recent S/H transfer- Miltionopsis new growths are tiny

[camille1585]

About 4 months ago I decided to give S/H a test and transferred 2 plants. One was a Brassia type with a new growth putting out roots, and that one settled in fantastically and the growth matured into a giant bulb.

The other plant was a last ditch attempt to save a Miltionopsis. Here they are sold in bark with a core of rock hard sphag, and despite repotting as soon as I got it home 90% of the roots were dead. With my previous 5 attempts of saving one of these all ending in failure, I decided that I had nothing to lose by sticking it in S/H. Amazingly the 3 existing growths put out 6-7 new ones within a few weeks, which all have some nice roots growing. The bulbs have since matured, however they are miniscule! Older growths are nearly a foot tall with big bulbs, all of the new ones are maybe 4 inches, max. Is this normal for plants adjusting to S/H? Or because it was a somewhat weakened plant to begin with? It obviously is liking it, I already see a new root down in the reservoir. Pics to come when I have time.

[Ray]

I would not say it's "normal". I have, on fairly rare occasion, seen a new transplant "take a step backwards" for the next growth, but more often than not, they tend to be as-big, if not bigger.

Most of the time when there is an issue, the cause is something lacking in the culture - food, light, etc.

[camille1585]

Could very well be the light, although the other plant took several steps forward! I don't have a heat mat, so put the pots on the windowsill since the tiles are warmish from the radiator right below. But at this time of year I get no direct light, and it's always cloudy. Times to order more lights I think. I have a 3 tier shelf, two of which have lights and are full, I think it's time to equip the remaining shelf!

[silken]

I can't answer your question Camille but I am curious if your Milt is in the typical Leca balls for the S/H. I am really tempted to try this for mine but am scared!!! Lots of my stuff likely won't work in S/H because of how cool the greenhouse is in winter. But I would think these might not mind and they dry out so fast always.

[camille1585]

Yes it's in leca, but this weekend I'm going to repot into a different brand of it. The one I originally used has very poor wicking, so unless I water twice a day or keep a layer of wet sphag on top, the top half of the pot is way too dry. I found another brand of leca specifically for hydroponics, and I assume that this means that it will wick better. It can't possibly be worse than the current stuff anyways!

[silken]

I'd be interested to hear the results and how those new growths bloom.

[calypsoB]

Has anyone tried the Lecca from Lee Valley? Just curious to see if it is good or not... I think I wouldn't mind trying this!

[ezil]

I have tried the sumi soil for seedlings with good results. I wouldn't use it for bigger plants though, it's too fine for that. I bought my leca from the hydroponics store.

[Rivka]

can i ask what brand leca you used that you didn't like the wicking of?

[camille1585]

The leca is by Naturado. Doubt you heard of it before, I believe it's a Dutch/Belgian brand only.

---------- Post added at 09:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:17 PM ----------

But I've just realized that the poor wicking may actually be due to the fact that the humidity at home is rarely below 60%. Other than the last 2 weeks were it's been 35% because the temps have gone down to 0F on the worst nights. Great for ice skating over frozen canals, but terrible for the humidity indoors since the heat is on max....