Oncidium Twinkle Repotting - Moss to Inorganic/Semi-Hydro : Chocolate Tub Twinkles + Community Pot!

[@marygorchidsmore2058]

Nicely re-potted oncidiums. They have grown a lot on your care. I think most orchids love moss and bark mix. Looking forward to your updates on them and comparison for different media. Thanks for sharing and happy growing.

[@olya4903]

Your Twinkles look fantastic! Mine have the same leaf tip browning and die-back, and I've noticed that it gets worse right after I fertilize. I make a stock solution and dilute as needed for each plant, so I'm now diluting the Twinkles' feed even more to see if it makes a difference.

[@neetakangutkar3194]

Your twinkles look so beautiful and I would love to have a twinkle forest. Thank you.

[@MelissaWalker82]

So many twinkles! Charming little things. Can’t wait to see their progress. :)

[@michellebustos8719]

Great choice in the blue pots. They look beautiful, very cute. If you’d like me to take some of your Oncidium Twinkle off your hands...I’m here...lol.

[@dis8011]

Wow, everything you grow just thrives and romps away out of their pots 🤯😲...you must have recruited the flower fairies to tend to your grow room when nobody's looking. It's incredible. Whatever indoor magical combo you have figured out seems to be working amazingly - thanks for sharing with us! 🌺💗💐

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Thanks 😀 I think the magical combo may be moisture and light and lots of seaweed and nutrients 😂 I'm definitely an overfeeder 😉 Maybe there are some fairies involved too! 😀

[@Grow_Up_Man55]

I love your twinkles. Although I’ll bet you don’t love all the flower drop afterwards! I’m going to try mounting mine I think, just to see how it fairs. Thanks for update, Annabelle.

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Yeah picking out dead flowers from between those bulbs is the best 😂 they get everywhere too! I think every oncidium I own has a random decomposing twinkle flower somewhere on its pot 😅 mounting seems like a really good way to grow them if you can keep up with watering, your greenhouse would probably be ideal for that! The display is probably nicer too with their long clustery spikes 🙂 Look forward to seeing yours mounted!

[@lynnbrooks5503]

Twinkle city. Love the re use of the chockie boxes.

[@helenhawkins4054]

They put my tiny twinkles to shame. Your definitely doing something right.👍

[@mssoundbites1697]

Anabelle, you have inspired me. I have just finished setting up a warm area in my home with a Mars Hydro light and heating mats . I also got a ph meter. Going to give semi-hydro a try once again. I tried it when I first started growing orchids but I think the plants were too cold. So here's keeping my fingers crossed that it will work better this time:-).

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Sorry, I missed this comment, I hope it's going well! Too cool could definitely be a reason it didn't work before, and there are lots of different media options you can mix with LECA or add to modify if you have dry layer issues, I definitely think you can make it work! 🙂

[@savannahbrewer6161]

aww, but a twinkle forest would be so cool :)

[@TheOrchidRoom]

They're now on my orchid wall making a vertical forest 🙂

[@dis8011]

Re Seramis- I use the sanicat pink cat litter which is about £13 for a huge sack, 30 litres I think -and my orchids can't tell the difference between that and horticultural labelled Seramis. It's described as Danish moler clay and used by a lot of bonsai growers and planted aquarium people as well as cat owners 😆 To me, it looks and acts the same as 3.5 times the price Seramis. I soak and rinse it a ton before using obv, but have to do that with Seramis and leca too so its no biggie.

[@TheOrchidRoom]

This may change my life as even buying seramis on offer it's quite pricey! Thanks for the tip 😀 I'm nearly out of Seramis so I'll order some of the sanicat! Yeah seramis is super dusty also so it's not a deal breaker (until I clog a pipe with rinsing seramis dust and my boyfriend kills me, but it hasn't happened yet 😂 ). I've been using seramis for my masdevallias, catasetums, restrepias, paphs and phrags and they love it 😀

[@dis8011]

