I grow that Zygo, Fiat. In my garden, it usually makes its blooms in mid Spring. I have been rather remiss on this one, if I remember to fertilize then it gets some, but it still stays on as long as it gets watering as needed. I do hide it indoors though by our south facing window during winter. Come Spring time, when overnight temps are stably above 50F, then I can put it back along with my other oncidiums to my grow camp outdoors. I treat it like my other oncidiums, loves frequent watering in my dry area and good air circulation. It gets some shade from our city trees here, so it endures the triple digit heat, but just have to step up watering during our long dry season.

Just got to adjust watering as season changes, more water during the hot, dry season, and a bit less with some interval during the colder months. It does have a lovely lilac-like scent, and have you seen the little tattoo imprint at the back of the lip..so pretty

Just adding, I also notice it starts to make new pseudobulbs in my area around Fall season, when temps cool down from our onerous heat wave days, and it will continue on to Spring to make a new flower spike afterwards.

Ursula, You're probably right. I check again and the flower is nearly 3" cross; that's the regular size for zygo bloom, I think.

tarev, Glad to know you grew this zygo too. I don't have a big outside garden/yard and any way my main goal of growing plants is to do so indoor (make indoor garden?) -- make us and plants happy enjoying life indoor (of course we are not shut out from outside world, just try to make no discrimination between indoor and outdoor as possible. Can you imagine you can't distinguish if it is inside the house or outside when you sit beside a big window?) So far I have tried keeping all my plants indoor except some giant aloes, one big fragrant Camellia, several big jade plants and some other outdoor plants (don't know names) I don't have space for them inside...

Any way, fertilize and repotting will be my next study for this zygo b4 taking action. Any thoughts/advice? Thanks

I do my orchid repotting if needed after blooms are done. Except for Phals since it goes on in bloom for months. My Zygo goes in bloom for about a month, then I cut off the spike after it is done blooming. I use miracle gro orchid mist fertilizer for my orchids. But as I have mentioned earlier soometimes I am remiss with it. What I find is a good combination of proper watering and good air circulation around the plant helps a lot. Especially here in our very dry area, got to step up watering during our dry and hot periods. What you would want to see later after blooming is over is for the plant to make new pseudobulbs, that is where your new flower spikes will grow from.

Thanks, tarev for your orchid growing experience. I wonder how you use MG orchid mist fertilizer on your zygo? Do you dilute fertilizer with water (or not) and mist on zygo's whole plant (leaves and pseudobulbs) above bark mix? Is it true that zygo's plant parts above bark mix are supposed NOT to be misted or wet with water? But ok with fertilizer???

Added: What kind of orchid bark you use for zygo?

Hi, One day I gave my zygo a drink (on bark mix, not the plant above) and the next day the root visible on top of bark mix turned green from white. Then the day after, the root turned back to white. Is it time to water again? It is really hard to look if the bark mix is dry or still moist. Can you use the root color as a watering gauge?

Not in a potted orchid! The bark will be moist under the surface if it got thoroughly wet when you watered. With practice you can tell by the weight of the pot whether it is wet or dry.

Thanks, Carol. I wonder with the tiny 4" plastic pot the water put in drains out immediately, how easy is it to tell the weight change from wet to dry?

Everyone has Their own method when it comes to watering. I use the three times rule. Pour or spray it, wait 20 minutes or so, then do it again. The third time I add fertilizer at 1/4 strength. It Depends on your time, amount of good water you have, etc. Our water is hard, so I use rain water for as long as it lasts. Never enough to get me through, so I have to be careful not to waste it. The best way to check those plastic pots is to stick a freshly sharpened pencil in the medium. You can tell whether it's moist or not by the wood of the pencil. Check the weight when it's wet, then check when it's dry, and you'll get to know how long it can go between waterings.

Interesting -- three times rule! I am not sure I can be so sophisticated to do that... Yeah, our water is hard too and too bad that I very likely am not be able to collect/save rain water here...

I think I should take back what I said in previous post about difficulty of checking weight change as watering guide. I went to check and feel how heavy the pot/plant was and I could tell somehow it's still moist because it felt surprisingly "heavy" -- for a tiny 4" pot with barks and the small (or medium?) zygo! Thank you for the advice.

Fiat,

There are only 4 reasons to repot an orchid:

1. The bark is breaking down
2. The plant is losing vigor
3. You want the potting medium to match your other orchids for ease of care
4. You have an infestation of bugs

You can relax for the next couple years.

Always water before fertilizing and then use your fertilizer at 1/4 strength. The type of fertilizer really doesn't make a difference. Don't fertilize and cut back on water starting in about October until next late winter when it starts to actively grow again.

You can get the foliage wet when you water. Your plant will enjoy the bath and it will help keep it bug free.

I was going to weigh in finally on this, with the "relax" message as well. Fiat, I think you're hoping for an "exact" method for success in growing this plant and the truth is, there is no perfect way to do it. Trial and error is what we all use, and you can benefit from our errors, but you do have to figure out what's best for your own conditions.

