I watched a couple videos about this and procrastinated because Sharry had sent up a new spike and I really didn't want to shock it while it was flowering. However, it also had that leaf yellowing and one leaf looking a bit accordion-like, so I wanted to get a look at its roots and put it in a clear pot. I discovered Cat had dropped off orchid mulch in addition to compost worms a year or so ago when she moved. The kid's mac n cheese came in a pot that looked just about orchid-sized. So I screwed a bunch of holes into it for ventilation. I decided to try to reconstitute the mulch a little bit in a wheelbarrow full of rainwater since oncidiums are evidently more water-loving than other orchids. Then began pulling the moss off the orchid. Its roots were actually looking pretty full and lively compared to the youtube videos. This took longer than expected-- maybe an hour (fast forwarded to just a couple seconds in the videos). By the time I had it pretty clean and trimmed, the mulch had disbursed all over the wheel barrow and my kid was wandering around the front yard unsupervised. Desperate, I plopped the orchid in the pot and reached for a bowl of orbeez hydro beads she had gotten for Christmas instead of messy getting everywhere mulch I wasn't sure would squeeze into the pot with all these healthy roots I hadn't expected. I hope this works!
9/23/22 Seems to still work as a medium. I've had to top it off with new orbeez from time to time. Also just acquired a $25 Phal Schilleriana descendent from the Zoo's Fascination of Orchids show that should smell a bit like roses?
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