Help with my Odcdm Catatante

[Amblnc38]

Alright, I've been watching the bulbs closely on the advice of a forum member. Now I'm genuinely concerned. They parts tucked away in the other leaves are mushy!

Should I remove it at this point? If so....how do I do that safely?!?

[gabi_borza]

Oh my, that's not looking good at all! That pseudobulb has started to rot! I doubt that you can save anything at this point. Is that the only pseudobulb in the pot?

[Amblnc38]

No, there is one other "mature" pbulb and one immature one. Should I cut it off? :\

I water it regularly (as needed, probably every 4 days) and try not to get any water in the leaves....and when I do I q-tip it out.

[kiwiloniwi]

That is one bad looking pbulb you got there,i syggest cut it of and wipe some fungacide on the cut surface and throw the other part a way,and also try not to keep any roots of that pbulb in the pot .

[Amblnc38]

I will do that in the morning. I guess she's gonna get re-potted into lava rocks now too.

[gabi_borza]

Repot the plant ASAP and cut off the rotten part, including rotten roots of the other pbulbs (if there are any bad ones).

[Amblnc38]

I feel like I did something wrong, but I think it's been rotten since I bought it. I guess I learned to go with my instincts about the plants as a total and not just bu for the flowers. I figured it was just discolored from being behind the leaves.

[Greybeard]

I can't help with that one but it looks as if your getting great advice I hope you can save it Good luck

[Amblnc38]

The rotten pbulb is in the the middle of the plant. So I've ended up with two plants, one mature pbulb & one immature bulb each. Both sides have new growths. God willing this will work.

Should I put some rooting hormone on them? I have the powder stuff.

[Amblnc38]

Here's pictures of what I ended up with. There are new growths, like I said. So maybe....I'll get lucky.

The first picture is the plant before surgery. The second picture is of the rotten part, then of the two halves and potted.

[gabi_borza]

You might consider using a root growth stimulator (like superthrive) for your plant, as I can't see any good roots. I have had success with rootless phals and catts, but I don't know about oncidiums. Anyway, it is worth trying.

[Ray]

Just speculation on my part, but I'd bet this is the entire scenario:

Plant was watered late in the day, so the stuff left in the leaf axils near the pseudobulbs did not evaporate fully, and was the ideal "nursery" for fungi and bacteria.

The plant contracted an infection from it - most likely black rot from the fungi genera phytophthora or pythium. By being kept dry, it did not appear to advance, but such an infection is is systemic and can spread through the rhizomes.

[Amblnc38]

@Gabi, there are some good roots growing above the soil, they are just blurred in those pictures. I will fertilize them more than I do my others for a month or so. I hope I can save them. I love this(ese) plant(s).

@Ron, I always water in the morning, no later than 1pm. The bulb had that appearance when I bought it. Thankfully my Brassia doesn't seem to have the issue, as they were purchased together.

The only thing I "water" after that time is my Tolumnia which I just mounted and that's only to mist it, that and my Tilandisa.

[Leafmite]

If the remaining growths are free of the infection, they should both take off in the lava rock. Oncidiums prefer to be watered frequently but to dry very quickly. With my oncidiums, I filled the bottom of the pot with very large pieces of rock, staked my newly acquired rootless, sickly, plant on top, then added some medium rock for added stability. It took my newest one a few weeks but the roots are growing very nicely now. The Sharry Baby, acquired two years ago, is now two plants and next summer will probably be four. That one grows very fast. I'm pretty confident that you will have the same experience.
Good Luck!
Leafmite

[Amblnc38]

So, I'm probably not watering them enough. I'll up it to once every two days and see how it goes from there.

Ooh, I want a Sharry Baby, but haven't had the cash to order online. >)

[otis 226]

Good luck with bringing it back. Thanks for the pics. I like the idea of the clips holding the wooden tie down in place.
Tony

[Amblnc38]

Thanks! I'm just too cheap to buy rhizome clips and those are bamboo reed disffuser stakes, so they are anti-bacterial.

[otis 226]

Excellent. I love the idea of improvising whenever I can and saving bucks for more plants
Are those large paper clips holding the bamboo diffuser down?
Tony

[Amblnc38]

Yup, they're they're the plastic coated ones. I have a huge box laying around.

I'm pretty sure you can get the reed difusers at Bed Bath & Beyond for $2 for 30 or 40.

[gabi_borza]

Amblnc38 if your conditions do not allow your medium do get almost dry in 2 days, you should not water so often. You will only cause root rot to the remaining good ones. And also, using fertiliser more frequently than you usually do (How often do you fertilise, by the way) will not help ypur plant very much, as it doesn't have many good roots. What you need is a root growth stimulator.

[Amblnc38]

The air here is really dry. I have stakes in them and don't water unless they are completely dry.

I have some Super Thrive that I put a few drops in every two weeks. I have some miracle grow powder stuff too.

[Puddy1]

Thanks for this thread Ambinc38. I now have Oncidiums (& intergenerics) so this gives me a bit more detail on the care. Good luck with yours & hope to see pics of your future blooms!!!! Oh...and I too liked your paperclip idea.

[Amblnc38]

The other piece died, litterally turned to mush. This is the other part of the plant which seems to be holding on pretty well. The new growth is slowly getting bigger.