Has anyone been successful with miltoniopsis?

[redcoats36]

Got my first miltoniopsis. So in love with it’s flowers and rosy scent. Does anyone have tips to keep these guys alive? I’ve only heard horror stories. I live in the PNW so it doesn’t get very hot in the summer (low 90s very rarely, mostly high 70s or low 80s).

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

I don't grow them. It's too hot here. There is a Search feature in the upper maroon menu. If you put in something like Growing Miltoniopsis you can see how others here do it.

[Roberta]

Pacific Coast from about San Francisco north is the best place to grow these. Challenge is that they are not so much just "cool growers" but "narrow range growers" They tend to get unhappy much below 50 deg F as well as objecting to high summer temps. So Pacific Northwest greenhouse should be about right.

[aliceinwl]

I have not had what I'd call longterm success yet.

The first one I bought had been sitting at the grocery store for awhile and the media was bone dry. I repotted it and carefully removed all the pro mix and dead roots (pretty much all of them) and potted it up in a fine bark mix in a clear slotted pot. I put it outside in bright shade. It died.

I bought another one. I got this one as soon as it appeared in the store (no chance to dehydrate). I did a cursory cleaning: I unpotted it ran it under a hose and any pro mix that remained after this cursory washing I left in place and didn't do any root trimming. I then mixed up a 1:1 mix of miracle grow orchid mix and a better gro bark mix I had on hand and potted it up in a clay pot about triple the size of its original pot and watered it well. I put it outside in bright shade where it got daytime highs in the low 70s and nightime lows in the low 50s. I tried to keep it moist but not wet. It did well (in that it lasted a month without going belly up), so I bought two more and gave them the same treatment.

I don't know if my choice of mix is the best option. I was expecting to kill these too so I decided to use some mixes I'd been gifted with rather than "waste" my good stuff. It also seemed like they might tolerate a finer more moisture retentive substrate.

Starting in November/December when night time lows started dipping into the low 40s to high 30s I started bringing them into the garage nightly. During the day they go outside where highs are in the low to mid 60s on most days, garage lows are usually in the low 60s. Depending on how early I have to put them out and how late they're left out, they are still seeing brief periods in the 40s. All are still alive with no decline in health (knock on wood). They're putting out new growth and I think one might even have some new buds. If they hang in there, I'll have had them a year come May.

[Paul]

They like it cool, humid (but still with decent air movement), and never let them dry out but don't keep them soggy either.

[CROrchid]

My plant has produced a basal shoot, but it's growing very slowly. I blame it on lack of humidity (it's usually <40% in that room) and during the summer here (it gets around 37*C on some day outside and some 25*C indoors) the plant has shown some leaf twisting (some refer to it as accordion). However the bulb doesn't look shrunken and, so far, there hasn't been a single leaf to fall off..so I'm hopeful that, once I increase the humidity and the new growth matures, it will bloom.

When I first got it, it was potted in some very water retentive (soggy) mix that I see used on Dendrobiums in the same shop I bought it. I have unpotted it, removed some of dead roots and potted in a mix of 80% medium size bark 20% perlite. Perlite is somewhat coarse and helps by absorbing water and releasing it until the next watering, thus the mix stays moist longer. I see lots of new roots coming coming from the new growth. However, as the top portion of the pot dries out quicker than the bottom, I occasionally observe new roots "bouncing" off the top layer of dry bark..this is a sign to increase watering and they then finally sink into the mix.

[MrHappyRotter]

The good news is, as others have pointed out, you're in an area with a climate that's supportive of Miltoniopsis growing.

This is my opinion: The "trouble" with Miltoniopsis is that their margin of error in terms of adaptability is more slim than most commonly available orchids. You might be able to get away with growing them in conditions that are warmer than they prefer, but then your humidity and other environmental conditions need to be spot on. You might have years of good success growing and blooming them, but then if you repot at the wrong time, then expect an uphill battle to recover the plant. Basically, one little mistake can cascade into near complete or total failure.

I suspect the reason these are so finicky in so many climates comes down to the fact that there are only a very small number of Miltoniopsis species (less than 10, probably around 5 to 7), and they pretty much all come from similar climates and habitats. There's only so much that hybridization and line breeding has been able to achieve in terms of producing plants that are more forgiving of temperature and general household growing conditions.

