My second try at Miltoniopsis

[NYCorchidman]

Originally Posted by camille1585

Geez that's a lot of spikes!! Of all the ones I've killed, the yellow ones are my favorites.

Whoever grew these, I'd love to work at their farm and learn the secrets!
The rouge and no name red have like 13 spikes each!
smaller flowers though.

I love my "banana milk"
I like yellow. yellow clothes, yellow flowers of different shades (lilies, hyacinth, tree peony, tulip, freesias, daffodils, begonias...and of course orchids!)
This particular shade of soft yellow is really really attractive!

While all my miltoniopsis are opening up and staying in bloom perfectly fine, I see some leaves are starting to turn yellow and brown....hmmm....have the dark days already begun for these?

[NYCorchidman]

Originally Posted by greenpassion

I have to say I may have made a mistake in getting these 2 milts. after reading some of these posts. I just received them, they are bloomed, and on the glass tray with the other orchids. I'll send pics with them and if I can find a decent one, a pic of my set up. I have them elevated closer to the lights, which also I am guessing, will keep them further from the heat mat. Should I have the heat mat off now anyway? It's around 75-72 in the house in the day, and around 65-62 through the night. I know very little about these orchids, but the lower light requirement as well as how cool they are prompted me to get them. Also, I plan to move them into S/H once the blooms have gone, but in the mean time, should I place the pots in shallow dishes of water? Do they really like that much moisture?

I'm not experienced wit these but have been reading a lot about their culture. First off, I wouldn't plance them on the dishes of water. quick way to root rot and death!
Their natural habitat has high humidity in the air and they get lots of moisture in the form of cloud, mist, heavy dew and rain thoughout the day and night.
sitting in water is not a good idea unless you are growing phrags.

Low light- silken mentioned about this. Low light isn't exactly correct. very bright light (but without high heat) short of burning induces abundant flowering is what I got from one good source.

Your temperature range sounds really good!

and your Andrea West looks very classic of that hybrid.

[silken]

Originally Posted by greenpassion

Silken, I had thought you did grow in S/H. ?? As far as how they're doing that close to the lights, I only received them 2 days ago, so I don't know either! I use the bulbs from Orchid Web, the natural white chip tech bulbs, and it seems ok so far....

Nope, no S/H for me. I think my greenhouse would be too cool all winter for things to do well in S/H. I did mention in this thread or somewhere that I had one small Milt that I re-potted into mostly perlite and some moss and have it sitting in about 1/2 inch of water. I guess that's sort of S/H and it seems OK, but it is just an experiment. It was in a small pot because it is small and was drying out so fast. So figured I couldn't do any worse by trying it. Most of mine are in fine bark and moss mix. I have ordered a bit of Orchiata bark and hope to re-pot and try some in that this summer. Anyone with experience in using that for Milts.I would appreciate info.

Sorry NYCorchidman, maybe we are hijacking your thread although it does involve Milt culture

[NYCorchidman]

It's ok, I love to know more about their culture and others' input on that.
I will actually edit the title for this thread to reflect that.

[NYCorchidman]

Three months after the last post on this thread, I am happy to report that all my miltoniopsis are alive!
Well, I did throw away the dark red one because I wasn't too fond of dark spots on the leaves.

All are sending up lots of new fans, but I've never seen anything that grow so slowly!
Some of these plants had already developed a couple of new fans back in May but they are not much bigger after three months.

One particular plant is making lots of new fans but at the same time, a few of the leaves are developing many small dark spots. Some of the new fans are turning brown as well.
I am thinking of discarding it.

I have accumulated five more miltoniopsis since the last entry on this thread. These are just so hard to resist!

The spring time seemed like a main season for stores to sell these, however I noticed that they are available all through summer ( though not many stores carry them) and now it seems like another season is coming back as I see lots of these at a few stores again.

I'm being careful because the heat seems to hault and even blast the buds.

Regarding repotting my milts, I still haven't decided what to do, although I am thinking that I will try peat mix.

[flexdc]

I have potted these in all sorts of mix. Fine bark, Sphag, rock wool, peat mix. Only thing is they don't like soggy, but they like moist. Having said that it is easier said than done, you'll have to judge yourself. I like sphag the most. Cause when it feels dry to touch, I know it is time to water.

They are very slow growers. The fan will take almost 9 months to mature. But once mature with a bulb showing, they will flower nicely! And winter is their growing season anyways.

Best of luck.