Miltoniopsis William Hammel in bloom - Page 2 - Orchid Board

silken · #11 05-15-2012, 06:17 PM

Thanks! Funny, when I bought this one it wasn't in bloom and was labelled as something else. So when it bloomed I was a bit disappointed as it was not at all what I thought I was getting. However it is usually my first Milt to bloom in spring and is very reliable and I have really come to like it a lot! I contacted the seller and they were able to tell me what it was as they had been growing these as well.

NYCorchidman · #12 05-15-2012, 06:29 PM

Wow~ you must know aweful lot about miltoniopsis if you know them by names!

The store I bought these at, they bring lots of stuff from somewhere in California. I checked almost all of them in the store and none of them had names.
Maybe I should go ask him to see if he can contact the grower in Cali and find out names for the other three of mine.

By the way, does your make lots of new growths each year? All four miltoniopsis I bought are rather large sized plants loaded with flowers, which I love.
I looked closely and each pot has either only one or two main old pbs in the center of the pot, then each of these older pbs have three younger pbs attached to them. these younger ones have 2-3 spikes on each.

They look amazing in the house and I enjoy them very much. some have great scent, some don't, but don't mind.

Now, once flowers are gone, I'm not sure what to do as my place gets really hot during summer.
I think I will at least repot them and try what I can. If they die, bye bye, if they survive, I will be so happy!

I see these orchids every spring, but this big ones are usually very pricey and they all look different. I picked what I liked so I would love to keep them for as long as possible!

I wish I was in Canada or west coast, maybe better climate to grow these types? good for you!

silken · #13 05-15-2012, 08:50 PM

Actually I had hoped I would be able to grow them OK as I have no problem keeping them cool in the greenhouse in the winter. But our summers are pretty warm and lots of sun too which can heat a greenhouse pretty fast. So mine really languished last summer. It's not so much that they need real cool temps, its that they can't take the warm temps. Growing in a home should work pretty well as it is usually neither too hot or cold. They like really even moisture-which is a bit hard to do and do not want to dry out. They cannot tolerate old potting media. I find these vary in their vigour. Some put out 3 or more growths and others only one per recently mature pseudobulb. I don't often get 2 spikes per peudobulb but it may just be that they aren't super happy. Most of mine were not huge plants when I got them so there aren't a lot of pseudobulbs to produce more!

Last summer I resorted to misting them a fair bit to keep them cool and somehow a number of them got some brown spots on the leaves. It hasn't spread I don't think, just doesn't look nice. The year before they all looked great!

I have one in bud that is a first bloom so am eager to see that one. The buds had been trapped in between the leaves and the spike isn't a great shape because of that. Lucky I caught it and helped free them. This happens sometimes and could be a low humidity issue. They like high humidity which is hard for me to provide right now too!

I just love them so I try as best as I can!

NYCorchidman · #14 05-16-2012, 12:47 AM

It gets really hot here too and humid in the summer. My old apartment was facing north so it didn't get too hot, but here it is facing south and on sunny days, it gets really hot. but we've been having rainy/cloudy days a lot lately so they are all alive and the buds are opening up all fine, which is nice.

Regarding their varying degree of vigor, maybe the ones I bought are either genetically vigorous or they had been grown very well in the nursery they came from, or both!

How long have you been growing these??
Do they grow better in the winter for you?
They will stay indoor year around here. the problem with the winter time is that there's not enough day/night temperature difference. The day will be warm and the night will also be warm because I have to be comfortable.

My other orchids all survived the winter indoor fine, so I will have to see how these guys will do, given that they will survive the summer first.

I really wish I knew the names and the parents in their background so I know better and expect what to do.
I just read somewhere that miltoniopsis phalaenopsis is warmth tolerant so if this is part of them, then they should be fine through the summer here. or so I hope.

One of mine has one leaf loaded with little black spots, which I am actually thinking of cutting off tomorrow.
Most other leaves are fine except a few big and small dark spots, which I suspect sunburn. Maybe the growers exposed them to high light to increase flower counts.
then many of the leaves show these subtle lighter green spots everywhere, which I have no idea what they are. hopefully not virus.

These are really beautiful orchids and I just wish I had more space to have more around.

One last thing, about keeping them evenly moist, I find that very difficult. I think I killed my last one by overwatering. All of mine are in plastic pots with slits on the sides. It looks like they are potted in fine grade bark mixed with something else, but they all seem very old.
I soak them in bucket full of water once a week, but mist the roots exposed on top everyday.
so far, all the buds are developing and opening fine, so I guess it's all good for now.

I just accidently damaged and lost some buds and spike while carrying them home.

silken · #15 05-16-2012, 01:49 AM

Most of the ones I have do not have much or any Milt. phalaenopsis. It is mostly Milt. roezlii and vexillaria. They are cool to intermediate growers. I am placing some of mine in clay pots to help keep their roots cool or if in plastic, then putting those in clay. It is sometimes said they can tolerate some daytime warmth so long as they can cool down at night. do you have an air conditioner, because you could place them near that. Mine are potted in fine bark mixed with some sphagnum and charcoal usually and sometimes a bit of perlite. I've started getting these about 3 years ago now. Most of mine were not real large but they seem to bloom at a much smaller size than many orchids. Their leaves are quite fine so they do seem to spot easily. they don't like really high light but mine get more than my phals and their leaves are a greyish green, not a rich green as some orchids are.
Bummer about the broken spike but I have done that too. Hopefully I will have another one to post in a few days!

NYCorchidman · #16 05-18-2012, 03:20 AM

I do have AC, but I hardly use it even in the summer unless it gets unbearably hot at night, then I run it for a few hours. I will have to see myself how these miltoniopsis fare in my apartment.

Mine have mostly grey green. just weird lighter green spots on some leaves, which worry me a bit.

I love to buy ones in bloom so I know what they look like, but these flowers seem more delicate than others. very easily bruised. some spikes are broken. Luckly, all of mine are rather large plants with tons of spikes, so they still look quite amazing even with some loss here and there.

silken · #17 05-21-2012, 08:51 PM

Even tho they are delicate looking, some of them last for a long time while in bloom. I have a NOID that has something like 8 spikes, maybe more as they are hard to keep track of when counting. So I hope that turns out well as it should be lovely!

NYCorchidman · #18 05-21-2012, 11:43 PM

My white one, I just carried it with my hands with no packaging material at all. Sometimes packaging can damage the plants while travelling home especially flowers. Well, many of the flowers got it in a crowded public transfortation on the way home and over the course of several days, the damage done showed up as dry white/light brown area. decreased flower quality a bit, but still produced wonderful scent everyday and more buds opened up. Those rather damaged older blooms are still going, but the scent has decreased quite a bit, which I think means the flowers are nearing the end?

Other miltoniopsis came home wrapped around the entire plant with clear plastic sheets. no much damage there!

By the way, mine all have wonderful scent, but the rouge has no scent at all. what about yours???