Colmanara questions

[TundraKev]

Colmanara Wildcat ( I guess it's now called Odontocidium)

I'm not sure why I like this plant so much, but I do. I've had it for a number of years and it blooms faithfully every winter with about 20-25 flowers. Here's my problem. I keep on hearing about people with huge specimens of these things, but mine won't do more than one growth per year. To top it off, as the new growth matures and blooms, the previous growth slowly drops its leaves. I don't think it's a light issue because I have a tendance to push the light limits with just about everything I grow. I also have it outside in the summer which it really seems to like. At the same time, I don't think I'm giving it too much light. The new growths always look good.

I have noticed that this plant never seems to have great roots when I repot so that might be the problem. They aren't all totally rotted, there just aren't that many of them. I've been using a medium bark mix and don't think I overwater. Is there something else I could try growing this in? I have noticed that there seems to be a fair number of roots produced outside of the pot. Maybe it wants something other than bark or nothing?

2nd question: The plant I have came only with the name Wildcat. All of the ones I see are named Wildcat 'Bobcat' or Wildcat 'Ocelot' or Wildcat 'Florafest' etc. Is there a Colmanara only with the name Wildcat or am I missing something on my tag?

I am through. Thanks.

Kev

[uncasteeb]

Well i have 3 Colmanara,s.
The 2 in s/h seem to be growing better than the 1 in bark.
This 1

Put out 2 new growths & i have a spike on each.
This 1

has put up a new growth from the old PB while the new PB is blooming so i should get another from the flowering PB.
I,ve been waiting for the 1 in bark to start a new growth so i can pot into s/h but it,s decided to flower from the other side of the PB.
I grow my Colmanaras in as bright light as they can take , to the point of getting a few burn marks on the leaves.Fed lightly but regularly.
Will after see how they grow after this flowering.

[TundraKev]

Mine also just started to produce a second spike from the same pb. I cut it off, though.

I know, I'm strange.

I've never pushed the light levels to the point of almost burning, but my leaves do have the black spots, kind of like Sharry Baby when it gets a good amount of sun. I thought the spots were an indicator of enough light?

[cedric817]

Kev -

My wildcat has performed similarly to yours, although it generall has 3-4 PB's that appear healthy at any given time. As one matures and flowers, the oldest one dies off. Always, one new growth at a time; always one spike per PB. Mine was purchased from a local discount store in the fall of 2003 - maybe from the same source as yours?

christopher

[TundraKev]

Christopher

It can't be!! Another MN person? That has never happened to me in one of these forums. Amazing You must go to the Introduction section and tell us all about yourself.

Don't worry, I'm not a stalker or anything.

No, I actually bought this plant at a real orchid nursery. I'm surprised you actually found something as exotic as a Wildcat at one of our discount places. I thought they only carried Phals and Dends.

I don't know what's up with this plant. I guess it's comforting to hear someone else with the same problem.

Kevin

[Tanya]

Kevin, I also have a Colmanara Wildcat. I raised it from a seedling and it too has a growth habit similar to yours. And yes, it also produce 2 spikes from the same pb, but unlike you, I don't cut the second spike. Mine is growing in tree fern fibers, and because I am not happy of the way its growing,(after 4 years, there should be more than one bs growth, don't you think?) I am considering repotting it into s/h when its done blooming.

[TundraKev]

Tanya

And here I thought I would be the only one with this problem. I'm glad you mentioned growing this in tree fern. I was thinking about that. Like I said, there seems to be a lot of people out there with big, multi growth plants. I don't know how they do it. Someone???

[LJA]

To get big, fleshy, multigrowth plants that bloom twice a year, you can't let their medium completely dry between waterings--just dry to bare dampness. When I grow them here, they get light a little brighter than for Maudiae-type Paphs, fertilizer at every watering, and they're kept on the cool side because of their Miltonia and Odontoglossum ancestry. They're potted in a medium-size mix that dries under our conditions in about 5 days during the summer.

Gilda was our first contest winner and she got one of those, for a pic, check out this thread: http://www.rv-orchidworks.com/orchid...read.php?t=575

Normally, a label without a clonal epithet at the end in single quotes means that the plant was seed grown and hasn't been given a cultivar name yet. In this case though, I have a feeling that the clone name was just left off the tag. To ID it, you're going to have to try and match the flower to pics of known clones.

If you find that it really was seed grown and not a mericlone of 'Bobcat' or something, you can give it any cultivar name you want: 'Kevin', for instance...

[TundraKev]

Thank you Louis. I think we were all waiting for you to give us the scoop on this one. Maybe I have been keeping it too dry?

Here's the thing with the name. A while ago, I did find a grower who listed a large number of these and had all the usual ones: Bobcat, Jaguar, etc. He also had one listed only as Wildcat. The flowers looked almost exactly like mine. I just did a quick Google and couldn't find that vendor again, but did find a very well know orchid place (VERY WELL KNOWN) on the West coast that also lists one of these only as Wildcat. Again, the flowers look very similar to mine.

I guess it's going to be one of those things that just bugs me to my grave.

Kev

[LJA]

Kev, if that's the case, the plant may very well have been propagated from seed, in which case there wouldn't be an epithet at the end. (If there was, they'd have to give each little seedling a different name, since the epithet uniquely identifies a specific plant's genetics. Supplying a cultivar name to seed-grown plants isn't usually done commercially unless something turns up that's "outstanding" or an unnamed plant has just won an award.)

It does sound like you guys who have had problems with this one might have been growing the plant a little too dry--water more frequently and see how that works out for you. Also probably why uncasteeb's two plants in S/H are doing better than the one in bark: a readier supply of moisture.