My Oncidium Sharry Baby ‘Sweet Fragrance’ may have made me cry a little

This orchid has been through it with me.

When I first bought it a little over three years ago, it had five beautiful, FAT pseudobulbs and bloomed shortly after I brought it home. I was completely in love with it.

Then came my orchid-learning era.

It started putting out new growths, but I had absolutely no idea what I was doing – I had only had a phalaenopsis before. S the new leaves accordion-folded, pseudobulbs shriveled, growths were stunted. And one morning I looked at those sad, wrinkled pseudobulbs and realized that the plant I had brought home was very much NOT okay.

So I started reading everything I could and figured out what I was doing wrong. I changed how I watered and cared for it, and slowly watched it recover.

Fast forward more than two years since its last bloom: the little beast now has 12 pseudobulbs, absolutely WILD roots, and is trying to escape its plastic pot. I know a repot is somewhere in my future and, honestly, I am terrified. Those roots have claimed that pot as their ancestral homeland.

But the best part is that a few weeks ago, I discovered it was finally spiking again!

Then there were two spikes.

Then three.

Then FOUR.

And this morning, while checking on everybody, I noticed a FIFTH spike; one of the pseudobulbs is putting out two spikes.

I actually got a little emotional. Watching this plant grow and recover – and realizing how much I’ve learned too – just feels incredibly rewarding.

It wasn’t my first orchid failure, but it’s the one I decided to really learn from. In a lot of ways, this was my “spark” orchid.

I cannot WAIT to see what this thing looks (and smells!) like when all five spikes start blooming.

Also… any advice for me and my eventual repot? Because I'm already a lil anxious about that root ball.

TL;DR: Nearly killed my Oncidium Sharry Baby ‘Sweet Fragrance’ by underwatering it. Spent the next couple of years learning how to actually care for orchids. It went from 5 pseudobulbs to 12, became an absolute root monster, and is blooming for the first time in 2+ years. I thought it had four spikes. This morning I discovered a surprise fifth spike, with one pseudobulb producing two. I may have cried.