Not Sure How to Care for Colmanara Wildcat

[Arkatrine]

I wanted a plant for my dorm room, so I bought an Orchid from my local Fred Meyer's. It's a Colmanara Wildcat, and I've been looking online for how to take care of it, but I'm still very confused.

I have no idea how old he is, the woman who worked there didn't know anything about orchids. I'm sure he didn't get enough light, his leaves are pretty dark, but then again I don't know how dark is too dark.



His flowers are healthy looking, and he's pretty tall.



Right now I'm just trying to get him as much light as possible. The light that comes in is bright, and doesn't come directly in my window, just on either side.



I don't know the temperature of my room, (our thermostat is a knob that we turn to get temperatures of hot, cold, or in-between) but I talked to my dorm's custodian, and she's going to talk to maintenance and tell me the numbers that correlate with different heats.

I'm also not sure when/if he's been fertilized, so I plan on fertilizing him next week, and continue doing so once a month. I read that orchids should be fertilized less in the winter, so I'll only fertilize him half of what is suggested.

There are clips holding him to a stake, should I leave those alone or should I take them off?



I'm pretty definite he needs to be repotted. I thought he was in the pot, but once I lifted the moss to check his roots I found he was actually sitting in a plastic container that was put in the pot. I plan on doing that when I go home for either Christmas or Thanksgiving, where I've got more room.



I would appreciate any help or advice. I really thought I was just getting something I wouldn't have to worry too much about. It's a nice project to have though. I keep calling it a him because I named it Fulgrim, after a Primarch from Warhammer 40k. Thanks!

[Psyguy10]

Colmanara is an intergeneric hybrid between Miltonia, Odontoglossum & Oncidium. Here's the care sheets for them in general:

AOS | Oncidium

AOS Odontoglossum Alliance Culture Sheet

Miltonia Culture

The culture for all three is mostly the same, the Colmanara will be much more forgiving in tolerating temperatures.

Beautiful plant, by the way!

[musicloveranthony]

That is a great looking plant Good choice for appearance, and ease of care! I'd agree with Matt; read the culture info for the genera used in creating the hybrid and assess the basic ideas from them, cumulatively.

My only immediate concern for ya would be to get the plant out of that pot and medium. If you have any kind of nursery, or plant store around campus try asking if any of them carry orchid mix. There's no real "best" mix. That plant is going to have very thin roots that like to cling to the medium. The moss they're in doesn't provide much to cling to, and you don't necessarily want them clinging to the pot (it won't hurt, but it'll make repotting a challenge). I'd recommend something with bark, sponge rock/perlite and maybe charcoal, or lava rock. Just make sure the mix you get feels chunky. It shouldn't feel like soil. The roots will be able to get a good grip on the chunks of bark and charcoal/lava rock. Also, it'll dry more evenly and provide an environment less conducive to fungus/bacteria than the moss it's currently in. Just make sure that you either soak the medium for a day before using it, or boil it for an hour.

I know you mentioned waiting till Thanksgiving, or Christmas to repot. I'd honestly HIGHLY recommend against waiting. It's scary the first time, but it's remarkably easy. If you are unsure of how to repot it, just respond and ask how, i'm sure plenty of people would be glad to walk you through it.

As far as the stake in it goes, you don't need it at this point. The spike is probably done growing vertically and doesn't need the stake guiding it, anymore. I would recommend when you repot it, though, to leave the stake in the new pot (doesn't matter if the spike is clipped to it, though. I've seen a lot of spikes damaged from those clips, honestly) as it can be a good way to tell when to water. In a bark mix, I'd pull the stake out of the pot maybe every 3 days at first and see if the part that was at the mid/bottom of the pot feels dry. It'll be hard to tell with your fingers, so try the inside of your wrist (or your cheek/neck if you're brave ). If it's still cool/moist, don't water; give it 2 or 3 more days and check again. A dorm is going to have pretty dry air, but I believe that hybrid should be pretty forgiving as far as humidity goes

Sorry, I ramble. It's a weakness of mine. I see it's in a clay pot that looks like it's wet about half way up its height. Does the pot have a hole in the bottom? is there water sitting in the saucer below it? There needs to be a hole and there should never be water sitting in the saucer. You'd mentioned there was a smaller pot inside the clay pot. If there is no hole in the clay pot and you absolutely cannot repot it until Thanksgiving, I'd take it out of the clay pot and just set the inner pot in the saucer.