@@TheOrchidRoom You're very welcome 🌺💗 Hope it helps. When I was researching it and worrying about whether it would hurt my orchids, I figured if planted aquarium folks had success with it- and they were putting living corals and tropical fish in it too as well as aquatic plants which are super sensitive to any toxins- then it must be fine for orchids lol. I soak mine overnight in a giant flexitub with some activated charcoal lumps thrown in to absorb anything that may be problematic and rinse multiple times. I worry about the pipes too 😂 but it's really free flowing silt-like particles that seem to want to flow away with a swish of water. Unless there was something sticky to bind the particles sitting in the waste pipe- like fat or gum- then I think we are ok. Just glad I'm not on a water meter yet 👀😅

[@GoldenArrow297]

well done 👍

[@soumyajyoti6798]

Nice job. You are really patient, I mean that huge clump. I would have torn half the roots. But may I know the idea behind changing the media? It was growing gloriously, wasn't it?

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Thanks! 🙂 If you've seen my other videos I'm sure you know I'm changing all my orchids to inorganic after several months of trialling alternatives to sphagnum moss, these were the last 3 to switch over 🙂 Sphagnum needs a yearly repot as it begins to acidify and decompose in constantly moist systems like these, which I simply would rather avoid if I can get the same results with inorganic.

[@hazelford3358]

Would you consider coarse grade vermiculite to mix into your leca? It would be cheap, easy to get and a bit kinder to the roots than scratchy leca. A very small amount would be needed (so that the air spaces would not be clogged and interfere with oxygen/CO2 exchange. The cat litter idea sounds really good too. Microfibre cloths cut into strips make good wicks. I love all your vids. Thanks for your time and dedication, I really look forward to all your work.

[@TheOrchidRoom]

That's a great idea actually, thanks! 🙂 I've recently started using perlite for self watering with houseplants and I think vermiculite is more porous or holds more water? It would probably be quite similar to seramis also. I can only find small grade here though but I will give it a try! 🙂

[@hazelford3358]

Coarse grade verm. is available from plumbers merchants (I got my sack from Screwfix, heating engineer supplies). They use it for fire proof insulation. Really cheap too. All the best.

[@TheOrchidRoom]

@@hazelford3358 Oh awesome! Thanks for the tip, we have a screwfix close by, will pop in! 🙂

[@1popcorn44]

LOL! Twinkle Forest

[@neetakangutkar3194]

I have oncidiun twinkle red seedling that I bought in coconut husk. I removed some of the husk but I am afraid of pulling out the husk any more and breaking all the roots. The seedling is tiny and I don't want to kill it. Some husk is still around it with roots penetrates through. Please advise. My climate is dry and hot (pune, India). The plant looks stressed. Please help

[@jennmcc5842]

A twinkle forest 😂😂 I have a tiny little twinkle that my cat munched 🙄 It's going into a plastic wine cup with your semi hydro set up tomorrow. I did a sharry baby today, and my rhynchorides x rhynchostylis. Struggling to find something big enough for my gigantea, as I don't have a glass drill bit! 5L water bottle will have to do, but it's not pretty. Thanks for sharing this 😊

[@jokennedy2943]

Probably a daft question , but how often do you flush so many plants in semi hydro when I’m guessing, like me, you only have 5 L of pure water available at one time?

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Most of my flushing is just as I water at every watering. Any full flushing to get rid of stubborn build up happens at the sink with tap water, then I tip out the reservoir and top up with fertiliser solution. I filter 30 litres of water for each watering session to add my fert mix to, then water with a pump sprayer, flushing the tops as I go.

[@TheOrchidRoom]

My watering routine is shown in this video which may help explain more : kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqK4k2aGhtSNeLc

[@dis8011]

Bagsy a twinkle division or swap when you ready 😆💗🌺 I don't have twinkle in my collection yet but it looks beautiful and tbh, I just love its name 😂✨🌟⭐🌠 btw, you have to come up to London to the osgb spring show at Valentine's mansion in ilford if you can. Keep meaning to message you properly but it's been a busy few months xx

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Deal 🙂 and I will try and come! I work Sunday's so Saturdays are usually my only orchid day, but will see if I can shuffle 🙂 sounds like it'll be a good show, and if spicesotic are there I'm likely to come home with some orchids 😂

[@TrishsOrchidLife]

Love it 😍

[@hillbillyorchids]

I noticed your using synthetic more. What are your thoughts on it? Would it be good for me if my sphagnum moss molds?