Everyone's growing conditions are a little bit different. Amount of light, humidity, air circulation, water quality and other things all make a difference to how well your plant will grow. You must adapt your care method to your own home. Oh, and be flexible and creative. eg. If the plant starts telling you it needs more light, well you will have to either move it towards a window or put a grow light near it. Plants almost never do what you want them to.

You can be sure that all of us have killed orchids - or had them die through no fault of our own? - in the course of our trials and errors.

Thanks, Elaine for your 'no fault' and 'relax' advice. Am trying to figure out how to do the best following the growing conditions here. Will do lot trials, but no many errors pls.

Thanks, Daisy for the repotting tips. I set no immediate time to repot my zygo yet, but would like to plan and prepare for it maybe after the bloom or next bloom... Zygoes enjoy bath? Read or heard somewhere that they don't like their leaves and pseudobulbs get wet. Oh, very very

Anyone like to share your way of fertilizing zygoes? spray on plants? into bark/roots (avoid leaves)? or other ways? timing? etc. Thanks

Surely every plant grows outdoors somewhere - that is, where they grow in nature. So how could a plant grow outdoors and not get rained on sometimes? These absolutely are not desert orchids (if there is such a thing).

My orchids all grow outdoors year 'round unless we get some really cold nights in winter. They get rained on randomly and get various amounts of sun. While I've now lost a couple of Zygo's in my outdoor growing conditions they both died during the dry season and did not mind getting wet with rain.. a couple of weeks ago we got 9in. of rain in 3 days. So yes, they get a real thorough bath at times. Be sure to keep your common sense hat on, and think of this as just a plant, first of all.

dyzzypyxxy said:These absolutely are not desert orchids (if there is such a thing).

Yes, there is such a thing....

Zygopetalums are native to tropical South America. Lots of rain there. But, if the leaves are still wet and the night temps cool, you are inviting leaf spots and rotting. But that is true of all orchids. Give them their baths in the morning so they have plenty of time to dry off before nightfall.

Ok, let me try to think and relax at same time, if I can... I can imagine (and experienced) plants enjoy rain shower outside in wild nature... Is that same as we give it a wet bath in our house? I think not, at least not exactly. I guess there are many factors inside and outside affecting plant growing differently as we focus on one similar treatment to the plant (as Daisy implied). (Maybe I can use this example to light up our sense of nature: we all enjoy a good bath or shower at home, but many times we get sick after we are hacked by an unexpected rain shower outside?) So I guess it does depend on every condition around the plant to set the best way of growing/caring it. Sounds making sense, but quite difficult to execute and accomplish? Appreciate both Elaine and Daisy has shared your experience and knowledge and somehow completed a round-up on this topic. By the way, may I ask this: is giving bath to zygo a necessity or just a temporary (before dry off) joy for it? Hmm... Maybe both?

Keeping all your plants dust free will make them healthier ( better ability to photosynthesize) and will discourage a lot of insects who enjoy a dusty plant and dislodge quite a few others before they become established.

Here in the southeast we get an abundance of rain, 5" in one fell swoop is not unusual and in some seasons a downpour every afternoon is routine. My orchids seem to thrive in these drenchings. I guess it is important to learn where it was said not to wet the foliage? While not one of them myself, we do have some real orchid experts here, some professional growers and a few AOS judges also. They know their stuff and you can be confident in their recommendations. .

Fiat, one thing you have to take note as well is the temperature and air flow around the plant. I like it when my zygos are out in my growcamp sheltered from excessive direct sun but still able to get the warmth and air flow it needs. So I can freely water them all over early part of the day and for sure our super low humidity here dries them up quite fast. As I have mentioned already earlier you will have to adjust watering frequency as needed. To be honest in our area it is hard to drown Oncidiums they are just so thirsty. But do give them good air circulation. Indoors you can replicate this by opening your windows briefly while temps are nicely cool or running your ceiling fan briefly.

I water/spray my zygo first then afterwards I spray mist with MG orchid mist fertilzer. With orchids be careful with fertilizers, less is better to avoid undue leaf or root burn. That is why the plant will enjoy a good shower to fllush out the leftover salts.

Now when temps are getting too cool like during winter what I do is avoid spraying the leaves with water, I just go direct to the root zone. Dry out time indoors takes longer so you will have to put intervals in watering.

It will be really good to have an indoor/outdoor temp and humidity sensor so you will know just how dry your surroundings gets. Our humidity here in Cali is just so dismal, so you can adjust your watering regimen accordingly.

Daisy, Got it: take bath for cleanness! Yet, with all the hard water we have here I wonder if the after-deposits or residual will harm the "paper-thin" zygo leaves?

Alice, I can imagine many orchids with thick, fat leaves (e.g., vanda) would enjoy and take benefit from water shower often times during warm, dry days... but for the not so much robust leaves of zygo, may be, as Daisy mentioned, there is a requirement: quick dry-off, after bath treatment?

tarev, Thanks for the idea of how to water/fertilize zygo in different seasons, conditions. So far I have only watered my zygo at root zone twice. May start to spray/mist the whole plant from now on.

Thanks and appreciate everyone's input and help.