Aliceara (Degarmoara) Pluto's Drummer 'Pacific Pink' not very robust

[JScott]

I've had this plant for close to two years. It has just not been very vigorous or robust. It has grown some, it grew a new pseudobulb, but it is smaller than the previous one. It has three growths, and the leaf yellowed and fell of of the oldest growth, which is presumably only two years old, and my other Oncidiums keep their leaves much longer than that. It did bloom, and it had six buds, but all but one blasted.

I grew it outside in the summer and I grow it under lights in the winter. It started to spike in about July, so I brought it inside where it is cooler, as I have noticed flowers have better color when the buds develop inside where it is cooler rather than in the sweltering summer heat. I do this regularly with my Oncidiums, and I've never had the buds blast as a result of that, so although I guess it is possible that suddenly changing the growing conditions while it was in spike caused the bud blast, I'm not totally convinced that was the reason it happened. It is also not rooted very well in the pot. It has enough roots to sustain the plant without the bulbs shriveling, but it is kinda loose in the pot and wobbles a little.

Is the problem possibly a temperature thing? One of the parents of this plant is Odontioda Joe's Drum, so it is at least 50% cool growing genetically. Is the problem maybe that I just cannot keep it cool enough?

Is anybody else growing this plant, and has anybody else found it to less robust than some of the other Oncidium intergenerics? Any suggestions would be appreciated. It has two new growths just starting, maybe it will do better this round.