Laelia milleri - I’m going to try this media
 

I’ve been wanting to try a Laelia milleri for awhile and knowing that they grow on iron ore outcroppings in their native environment I knew I needed to be mindful of that when potting it. I have access to taconite pellets which are small, marble sized pellets of iron ore mixed with clay. Basically LECA with iron. I plan to mix in some or Orchiata bark and top dress with coco husk chips around the new roots for moisture. I’m hoping this will be a good setup for it. My milleri just arrived bare root and is now in quarantine so I’ll post again when I have it potted. But here are pics of what I have so far.

Good luck! Sounds like a very interesting plan.

Good luck! I'll be receiving a few milleri soon so I'm looking forward to seeing how yours react to this setup - I'm planning to pot mine in small clay pots with sphagnum.

David

Any LECA that is red in color is loaded with iron.

If you have a substrate that works in your environment, a bit of iron sulfate would be fine to boost it.

I'm growing my milleri in LECA and used a common technique popular among brasilian growers: mix nails in the medium.

Then be careful with the wine while repotting.

I potted up my milleri a few weeks ago and so far it’s looking good. Top layer of coco husk around the crown to help keep it moist. I hear they are slow to root. Is that anybody else’s experience?

Try adding Kelpak to your regimen, as that’ll pretty much guarantee faster establishment.

A technique I was tought by a reputable grower in my country is:
- Plastic pot: Inorganic medium and a top layer of sphagnum or any other water retentive material.

Clay pot: same but the water retentive material lays on the bottom.

This is valid for all rupiculous.

I use Kelpmax. Is that the same thing?