Miltonia spectabilis (Project 9 Int. - Summer 2009)

[flhiker]

Originally Posted by RosieC

It's arrived

Mine is mounted, I know you guys buying from Andy's are getting them potted but the place I bought from in Germany is selling them mounted.

This is my first mounted orchid, so that's going to be an extra challange. It's also my first species orchid (altough a potted Masd. veitchiana was it's TC, remains to be seen if I can keep that cool enough).

It looks healthy I think. Not as big as the ones Katie and Sheridan showed on the Poll thread, but it has 4/5 psuedo bulbs (one quite small) as well as a further 4 new growths of varying size.

Pictures will be later when I get home (they were delivered to my office so no camera).

I'm really excited, I hope you guys think it looks healthy and alright when you see it

Looking forward to the photos. I would have picked a mounted one if it were available.

[TylerK]

A little annoyed here. I went to place my order a couple days ago and was told that they would check on the availability of my plants. Today I asked for more clarification on when they would have that done and was told I'd have to wait until next week before they could even do that much. I can understand a backlog in actually shipping them out the door if there are a lot of orders coming in, but it really shouldn't take that long to just to confirm that the orchids I want are actually available.

[flhiker]

Originally Posted by TylerK

A little annoyed here. I went to place my order a couple days ago and was told that they would check on the availability of my plants. Today I asked for more clarification on when they would have that done and was told I'd have to wait until next week before they could even do that much. I can understand a backlog in actually shipping them out the door if there are a lot of orders coming in, but it really shouldn't take that long to just to confirm that the orchids I want are actually available.

I agree. Is there any other vendor that has it?

[TylerK]

There is a vendor that has the Miltonia but not the Leptotes unicolor which I also signed up for, and I'd prefer to save on shipping expenses and not make two different orders. I've never ordered from this company before, so I don't know if this is normal for them or not. The only other two nurseries that I have ordered from were either quite prompt or had fixed predictable shipping dates listed before I even submitted the order.

A week waiting isn't going to kill me. Just needed somewhere to vent I guess

Tyler

[RosieC]

That sounds a long time to wait, just to see if they have it. I hope it works out for you and you can get your plant

[RosieC]

So what do you guys think of my spectabilis? It looks quite healthy to me but I don't really know what to expect, especially as I've never had a mounted orchid before.



It has 5 psuedo bubs arround the same size as each other 4 of them with leaves and 1 without. A 6th psuedo bulb is quite small surrounded by lots of leaves, then there are 4 new growths of various sizes (one of which is hiding in this pic).

There are lots of white roots sticking out the bottom, which seem to have growing tips on them. There are other roots mixed in with the moss against the cork which are the same dark green as the moss arround them. I'm not sure how many roots it should have/needs, but I think it looks OK. What do you think?

I'm wondering if I should try and encourage all the loose roots coming out the bottom towards the cork in some way, or are they OK to be just hanging loose like that. Will they be able to pic up enough water when I poor water over it?

I was usure where to put a mounted orchid but so far it is hanging quite nicely from our living room mirror. Will have to see if it gets enough light there, but on one website it suggested they need similar light to Phals and there are three phals on the shelf just below the mirror.



I'm really excited, but also quite nervous about killing it.

[TylerK]

Looks healthy to me.

I personally have issues with my mounted orchids as I can never seem to keep them properly hydrated (especially during the winter). I don't have the humid environment necessary I don't think. The ones I haven't been able to pot I give a good 10min bath twice a day (one in the morning before work and once when I get home), and it seems to be enough to keep the leaves from shriveling up and falling off.

On another note, the vendor was able to take care of my order today after all. Yay! It should ship out on Monday and arrive sometime next week.

[RosieC]

That's great news that your orchids are on their way

Since watering this at lunch time today (it's now almost 11pm) I have been keeping an eye on the bit of sphag behind most of the roots and it seems to still be holding a little moisture.

I'm very new to this and don't know what sort of humidity is considered good. According to the website my hubby has just looked at our town has been arround 80% today and is usually upwards of 60% (it feels humid today). That sounds high to me but I really don't know.

[PitcherASAMD]

Congrats Rosie on your new arrival! Tyler, I'm very excited that yours is on it's way! I can't wait to see how yours looks! Soon we'll have examples of the miltonia spectabilis orchids from all different areas

Sheridan, I know we both ordered from Andy's. I can't decide if there is too much moss around the roots or not. Are you gonna leave yours alone or remove some of the moss? My has been drying out every 1-2 day in which I've been soaking it for a good 10 mins and then let it dry. how are you caring for yours?

Katie

[harrywitmore]

My project orchids arrived in great shape. Here's the Miltonia I received from Andy's. Awesome!

They must have been in pretty strong light.