I'm making a lot of assumptions but for you it's going to come down to keeping these plants pampered when the temps in your growing area exceed 72F - 75F. Be sure to keep a good breeze going, via a fan, and if feasible, provide elevated humidity (60% or higher goes a long way). You might have to resort to using a preventative fungicide routine or an aggressive inoculation regime with microbial products. It's very important to use a moisture retentive mix and never let these dry out. They love moisture. And finally, when you do repot, as best you can, wait until the plant is starting to produce new growths and those new growths are starting to produce roots.

I've had limited success with Miltoniopsis phalaenopsis growing indoors in the southern USA. In my area, summers are brutal from a Miltoniopsis point of view to the point where even running A/C 24/7 it's difficult to keep the temperatures below 80F in the growing area, let alone keeping the humidity above 60%. What I did to help combat both of these issues is to make use of a zeer pot set-up. My plant is potted in a net pot with moss and styrofoam, which is then set down into a clay pot that sits in a saucer of water. The clay pot soaks up moisture which helps cool the roots and provides a bit of extra humidity around the roots and new growths. This works well for this species because it is a dwarf sized plant, almost a miniature. It may not work for larger hybrids and species, but I suspect it also wouldn't hurt.

[redcoats36]

Originally Posted by MrHappyRotter

What I did to help combat both of these issues is to make use of a zeer pot set-up. My plant is potted in a net pot with moss and styrofoam, which is then set down into a clay pot that sits in a saucer of water. The clay pot soaks up moisture which helps cool the roots and provides a bit of extra humidity around the roots and new growths. This works well for this species because it is a dwarf sized plant, almost a miniature. It may not work for larger hybrids and species, but I suspect it also wouldn't hurt.

Thanks for this tip. I've never heard of a zeer pot, definitely will check it out. I will have the same issues as you in the summer time as it can get to the mid 90s here, and our house doesn't have air conditioner! I'll need to get it a fan or a portable AC unit.

---------- Post added at 10:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:51 AM ----------

Originally Posted by aliceinwl

They're putting out new growth and I think one might even have some new buds. If they hang in there, I'll have had them a year come May.

That's amazing! I'll be thrilled if mine makes it that long. Good to know about the finer mix. I also have bark fines (really small wood chips). which I sometimes use for semi-terrestrial type orchids (like zygos). I wonder if those could work.

[s3attlite]

Let me preface by saying that my humidity is exceedingly high even for being in the PNW, so my miltoniopsis success might be due to this reason. But that doesnt explain why more than half the orchids at the NWOS meeting I went to were miltoniopsis.

The two I have sit in a westfacing window and get direct sun from 1PM until about 3 depending on the season, then it goes behind trees. Same light that blooms my catts and dends. I do pull some plants including milts back from the window in summer when temps get high or I go on vacay.

My only problem has been a weird orange rot that turned out to be some combo of bad media, overwatering, and/or high humidity during the coldest months. Thanks to advice from orchidboard, mine grow like weeds in small bark chips, perlite, and sphag and don't seem to mind drying out for a day or so during winter (again my humidity being 80-100% for most of it). I have repotted in all seasons but summer and they seem to appreciate fresh media and never hold back on root growth for me. I am considering trying these in s/h to lessen the repotting setback but they definitely seem like they would hate the top layer drying out and efflorescence so i'm hesitant.

Ive never killed a miltoniopsis, but I kill phals in droves.. but you practically live in a cloud forest when you're near the sound!

[Spotted Milti]

I bought my first miltoniopsis last October and so far it has enjoyed life under a grow light with a bit of extra exposure from my southern window. Since I got it in autumn, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop once it warms up for the summer here in Georgia. I've read that keeping it on the ground helps with temperature, too, since it's slightly cooler than on a high shelf.

Mine has experienced 62-68 degree F temps all through fall and winter and I water once it gets close to dry. Its 2 new growths have gotten big and the pbulbs haven't wrinkled. Really going to have to pick up the watering once it gets 75-80 in the summer, and the southern window will only make it hotter I believe. No direct sunlight, of course. It came as a large plant so I think that really helped it thrive and adapt. I repotted it shortly after the blooms fell in November from sphagnum moss to a Repotme mix that the roots seem to enjoy. The plastic pot it's in has lots of ventilation holes, too.

I keep the humidity anywhere from 55-75% and it seems to enjoy that a lot. Many of the aerial roots it came with died but mostly because I ran out of rainwater to mist them with and the repot sent them out of whack.

Good luck with your growing They are some of the most beautiful flowers in my collection so I hope yours stays happy.