Help my Miltoniopsis seems to be dying

[sweta]

My new miltoniopsis that I recently bought seems to be rotting at the base. The older bulb changed color to brown and the leaves started falling off due to the rot. It seems to be spreading fast. Is there any way I can save the new bulb with flowers and the new spike? I'm not sure if I overwatered it. Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Roberta]

There does appear to be a new growth. I'd suggest taking it out of the pot and see what is going on with the roots system. If there are new roots (where the new growth is in process, you can clip off that bad pseudobulb (it looks like you already have) Rinse it off well, and repot in fresh medium - small bark like what it appears to have been in, should work well for maintaining moisture but allowing air around the roots. If good conditions in the new medium are established, most problems will resolve themselves without any treatment. These should never dry out.

If it is a recent acquisition, its problems may have started long before you got it. If, once you get it unpotted there is still uncertainty as to what to do with it, post some more photos.

[sweta]

Thank you Roberta for your quick response. It is a recent acquisition, got it just 2 weeks back. I will unpot and check the roots as you suggested and will also change the medium to fresh medium. I will keep you posted with more pictures.

[estación seca]

Miltoniopsis are not the easiest orchids to grow in a heated home with low humidity. Every now and then I buy an inexpensive small mericlone to see if I can get it right, but so far I'm not doing well.

[sweta]

I seem to have overwatered my miltoniopsis. After inspecting the roots I realized that there was a water soaked blob of sphagnum moss inside. Only the top layer had fine bark chips. I kept watering when the upper layer of bark chips were dry. Most of the roots have rotted. There are just very few roots that look good. I removed all the rotted roots, cut the flower spikes and put it in new medium. Its very unlikely it will survive but I'm hoping for the best

[sweta]

Here are some pics

[Roberta]

Where there is green there is hope. You do have some good looking roots, and a new growth. If it had been my plant, I would have been quite so aggressive in the root-trimming... a less-than-perfect root can still help hydrate the plant, and with fresh medium it's not an environment conducive to rot. But I think that you so have enough to keep the plant going.

[sweta]

Originally Posted by Roberta

Where there is green there is hope. You do have some good looking roots, and a new growth. If it had been my plant, I would have been quite so aggressive in the root-trimming... a less-than-perfect root can still help hydrate the plant, and with fresh medium it's not an environment conducive to rot. But I think that you so have enough to keep the plant going.

Thank you Roberta. I'm really hoping for the best. It was so hard to cut down the flower spikes but I really want the plant to survive.

[estación seca]

The roots you cut off look like they might have been alive to me. I strongly recommend people not cut off roots. It can be very hard to tell which are alive and which are dead. Miltoniopsis without roots are very hard to keep alive.

[sweta]

Originally Posted by estación seca

The roots you cut off look like they might have been alive to me. I strongly recommend people not cut off roots. It can be very hard to tell which are alive and which are dead. Miltoniopsis without roots are very hard to keep alive.

I'm not sure the velamen of the root just came off very easily when I pressed. I might have very well cut off some of the good roots. It was so hard to separate them out they are tangled up and unlike phal roots these are so thin. I was just afraid to keep the rotting roots in case they are effected by the rotting fungus/bacteria and it can spread in the new medium.