"Bill" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi Ted, Your Onc. Sharry Baby was simply "properly grown" which means
that it was left to go rootbound in a small pot & it was never allowed
to dry out. sometimes we will hold a plant that blooms small till
another inflorescence (or two) Sharry Baby when grown in shade will
grow rather than bloom. Also it is possible to get a huge plant by
using excess nitrogen in the fertilizer. (will cause multiple growths
but no bloom) then cut down on nitrogen & give the plant more light &
you can usually get multiple bloom spikes. I specialize in Oncidiinae
Intergenerics & that is why-- they grow very fast & bloom more often
than most genera & the flowers last a long time. Good Growing, Bill


Hi Bill,

Thanks. I appreciate this. I was told to expect it to bloom at least twice
a year.

When you say they grow fast, have you seen them grow from a size suitable
for a 7.5 cm pot to a size suitable for a 20 cm pot in a year and a half?

And, as I mentioned in another post, when my vendor pulled it out of its
pot, the medium (sphagnum) was full of healthy roots. It was clearly root
bound. I have never seen a potted plant of any size with so many roots. As
huge as the pseudobulbs are, and I don't have a count of them because the
growth is so dense and there appear to be quite a number of new pseudobulbs
developing at present, if the density of roots within the root ball is
comparable to that visible on the surface of the root ball, the roots
probably weigh at least as much as the pseudobulbs, if not all of the parts
above the medium.

It makes sense that the plants may have had shade during a large portion of
their life since the leaves are rather dark. They're the color of the leaves
on my Hibiscus, rather darker than the leaves on my catts and dends, but
much lighter than the leaves on the phals I have had.

Do the displays provided by Sharry Baby change as the plants mature? While
I can;t complain about what I have, I notice that the inflorescence has a
lot of branches, and the flowers on these that are closest to the main stem
of the inflroescence are on average about 7 cm from it, and the branches
themselves average about 5 cm apart. That leaves a fair bit of air between
the clusters of flowers on the branches of the inflorescences. Also, will
they rebloom from old inflorescences, like some phals do, or does the
inflorescence come off once the flowers are done?

I can't claim credit for growing this since I only bought it last Sunday. I
guess it would be more correct to say I bought well and that my vendor grew
it well.

What can you tell me about the ecology of Oncidiums?

Do you have a website where I can find more information and some pictures of
other Oncidiinae?

Thanks again Bill.

Cheers,

Ted


--
R.E. (Ted) Byers, Ph.D., Ed.D.
R & D Decision Support Solutions
http://www.randddecisionsupportsolutions.com/
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