told this is not the Psychopsis version but the Onc version. Are there actually different ones? Or are all Onc. Mendenhall 'Hildos' actually Psychopsis?? I'm confused!

[prisana]

Hi Vivienne, I haven't any onc mounted, but I've seen the ones Jerry and Fred posted. I think the oldest growth should be on the outside and the newer ones up against the mount so that a new growth when it pops out will be rooting on the mount going upward.

It's not much help, but just an idea. My first time mounting for me was pretty stressful..as I had no idea how to mount it but I don't really think it matters..mine looked like heck but it's growing new roots and growths everywhere now...good luck Vivienne..

[Vivienne]

Thanks prisana. The books I have mention cork mounting for Onc. Mendenhall so I think that's what I'll do here shortly. Now to figure out which way to mount. Your explanation of the new growth toward the top certainly makes sense. Hopefully the roots will help guide me. LOL This thing looks awful right now. I don't think I can really 'hurt' it any more.

[fred]

Vivienne
Have you had a look at this thread to give yourself some ideas with mounting oncids.
Cork is a good backing for mounting.

Oncidium Mounting

[Vivienne]

While I remain very puzzled about the Onc. Mendenhall 'Hildos' / Psychopsis Mendenhall 'Hildos' similarity or difference, I did decide to mount the very sad plant.

I also redid the Howeara mount to change it's orientation on the cork.

[janet_a]

that looks like a very nice mount. my local group went to a demo on mounting on sunday; staples, fishline, cork, tree fern, small logs--all were used. coir and sphag for backing. and a propane torch. since you're in CO, are you planning on misting it, or do you have a GH?

don't know what was up with your Hwra; mine's in a 3 inch pot in straight sphag, and grows and blooms and grows and blooms. of course it could fall over dead tomorrow, but so far it seems happy.

we will, of course, want pictures when they bloom.

[Vivienne]

Janet - the Howeara - got me. It just faded and faded. I'm relatively certain that it had some damage in shipping - back in Feb when this one arrived we were in the thralls of several blizzards. But that was back in Feb. I've tried repotting it, moving it around in varying light, etc. When I mounted it last night the roots felt nice and firm, whitish in color. There is one new growth so I'm hopeful!

All my orchids are in my atrium. They are misted daily and my 3 mounts are all located within 3 feet of one of the 2 humidifiers in the room. Fingers are crossed!

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by Vivienne

While I remain very puzzled about the Onc. Mendenhall 'Hildos' / Psychopsis Mendenhall 'Hildos' similarity or difference, I did decide to mount the very sad plant.

Originally Posted by Vivienne

And another question on the Onc. Mendenhall 'Hildos'. I was told this is not the Psychopsis version but the Onc version. Are there actually different ones? Or are all Onc. Mendenhall 'Hildos' actually Psychopsis?? I'm confused!

Hi Vivienne,

Capitain nomenclature to the rescue! Here to alieve your puzzlement over the name of your plant!

Onc. Mendenhall 'Hildos' and Psychopsis Mendenhall 'Hildos' are the exact same plant. Back in the 70's & 80's four Oncidium species were split off and renamed Psychopsis. The names became generally accepted by the scientific community and most importantly for our purposes were accpeted by the RHS for the registration of hybrids. It's certainly possible that there were a few tags out there that were never updated to say Psychopsis Mendenhall 'Hildos' and it sounds like that was the case with your plant.

From you second post, it sounds like someone may have thought there was both an Oncidium and a Psychopsis Mendenhall and that they were different plants. This is not the case. The RHS database contains only the registration for Psychopsis Mendenhall; no registration for Oncidium Mendenhall.

Once the plant gets back on its feet and starts blooming, don't cut the spikes off because they continue to re-bloom sequentially for years and years. A member of my orchid society back in the US had one of these with about 7 spikes on it. It was in nearly every show we exhibited at and always had 3-5 flowers on it.

Cheers!

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by janet_a

...and a propane torch.

Propane torch!?!?! Good lord, what was that used for? I've mounted only about 25-30 orchids but never used a propane torch! What are they doing welding the plant to the mount?

[Vivienne]

Kevin - My Captain! You've rescued my puzzled brain again! I was told that there were both a Psychop and Onc. Now I'm clear and will write up a new tag!

So very upset that the spike broke. Pooh! Should I cut it back all the way now or does it have a chance to rebloom from the broken spike? Given the sad state of the pbulbs... which would be the better option?

I really hope this one makes it!

[kmarch]

Psycopsis are not like Phals, they won't branch and rebloom off the same stem, so you could trim it the rest of the way off. Given the stressed state of your plant it's actually probably a good thing the spike broke. This way the plant will not be expending energy blooming and instead can channel its energy to establishign itself and growing stronger. It will send out more spikes when it is ready.

[Vivienne]

Thanks once again Kevin! I'll get the sterile blade out in the morning and get it trimmed all the way back. My new mission - make this plant live and bloom again

[Vivienne]

An update on the Psychopsis Mendenhall that I have been trying to rescue.

Today I found NEW GROWTH!!!!!! I am beyond excited about this. Too early to tell if it's a new bulb or a spike. I don't even care at this point. Any new growth is an awesome thing on this sick little plant.

[prisana]

Congrats, Vivienne..new growths always bring me new hope..and hope is very good... Excellent !!

[diamondsword]

I have noticed that some information that I have come across on the internet indicated that some refer to these plants as Psychopsis and some Oncidium. I believe the Psychopsis is a kind of Oncidium. I have had 4 or 5 of these plants - Oncidium Mendenhall 'Monarch' that I have ended up giving away as gifts because they just keep on cranking out flowers from the same stem. The one I gave my mother 3 years ago is still producing flowers. I have an Oncidium Mendenhall 'Hildos' that I purchased at an orchid show at the beginning of the year. I noticed that it appeared to have very shriveled pseudobulbs after about a month. I had it in a SW window under an orchid I have in a basket. When I water the basket, the Oncidium (or Psychopsis) gets some run off from the basket. It sits over a humidity tray and I don't water it often. The pseudobulbs have plumped up, probably more from the humidity than my watering. I have broken the flower stalks before and they have always continued to grow so yours should too. I currently have a total of three of these plants. One of them has three flower stalks that have been inching along to a bud for months. The flowers are very incredible.

Mary