New miltoniopsis orchids - SO MANY SPIKES!!

[astrid]

Hey everyone!

Today, after my midterm, I thought I would go for a relaxing orchid window shopping evening.

Window shopping became financially irresponsibility in the form of, "OH MY GOD THEY HAVE MILTONIOPSIS ORCHIDS!!!!"

And here they are!!

I have some questions about them:

1- There are like, 4 spikes coming off ONE pseudobulb on the lighter orchid. One is misshapen and dried up, but two are out and ready to bloom, and I found TWO more hidden down in the leaves. Check out the pictures! It is mind-boggling!!

My question is: Is the plant going to be okay with all these spikes, or will they drain too much energy, and I ought to cut them?

2- How do I not kill these? I plan to water twice per week along with all my other oncidium alliance orchids, but I have heard that miltonias love EVEN MORE water and prefer to stay a bit wet all the time?

3- Light- Can I have these hang out in the shadows? I am under the impression that miltoniopsis are a low-light plant. I live in a small dorm room with south-facing windows and 200sqft, so options are limited.

Thanks, all! Enjoy the pictures! I'm excited, because the dark-flowered plant has probably 6 new pseudobulbs forming, so this plant is going to be really well established!

EDIT:
Update- these are FRAGRANT! The white one has the smell of a watered down rose- light and delicate, and less sweet than roses.

The dark one has the smell of... something I can't place. It's like the smell of a rose, the general "floral" scent, and the smell of freshly broken sweet baby carrots mixed all into one. Or ... it smells sort of how carrots taste when you chew them? Plus a "floral"? I love it!

[NYCorchidman]

I hope midterm went well for you.
Orchid shopping sounds great for treating yourself!

I love miltoniopsis and don't read too much into what you find on the internet regarding their culture as it is mostly outdated and incorrect for most part.
I always liked them but started to buy (and sometimes grow) them just a couple of years ago because of what I read about them. mainly the part that says they are cool growers.

All the species except for one, do come from cool zone, high cloud mountain where it is always nice and cool , and highly humid.
As I understand modern breeding created hybrids that are more temperature tolerant.

I thought I would try them and bought my first 7 on a single day. I know, crazy, right?
Well, I was surprised by how long these delicate looking flowers last. 2 months always! I can only imagine how much longer they might last under ideal conditions.
And that super nice fragrance!!!! It's the best thing I ever smelled!!! Note that not all of them are scented, but the ones that are, will be super!

So my first summer with them is when I realized that they are not at all cool growers. They sent up so many shoots that I thought I was growing chives! lol

Watering is a challenge and I think this is where the lower humidity issue comes in, or you really have to come up with a great potting mix option that stay moist. Water them good during the active growth or the newly developing leaves will easily accordion and if bad enough, then that entire growth is done!
I think you will do much better in Oregon. The climate is good I believe.

Wet is NO NO!!! You will rot the roots out in no time that way. Yours most likely came in 'dirt' mix which stays wet too long. You want to water good and then let it just dry out before watering again.
You really don't have to worry too much but once the new shoots develop, that's when watering can become a real challenge.
Always err on the dryer side than wet side. As long as you dont' let the plants bone dry too long in between watering, you will be fine.

Regarding light, they are not low light plant.
Without enough light, you won't see flowers.
So another wrong information floating around on the net.

Now, regarding the 4 spikes, it's actually common.
Most of them will have 2-3 spikes per pb, or the plants are not good.

One last issues I have, this is related to humidity and temperature.
When new flowers open under my care, they won't open all the way and the flowers often reduced in size.
When they rebloom during the hot months, the red part (like your second flower) will be almost washed out.

I love that second one by the way. I have bought many that looked like that. Some were fragrant and some were not.

Good luck!!!

[astrid]

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

I hope midterm went well for you.
Orchid shopping sounds great for treating yourself!

I love miltoniopsis and don't read too much into what you find on the internet regarding their culture as it is mostly outdated and incorrect for most part.
...
Watering is a challenge and I think this is where the lower humidity issue comes in, or you really have to come up with a great potting mix option that stay moist. Water them good during the active growth or the newly developing leaves will easily accordion and if bad enough, then that entire growth is done!
I think you will do much better in Oregon. The climate is good I believe.

Wet is NO NO!!! You will rot the roots out in no time that way. Yours most likely came in 'dirt' mix which stays wet too long. You want to water good and then let it just dry out before watering again.
You really don't have to worry too much but once the new shoots develop, that's when watering can become a real challenge.
Always err on the dryer side than wet side. As long as you dont' let the plants bone dry too long in between watering, you will be fine.
...
Regarding light, they are not low light plant.
Without enough light, you won't see flowers.
So another wrong information floating around on the net.