I'll stop now. Good luck, though, and keep asking questions!

[RosieC]

I agree with all the above. Especially, never leave it sitting in water.

[Arkatrine]

Thank you for the links Psyguy, I love all the information they have, it's really helpful.

Anthony, I'm so very glad you told me to remove the clip; I took it off an it was so obviously too tight! There were grooves in the spike from the clip, I don't think it will do any permanent damage, but it's still sad.

I know I need to get him out of that pot, it's terrible. Some water spilled down the side and it spread everywhere. That's why I don't want to take him out of the plastic one yet, I think the clay would be worse. I'm probably going to get a ceramic one. He didn't come with the plate, I bought that later when I found out there was a hole in the pot. I've been drying up all the water that leaks to the bottom. Unfortunately I don't have the space to repot him. We do have a nice courtyard, but it's getting way too cold.

Do orchids need a great deal of space, or would he be fine in a pot of that size? I can't get him a bigger one, this size is all that would fit. Could I repot him again in the summer, or would that be to stressful for the plant?

Thank you everyone for all the information you've given me and the compliments on him!

[nutgirl]

The information from Anthony about repotting is absolutely correct. If you wait you really run the risk of losing your plant.

Repotting is not that difficult. If you have a table/desk and access to a sink, you can do it. You will probably find that you will not have to use a different pot. You can reuse your plastic one. Orchids don't mind being a little tight. The mistake is frequently made of putting them in pots that are too big. You can reinsert the plastic into the clay for added ballast.
If you need someone to walk you through the process, just ask. There's lots of people here to help.

All you are try to do at this point is get it out of that existing potting material and into something that has more air circulation.

If things go well and you decide to do another repotting next summer, it won't hurt it.

Maureen

[quiltergal]

Hi there Arkatine. Welcome to OB!

Colmanara has been reclassified to Odontocidium. General culture tips: grow in very bright light, intermediate temps, and keep evenly moist. I grow mine in a southwest facing bay window supplemented with T5 grow lights. I would move yours as close to whatever window you have. Make sure it does not receive direct sunlight as it will burn. Blinds or sheers work well to filter the light. Mine does not seem fussy at all when it comes to temps and seems fine in the low 60's to low 80's. The warmer it is the more often you will have to water. The key point is to not let these guys dry out all the way. "Evenly moist" can be a bit tricky to monitor which is why a clear plastic pot is great. You can tell if there is still moisture in the pot by looking at the color of the roots. If they are green no need to water. If they are white, time to water. If these plants dry out for any length of time the new leaf growth will pleat up and look ugly.

If I were repotting this (which I would also recommend you do ASAP) I would put it in medium to fine grade fir bark or coconut husk chunks mixed with perlite and charcoal. What potting media you choose depends on your growing conditions, and your watering habits. Where do you live? I'm tempted to say "Go Ducks!" but I'm not sure.

Also meant to say if the spike clips are put on correctly they won't damage the spike. The "fingers" should wrap around the stake, not the spike. So in your picture if you reverse the direction of the clip it won't hurt the spike at all.

[Blueszz]

Welcome!

About the light, I grew mine last summer outdoors, on a roofed balcony facing North-North/West. It pseudobulbs turned reddish. It got about 3 hours of sun, just before sun set. Temperatures went from 90F during the day to 44F during the nights (late April to September). Short after the new growth matured a spike emerged. Took about 7 weeks to develop 57 buds which are almost open now.
Mine gives me a good indication when to water. When I see the first signs that the pseudobulbs wrinkle, I dunk the pot, but ofcoarse this only works when the roots are in good shape. This worked also while in spike/flower. I added fertilizer weakly with each watering.
During the past winter it was in my windowsill, South facing window. It didn't mind at all the dry air from the heater below it.
Our winter was very cold, temps in the windowsill at night went as low as 12F. When it doesn't get that cold this year, I might grow it in an unheated room in the windowsill from a South faced window.

So far about how I cultered mine last year.

Nicole