Onc. Heaven scent rebloom!

This is my first rebloom from a newly spiked plant, which makes this exciting!

I have gotten one email asking what was my method for coaxing my H.R. Redolence to spike, and it actually made me scratch my head and laugh before I answered it. The email made me noticed that I did NOTHING SPECIAL!  I provided it with lots and lots of light, watered once a week, and didn't even fertilize once since it was practically dying from what I now believe was root decay. 

The blooms are scented like last year, a very sweet vanilla-chocolate-cakey aroma. The color is a bit different: more bright of a red compared to last years purplish-brick color.

I'm simply delighted :)

Onc. Heaven scent ready to bloom

     Just want to quickly update the status of Oncidium HSR. The two spikes have matured quickly and are ready to start pushing out buds. I have staked them but they seem to curve to the light no matter what.

     The pseudobulb is finally showing itself and seems to be getting a bit plumper as time passes. I'm assuming the somewhat direct light from the new window it is sitting in is making this onc. very happy.

Onc. heaven scent 'redolence' in spike

     Welcome to Rutgers U :)

     Haven't been able to post this update because Im so busy with school. Onc. HSR has put out two bloom spikes about 3 weeks ago and they are still growing strong. Lots and lots of new roots are growing, which is great because the old ones were rather dead to begin with.

     Wonder how many blooms these spikes will produce...

     Please excuse the darkness of the photos. Apartment living on campus proves to have little lighting!

General Growth Update

Tol. Tequila Sunrise with 3 new blooms from an extension

      Nothing much exciting going on right now. Mostly roots growing like crazy, so I will compile it into one post.

     My tolumnia has been doing well for now and has put out a new fan. It is growing slowly and crooked towards the light coming through my window.

A bright baby green shoot in the middle. Sorry for the poor photo.

     The new pseudobulb on Onc. Heaven Scent is maturing quick and has put out a few roots. I have since cut off the leaf that was obstructing the roots from reaching the bark. They have turned around and started growing into the media.

     Another leaf is growing out of Phal. Floppy Jack, along with 3 more roots. It is really exploded with new growth and any old roots and leaves are quickly withering away. I am unsure if this is a good sign or a bad one. I guess time will tell.

     Phal. Green is also showing signs of another new leaf poking through the crown. The last leaf has grown small (just like most other ones that have grow in my window sill) from poor light.



     Now that it is July, I am slowly starting to compile things needed to set up the anticipated college-bound orchid terrarium. I have bought a small clamp light that will use a grow-light and a medium-sized dome light to rest on top of the tank and provide full-spectrum lighting. I have dismembered an old tower computer I had for its two cooling fans to provide a breeze.

     I have also started making a McGyvered humidity/ misting system using an old cool-mist humidifier using a how-to I found on Orchidboard.

     I am leaving the most expensive purchase for last: An Exo-Terra tank.

Random growth updates.

BL Yellow Bird

    BL Yellow Bird has actually become more yellow, and the second bud has finally opened. The purple splotches are still very prominent but this is very attractive to me.

Repotted Phal NoID "Ikea"

Trimmed roots of Phal NoID "Ikea"

     Phal "Ikea" finally dropped its booms. Both spikes were still very healthy, green and looked like they were going to bud again, but I would rather the plant focused on growing the two leaves it started. I heavily trimmed the roots, actually. They were very broken and unmanageable.  Ikea seems to man-handle their plants. :P

Phal NoID "Miker with 2 new buds

      Phal "Mikur dropped all its blooms after 2 months. Two more have developed and one is on the verge of opening.

Oncidium Heaven Scent 'redolence'

     Onc. Heaven Scent is growing another P/B. Not much more to say. :)

Onc. Heaven Scent 'redolence' final repotting

Fine coconut 'oncidium' mix from Repotme.com

      I finally received my medium! It has taken almost a month, but not at fault of the company - I did not complete my order like a fool and was waiting for a shipment that I never technically ordered! I was ecstatic to see the big box because it meant I could finally pot my oncidium properly. This will hopefully be the last potting for a while. I have definitely stressed this poor plant more than necessary.

    This onc. is now potted in a 4.5 inch clear pot. Its slightly too big but I stuffed some packing peanuts at the bottom to tighten things up.

     The plant is not the best looking right now, but at least its alive. That makes me very proud! The baby PB's have grown a bit since the last post. All is rather well.

Temporary repotting of Onc. Heaven Scent 'Redolence'.

    

Lots of healthy roots!

Oncidium in potting soil.

Edit #2: I would like to emphasize and make clear, this is NOT the proper way to pot an oncidium, and yes I am aware of that. This was only temporary.

     As mentioned in a pervious post, I did not repot Onc. Heaven Scent when I purchased it (which is what I usually do with new plants). I lacked supplies and wanted to appreciate the blooms for a bit longer. I placed it in growing area #2, since it receives more light than area 1 on my desk. My worst fears were that the Onc. was planted into something that was inappropriate for my growing conditions. Well, thats exactly what happened... 

     The pseudobulbs were starting to wrinkle lightly before I decided to de-pot the Onc.. Im glad I did because it was potted in soil! Washing away the soil wasn't too hard, and the roots were tangled but manageable and healthy. Once the soil was gone, I found heavily decomposed peat moss and sphagnum moss. Picking it away was a horrible experience, and Im sure I pulled off some roots in the process.

Baby nubbin - A future pseudobulb?

     While digging, I found a new, unseen growth! The little nubb with a leaf I found last time is another small P/B like suspected. A more mature bulb is showing signs of possible rot. There is also a very tiny growth towards the back - Im sure its a new P/B. 

Tiny P/B in front.  P/B on left with possible rot.

     I still do not have the right media for this oncidium, so it was temporarily potted in a 4" plastic pot with loose sphagnum. I am no longer concerned with the blooms since they are slowly starting to fall on their own. I hope my order of media and potts will arrive soon!

Oncidium Heaven scent in its temporary setting.
Growing area 2.

Edit: I have updated my repotting once again, properly this time. Read about it here! :)

Onc. Heaven Scent 'redolence'

     Oh boy, where do I start?

     I was on a trip yesterday to NYC with the boyfriend and this was also a good opportunity for me to buy myself another orchid. I have had my eye on tolumnia's for a long while, but reputable online vendors refuse to ship right around now due to the cold weather. My best bet was the NY Botanical Ganrden's gift shop. They always carry a nice array of orchids for sale, but sadly the Bronx were nowhere in our plans for the day. After reading on a few blogs about the "flower district", I hauled arse to 28th st. 

Brick-colored blooms with a chocolate scent

     After browsing through 6 shops, no tolumnias were available! I settled for a random oncidium and left for my train home. I made sure it had an ID tag but payed no attention to it until I was home. There is one large P/B and two smaller ones. P/B's are very plump - a few scuffs but nothing that is detrimental to health. There seems to be another one peeking out of the medium (a leaf is growing off of the nub) but im not too sure yet. Two flower spikes, approx. 1 foot in length each with too many flowers to count. The blooms have a distinct vanilla-chocolate scent at noon, that later turns into a generic floral scent at night - a delight that my Phals. just cant deliver.

Green healthy Pseudobulbs. Not a wrinkle in sight.

     This morning, I did some research and Im happy I chose this Onc.. It is apparently very easy to grow. Being my first non Phal., it will be an experience.

     I usually repot as soon as I bring home but I am unsure about this one. The fact that it is in bloom makes me not want  to repot just yet, but then again the media may not be proper or the roots may be in total rot. There are very conflicting opinions on repotting and growing Oncidiums in general, so I guess Im alone in figuring this one out.

Blooms up close.