Hurray! I got a new orchid! I'm so happy!

I know it's not usual for people to post one thread everytime they get a new orchid, or else this forum would be overflowing! But I also have some questions to ask...but description first.

Today I went shopping (for food, not orchids) when I saw this shelf filled with many types of the wonderful plant. So I went closer and saw this oncidium orchid that got glued to me. I couldn't take my eyes off it! It is in a 6 inch pot and has many, many psuedobulbs (up to 15, I guess). It's so filled with pbulbs and leaves! I picked it up to examine it and saw, other than the two spikes already blooming, there are 4 more spikes in various stages of development. Possibly more hidden in the mass of leaves. The flowers are about 4 inches wide and star-shaped. There are five petals that are long and narrow. The lip is sort of odd-shaped. The color is maroon red, making the petals look velvety.

It followed me home. I can't resist it. It was sort of expensive, but what the heck. Once I fall in love with certain orchid, I can't let go of it.

It is in great need of repotting. Looking through the slits in the pot, there is a white mass of tangled white roots (so many roots that I can hardly see soil!) . Plus, the growths are touching the sides of the pot. I don't dare repot it. First, it's flowering. Second, there are so much roots that it's impossible to repot it without injuring it. I don't know what to do . I hope oncs don't cry when they're too potbound.

Also, the orchid was labeled "Orchid Plant". How helpful ! It looks obviously like an oncidium, but a NOID. Any ideas on what genera it can be? I don't have a camera right now (someone's borrowing it). I'll try to post pictures in...a week or so.

Thanks for any help!

PS: I am happy

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~~~Lily~~~

Possibly it,s a Colmanara of some description.

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Who the smeg is Dwayne Dibbley ?

Definitely post a pic of the flower when it blooms. Much better chance of ID-ing it.... But congrats on the new acquisition! Sounds very healthy.

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Louis J. Aszod

oddly enough, it sort of sounds like a few plants that my store carried in the past. i think it was called "dark star", and it was an oncidium alligence orchid.... uuuhn.... some sort of brassia hybrid. i almost bought it, at one point, but the dark flowers didn't speak to me as much as they did you. a person should only own what speaks to them, you know?

i wound up buying a different one, same flower shape (it's an mtssa), but it was lavendar and had a sort of snake print pattern, and it was called 'izumi'.

can't help with the ID, but I know what a new plant in my home feels like...congrats

Also, I did some searching on the web (couldn't find the exact name), but I'm pretty sure it's a miltassia. Any ideas on how long the flowers last? Do they last as long as regular oncidiums?

Thanks!

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~~~Lily~~~

It's definately an mtssa, if it looks that simmilar to the one I pictured. The flowers on my mtssa izumi have been hanging on for.... a couple of weeks now, anyways. I purchased it halway blooming on the 6th, and it's only just now starting to lose a few. However, we know how radically bloom time varies from orchid to orchid, so yours could last longer than mine, or bloom out faster.

Hi Lily,

I agree your plant really sounded like a Miltassia of some kind, based on your description, even before you confirmed that with your web search.

You ask how long do the flowers last. My Miltassia Charles M. Fitch 'Dark Monarch' (which is fairly similar to Mtssa Dark Star) just finished blooming about a week or so ago. The first bloom opened on January 2nd, thus close to 2.5 months. That's longer than some of my Phals have managed! They probably last a bit longer under cooler conditions--mine is in the basement which seldom gets above 20C (~68 or 69F).

Hope your blooms do as well! Sounds like a very healthy plant and I probably would also have found it tough to resist.

Happy blooming & growing,

Rob