Miltoniopsis?

[tryingtoflower]

I live in So. Calif. in a townhome with no greenhouse. I fell in love with these plants and was wondering what my chances of successfully growing them inside would be. I've already bought one in bloom and four that are blooming size and a couple backbulbs to try. A little late to ask I know but maybe you'll stop the insanity!
Do you think I'll be able to provide enough humidity? So far they're all putting out new growths.

[NYCorchidman]

Humidity was a main concern when I started to grow orchids as an indoor grower.
Well, it turns out it does not matter much as long as watering is done properly.

Miltoniopsis do seem to be affected by lower humidity or more precisely easily affected by lack of water.
Especially while they are in active growth (and they grow like weeds!!!), just a little lazy watering will show up in the crinkled up leaves.
Temperature was another thing that I was concerned about growing miltoniopsis at home, but no big deal.
One thing I do find is that, of course under my care, the reblooms always seem much smaller and poor form, and the color (if red or pink tone) is horribly washed out.

So, if you like these, you will be fine growing and blooming them. Humidity is not a big issue as long as watering is done diligently.
Flower quality, you will have to find out yourself.

Good luck!!!

Oh, by the way, do you have a basement where you could grow these under light set up?
That would give you much better results I think.

[tryingtoflower]

Thanks for your response. I don't have a basement. I have them all in my dining room in front of a big window facing west. It gets good light there and I have a shade cloth I put up when sun is too strong. I'm trying to figure out the correct watering without drowning them. I noticed they seem to be potted in a mixture of potting soil and bark. What do you use?

[NYCorchidman]

All Miltoniopsis I bought came in what appears to look like Promix. It's a peatmoss based mix with fine grade perlite.
I keep them in the same mix for a while. Then I switch them over to fine bark. I would love to try promix, but never bought it. maybe one day.

[tryingtoflower]

I'll try and find the promix at the next show in Feb. You've been a huge help and I feel like I'm on the right track. I love the fragrance and the number of blooms they produce. I love the challenge of trying to bloom a new genus so here I go..

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

They're not that difficult to bloom.

If it doesn't go above 85 F indoors, the orchid's fine.

Many people cannot tolerate indoor temperatures that high anyway, so if you have an air conditioner to make things nice and comfortable for you during the summer, you shouldn't experience a whole lot of difficulties with Miltoniopsis.

As long as your humidity doesn't drop below 50%, it's ok.

They like moderately bright indirect light though. They're not really shade growers.

[tryingtoflower]

Ok, I think I'm up to the challenge. My indoor temperatures are spot on, light seems right and the only problem being humidity but I'll carefully water.

Thanks again for your help. I just have to stay away from buying more plants at the next show and just buy promix.

[NYCorchidman]

Best Luck and I hope to see some beautiful photos in the future!