Miltonia 'Sunset' Care

[Kevstar]

Hi guys,

I'm thinking of getting a Miltonia 'Sunset' and wondered if the care is much different to phals? Do they need to be watered in a different way for example?

Am I right in thinking that this one has pseudobulbs and each one only flowers once? What happens to the old pseudobulb once it has flowered?

Many thanks,

Kev.

[camille1585]

Miltonia Sunset does well with general Oncidum culture, and so requires more water than Phals (generally you should water again while they are still a bit damp). It should otherwise do well in the same conditions, with a bit more light.

They can potentially have 2 spikes on each bulb- one on each side. Same for th new growths. New pseudobulbs grow from the base of a mature bulb, and the older bulbs are the energy reserves for the plant. Once the bulbs are really old, the lose their leaves and usually look a bit shriveled, and are then called backbulbs. Once you have a rather large plant, it can be divided (at least 3-4 older bulbs and at least 1 new growth), and the

[aliceinwl]

I have a NOID that I think is a Miltonia ‘Sunset’. I found that mine was a lot more sensitive to root disturbance than my Phals. It’s probably taken over 6 months to recover from re-potting. If I had a do-over, I’d have been much less aggressive when getting the old substrate out of the root ball. Mine also really does not seem to tolerate temperatures below 7 degrees Celsius (45 degrees Fahrenheit) well, its leaves got a lot of cold damage at lower temperatures. Mine definitely takes more light than my Phals and is doing okay with a couple of hours of morning sun and bright shade the rest of the day. I only got one flower on the rebloom; I’m not sure if this is due to the past trauma or if it needs even more light. I will say the fact that it’s still alive and growing indicates it’s a pretty hardy plant.

[Ray]

Milmiltonia Sunset has both miltonia (warm-growing) and miltoniopsis (cool growing) in its background, so it probably would prefer intermediate to cool temps.

Phalaenopsis, on the other hand, are mostly hot growers, preferring rather steamy conditions, although they can tolerate the more moderate temperatures we prefer.

Both are deep shade plants.

As to the pseudobulbs, understand that each growth, while an individual plant, is part of a colony that shares resources. The more growths, the hardier the plant will be. A growth may very well have bloomed - and even farther down the road - lost its leaves, but if its's still green, it's still photosynthesizing and contributiong the the whole.