Leochilus oncidioides

Also known as: The Oncidium or Oncidium macrantherum Leochilus macrantherus in the subfamily: Epidendroideae

Native to: Chiapas - Mexico Departamento de Huehuetenango - Guatemala Guerrero - Mexico Jalisco - Mexico Morelos - Mexico Oaxaca - Mexico Tamaulipas - Mexico Veracruz - Mexico

General Information

The Oncidium is a miniature sympodial intermediate to hot growing epiphytic orchid belonging to the sub family Epidendroideae native to Mexico and Guatemala.

Plant Description

Sympodial. Grows to 7-35cm. Each new growth has a single leaf that grows to 0.8-30cm long. Pseudobulbs grow to 0.8-3.7cm

Substrate(s)

• Coarse

Care Notes

This orchid goes into a dormancy phase during winter, during this phase it is best not to provide water unless the plant is starting to look thirsty. The lack of water increases the chance of flowering in spring, and also reduces the likelihood of any rot forming. Do not resume watering until new growth has appeared and is growing strongly.

Often a period of intense growth occurs after dormancy. During this time the amount of light, water and fertiliser the plant receives will directly impact the amount of growth that occurs during this time, and in the case of seedlings, will reduce the time required to reach maturity.

It's recommended to heavily reduce the water amount at the middle to end of autumn to trigger dormancy. Leaves on older bulbs will begin to drop during this time while the newer bulbs continue to mature until terminal leaves appear at the tip of the pseudobulbs.

Repotting can be done any time of the year though it's best to do it in early spring when new growth is appearing as this also means new roots will appear to help the plant anchor into the new media and offset any damage to established roots during the repotting process.

 

Climate

Grows at low to high elevations. Rainfall ranges from 21mm to 243mm per day, heaviest in June and lightest in January. Temperature ranges from 9C to 27C, highest in May (15C to 27C) and lowest in January (9C to 21C).

Watering

Mist during hot weather

Fertiliser

dormant-medium-demand-orchid Apply fertiliser regularly at half strength year round. Use a high Nitrogen fertiliser during Spring and Summer. Use a high Phosphorous fertiliser during Summer.

Potting

Due to the growth nature of these plants they are best mounted onto cork, tree fern slabs, or even trees if the climate suits. Water regularly especially in hot weather.

This plant does well mounted to Cork slabs. Repotting is best done annually and in a pot the same size or only slightly larger than the previous one.