[@TheOrchidRoom]

I love it but it does need to be used quite sparingly because it holds way more moisture than moss, and even gets algae forming on it if it's left at the top of the pot! I feel like if moss moulds for you then synthic may well also unfortunately 😥 it's essentially fancy fluffy microfiber really, so you could try it out cheaply by cutting the strands from microfiber mop head and seeing how they do 🙂 less fancy but I'm sure they do a very similar job!

[@hillbillyorchids]

@@TheOrchidRoom Oh great. Thank you. Saves me spending money I dont really have right now. I have the micro fiber now that I am using with my Dendrobium phalaenopsis plants. They are needing more water. The roots have went crazy and they are thirsty. So I thought about the synthic but maybe I'll just switch them to a semi hydroponic set up instead.

[@TheOrchidRoom]

My den phals actually do really well in semi hydro so I think they should take to it quite readily! 🙂 Especially if they're drinking up the reservoir you gave them that quickly. Or at least I hope yours do as well in it! 🙂

[@hillbillyorchids]

@@TheOrchidRoom I added 2 strands of micro fiber to each pot and I fertilized Tuesday. I forgot to fill water on them after and I checked Thursday and they were bone dry! The micro fiber was stuck to the pot they drained it so much! So yeah I am thinking semi hydro 😁

[@milagroslluisma3153]

You know where we can buy those yellow or white twinkle Oncidiums?

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Spicesotic plants, some garden centres, most orchid nurseries will probably have them in occasionally

[@lsylsy9329]

Can put it indoor to planting?

[@checkplease7735]

I went to a garden center were they had some clerance orchids I asked were they were and the employee showed me and they had one left a zygopelum and they said they did have some others but someone bought them and they were some twinkles and I missed out But my oldest oncidium decided to open it's buds finally after caring for it for 5 years and it has a quite nice flower and my oncidium tigerset is in spike so yay

[@jennychan1164]

Hi, m i nterested to get them...can U help pls? Fr Malaysia.

[@toddstropicals]

When I had twinkles I ended up mounting them, they grew like mad weeds.

[@TheOrchidRoom]

These ones grew like weeds in moss also, I can't grow mounted due to time restrictions but it seems there are lots of successful ways to grow them 🙂

[@Twigarati]

You need to get yourself some long tweezers 😅 not necessary unless you have new orchids coming in to your collection ... I have a set of 3 different tweezers to remove the nasty between bulbs, canes or the like. They look quite surgical 😅 I’m having to wait to repot my newcomers, can’t see any new growth at the moment... gah! I hate organic media! I’ve also found aquarium gravel, but wow... a small bag for €6,50 😱 I bought one to try it on some but will have to find a cheaper supplier ... i would rather spend that money on more rupicolous laelias 😬

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Oooh and Margaret seems to use a sort of scary dental pick thing also so maybe I need a full surgical set! Tweezers would have been a fab idea and saved me lots of hassle, need to buy some dedicated plant ones 😀 Yes I hate organic media too, picking bark and moss out of root balls is so how I want to spend my time 😂 I ordered more orchids on boxing day and now I'm like why did I do that, it's cold and the repots are going to be terrible! Oh no for the aquarium gravel, that's crazy, how do you fill a fish tank with that price! Yes more baby rock lovers! 😀 Mine are loving seramis which makes me love them more because who doesn't love an orchid that grows well in inorganic 😀

[@Royaliize]

I always have a hard time with twinkles, no idea why lol.

[@michaelmccarthy4077]

Twinkles be crazy. Mine definitely didn't like s/h, but few of my plants did, it looks much happier growing on a mount. It is late flowering this year, probably because it got set back going from s/h to a mount. Should bloom soon, though. Mine also had spotting and leaf tip burn until I mounted it. This year's growths are clean.

[@TheOrchidRoom]

I always have the first year growths coming through clean, the spotting only seems to happen on the older growths really and seemed to be worse on the two plants that I'd been letting dry out too much 🤷‍♀️ Twinkles are notorious for not enjoying semi hydro, I think LECA is too drying for them, hopefully seramis and synthic will be better media choices that are more comparable to self watering with moss 🤞