scrawny pseudobulb question

[boxerfan]

There's an orchid at a local Gourmet store, a Brsdm. I think that has caught my eye. It looks to be in pretty good shape except the pseudo bulbs are wrinkly. Should I resist the urge to bring this one home, is this not a problem, or is there something I can do to plump up the bulbs? Thanks, Lisa

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Wrinkly pseudobulbs on the Oncidium complex (OC) is pretty normal. As to if it has good roots, that is something that can only be determined by looking at the actual roots. I have had a couple of people report lately that they bought beautifully blooming OC's only to discover upon repotting that the plants had no roots, and it was not because they were rotted off, but the plant was probably broken off from the large mother plant with just opening blooms and placed in a pot for sale. Don't know how these were anchored to the pot since I did not see the actual plants, but I was told that the method of attachment involved using florist's foam. Dig around in the pot a bit until you can test a few roots with the gentle squeeze technique to see if the plant has at least some viable roots. If you don't like what you see, check the tag for a clonal name, then order one from somewhere else.

[jerrymeola]

I would avoid it.

Spider orchids are common and readily available later in the year. It is not the normal season for these to flower and this is why I would avoid it. At the least it has been forced out of season.

they should be plentiful and better quality in the late fall and early winter.

In general they do better in cool weather.

[Tinytopaz]

Hello everyone! I have a question that may be a bit repetitive for you all but here goes...
I have several orchids (well, several for me) and one of them a brsdm was given to me as a gift. It had six bulbs in one pot and each of them were thin but the plant is relatively healthy. Its been a year and I have had to seperate it into three pots with all the new growth it has had. But each new bulb is just as wrinkly, is this a bad thing or is it just skinny? I water all my orchids every four days by soaking them for twenty minutes, each are thriving but this one is not fattening up. Anyone have any ideas???

[tom499]

Older bulbs tend to be wrinkly. Its probably safer to repot the whole thing together and not divide. Then see how the new growth goes.

The new bulbs should be plump and round, and then maybe divide it up the year after


Dividing 6 bulbs into 3 pots, well thats two bulbs a pot. New growth will be alot slower with only two bulbs rather than 6

[Tobi]

Tinytopaz - As Cynthia stated above, it's not uncommon for the Oncidium
alliance to have wrinkly pseudobulbs. I have 2 Brsdms. that when I first got
them, the majority of pseudobulbs were somewhat wrinkled. The new bulbs
that grew however, were not that wrinkly. When you divided them, did the
root system look healthy? Usually when you divide a plant, you want at least
3 pseudobulbs per division.

[Tinytopaz]

Yes, the roots were rather healthy. I had to clip a few off but the majority were really good looking. Its taking off like crazy still, theres so much new growth on it it looks like I bought three seperate orchids that look alike. So should I take the crazy new growth as a good sign then and keep watering as I usually do?

[Tobi]

As long as the root system looks good then continue with your normal watering
regime. DON'T fertilize for a while until they have established a good root basis.
Keep them in shelted light. An east window with limited direct sunlight and they
should do just fine.