I have been waiting to see the flowers on this for about 2 or 3 years. It did bloom before, but then took a break and it was my fault.
And because of that I will flood this post with photos :) Never know if I won't have to wait another 3 years again.
Brascidostele Gilded Tower Mystic Maze
I bought it discounted when the flowers were almost gone. I could see the shape and size and some general brownish shades, but not the full potential.
It bloomed the next year and then I had this brilliant idea to move some of my orchids to semi-hydroponics (because why not..... because YouTube is evil) and at first I thought she liked it. More water, but still a lot of air around the roots and it grew ok. But then it skipped blooming. I though that it could be because of repotting, changing the medium from bark to clay and all that.
And then it skipped again... and the pseudobulbs were not growing bigger as they should.
At that time I finally figured that semi-hydro is not good for my climate and I started to move the other orchids back to bark. This was one of that last ones. Since it grows back in back it started to recover.
And Tadaaaa
We have flowers :)
Few years ago it was still called Banfieldara, but the names change so fast that I just don't follow. Now as I was looking for a full name it is already called Brascidostele. It is still the same plant and to me it doesn't even matter much how it is called.
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It is a cross between Brassostele Summit x Brassidium Gilded Urchin. I had Brassostele Summit 'Frenchtown' but I already managed to kill it :p
It looked like this:
Brassostele Summit 'Frenchtown'
Flowers:
The flowers on Mystic Maze are much larger than on this parent. Probably got from the other orchid. They have slight floral fragrance to it. But it is about the shape and colour. The stem can grow bigger and it can have more blooms on. If we are lucky every single pseudobulb can produce two of those. Now imagine few mature bulbs blooming in the same time. That is something to look forward to.
They are stiff and feel waxy. Look at the cool texture :) You can't feel it under the finger, nor see. But it's nice the camera picked it up.
It is not the biggest plant, the bulbs should be bigger... I am working on it :)
Propagation:
Every orchids can be propagated though seeds, but that in home environment is really hard and nearly impossible.
This one grows pseudobulbs and each bulb then can grow another two on both sides of the old one right at the bottom. This way it can easily spread and produce more and more.
The easiest way is just to split the plant, but making sure each new plant has at least 3 bulbs.
Care:
I noticed that Oncidum types (the ones with pseudobulbs) like more water than other orchids. They can store quite a bit of it and the nutrients in the bulbs, but they do not like to dry out for longer time. The bulbs will start to shrivel. They will plump back after watering though, so no biggie. Makes them a bit more forgiving :)
It also likes quite bright light, but too much sun can leave spots on the leaves. It is also a warm growing orchids, which means it is good for my environment.
Shot with Nikon D5500 + Sigma 105mm lens
All photos and text are my own.
