Help, miltonias make no sense! - Orchid Board

atarabrandi · #1 07-10-2019, 06:44 PM

Ok, so I aquired a miltonia on Sunday, so far it has had minor accordion leaves since Monday, while I water it once a day. I tried recreating rain assuming I'm under watering by misting and now it has black spots on its under leaves. So far in the few days I've had it I was required to repot (roots coming out of the bottom) in bettergrow orchid potting bark, and all the flower bulbs have bloomed (Tuesday). I called the botanical garden I got it from just told me if I don't like it bring it back and she has no idea how much they watered them or why there are now black spots. So I called a few florists and they told me I'm over watering, but they've never heard of miltonias. I really don't want this beautiful plant to perish, please help!

Ray · #2 07-10-2019, 07:12 PM

First of all, it's not a miltonia. More likely, it is a complex hybrid involving some combination of odontoglossum, oncidium, miltonia, and the like.

The plant likes humidity, not mist. Misting it, leaving droplets of water on the leaves, is the perfect way to develop fungal infections that can cause leaf spotting. Accordion leaves also suggest a lack of humidity, possibly coupled with insufficient water uptake - suggesting underwatering or a compromised root system.

atarabrandi · #3 07-10-2019, 07:24 PM

How can I increase humidity? I was trusting that it was a miltonia due to the care sheet given to me, but after calling the store I realised she doesn't know anything. When I reported everything yesterday the roots were damp but not wet, they however were nothing but roots (no potting soil) so maybe it will take time to adjust. The care sheet also just told me "drench to avoid accordion leaves" what kind of schedule can I make to alleviate underwatering?

aliceinwl · #4 07-11-2019, 03:05 AM

Watering schedule is going to depend on your conditions. You want to shoot for keeping the media evenly moist but not wet. If you have a relatively coarse media and low humidity this might translate into watering every other day or so. I found the skewer method in the sticky helpful when I was starting out and trying to gauge moisture levels in the substrate.

Accordioning doesn’t happen overnight. I think you probably purchased the plant with it. I have it occasionally show up on mine if they go through a dry spell when pushing new growth (i.e. I go out of town for a couple of weeks and my plants have to tough it out). I’d try to get into a good watering regime and only worry about it if more growths are affected.

SaraJean · #5 07-11-2019, 11:01 AM

Don’t get too hung up on it not being a Miltonia. The care for those is virtually the same and your care sheet should be fine. Like Ray said, it’s a hybrid of a few different genera and is referred to an Oncidium Intergeneric hybrid. Bright light, add a shear curtain if it looks like it’s starting to burn or move the plant back a little. Normal household temps are fine. Water as it’s approaching dryness, not bone dry all the way through the media. How often will depend on your conditions and how it is potted. I haven’t noticed these to be as sensitive to lower humidity environments but you can place some other house plants around it to create a little micro climate. Adjustments to your watering schedule will help avoid accordion leaves on future growths but it won’t help accordion leaves that were already there.

The leaf spotting can be from a few things. Misting is one of them. As mentioned, there is no need to mist, just water it thoroughly. High temps can also cause those. Stagnant air can cause those. A change of environment can also make the leaves spotty. Basically, these thin leaf Oncidium types can be prone to spotting. It’s not a huge concern and it doesn’t mean the plant is going to die. I would certainly just cut out the misting.

What sort of potting media and pot did you use when you repotted it?