Now, regarding the 4 spikes, it's actually common.
Most of them will have 2-3 spikes per pb, or the plants are not good.

Hey there!!

Yeah, I got these because they're just so similar to all my other oncidium types and I literally could NOT resist!! I was too weak!!

I am planning on just treating them like other oncidium alliance orchids. I had my odontocidium orchid rebloom this winter, so I assume my growing conditions are adequate for this orchid alliance. I water twice a week and keep most of them in a bark mix with a little sphag sprinkled in.

And Oregon has humidity of 80-ish percent in winter (a lot, because we drizzle all winter long) and it drops to about 45% in summer, so it's enough for most of my orchids. I shudder to think about moving to a new area where the humidity will be less– it must make keeping orchids so much harder. That said, for me light is an issue, so I feel like I wouldn't have a good setup for cattleyas or dens... but oncidium alliance are fine for me!

I am just shocked about all the spikes on these plants! I about fell over when I saw how many there are! I am so excited to see them bloom.

Thanks for your tips and info!

As for the second one, my boyfriend pointed out to me that the lip has a little black bat shape on it, and now i can't see it. I'll call this my "batman miltoniopsis" because why not make up my own name for a NOID?

[NYCorchidman]

You can always try cactus in dry places. just kidding.

Batman is a great nickname.
I think people call it mask.
I love how the mask comes in different shape, color, and sizes on miltoniopsis.
Such interesting but very pretty flowers!

You should be fine with these since you already do well with other things you mentioned.
They basically take the same care.
Just remember do not let miltoniopsis go bone dry for too long especially while growing.
That's about the only main point to remember.

Enjoy and happy growing!

[astrid]

Originally Posted by NYCorchidman

You can always try cactus in dry places. just kidding.

Batman is a great nickname.
I think people call it mask.
I love how the mask comes in different shape, color, and sizes on miltoniopsis.
Such interesting but very pretty flowers!

You should be fine with these since you already do well with other things you mentioned.
They basically take the same care.
Just remember do not let miltoniopsis go bone dry for too long especially while growing.
That's about the only main point to remember.

Enjoy and happy growing!

Yeah, I can't fathom accordion leaves happening to me. Maybe the humidity here is good, or something like that, but I always water about twice per week and it just seems impossible to get those little accordions in my climate.

Thanks for the reassurance. I was always scared of these, but now I think they should be easy and HOW rewarding when they are growing like little weeds and pumping out so many inflorescences!

PS How much do you think I should water in summer time if I'm watering twice per week in winter?

[NYCorchidman]

Accordian leaves- You barely got the plants.
Wait until summer comes.

Then again, Northwest does not get crazy hot anyway, right?

Unless you have a super dry room, I dont' think twice a week watering is necessary this time of the year and your plants are not in active growth mode, are they??

I used to be scared of them too, but they are super easy actually and grow too well like a weed!
Like anything else, if you keep them too wet (depending on the potting mix type), you will lose roots.

I hate repotting orchids, especially oncidiums and miltoniopsis (soooooo many roots!!!) so when I buy these, I just get lazy and grow them in whatever they came in. They explode with new shoots.
I soaked them about twice a week during the summer, with occasional neglect, which caused them to accordion, well, not all of them.

These always came in what looked like dirt (promix I think) and they did well in that mix.

The only time I bought these in bark is when I buy from a local nursery.
I had to water more often with those, but they did just fine. just more work on my part.

Some of these can bloom twice a year. So, watch and find out!

[terryros]

I think there are only two spikes on the plant you are showing. The lower right item you are pointing to is a new growth. The browned up items probably a new growth as well. The spikes come from inside by the pseudobulb.

Otherwise, I agree on well draining media that you never let fully dry out and good light. To spike, you will optimally have shorter day length followed by a cooling period. Then the spikes will come.

[lotis146]

When I bought mine from the greenhouse it was in the same room - yes separate from the areas that housed all the Catts and Phals - as my Onc. Heaven Scent (a Sharry Baby hybrid I believe) as well as many other, heck most, Oncidiums at this greenhouse. The biggest difference I noticed in that room (with its own door, so an actual room not just space) was that it was cooler but definitely very humid.

We had a mild summer but I kept mine (I have one) outside all summer and it spiked at the end of the summer. So yes I agree some of them can bloom twice a year; it was in bloom in March and then six months later I got one spike. However I underwater, even as it was outside at first it didn't get as much rain and I got a bit accordion leaf. Then beginning October I had to bring inside due to temps. It quickly showed me it was unhappy because the spike only developed three buds, one of which blasted, and the two blooms that opened were much smaller than those from the greenhouse. They also weren't as "flat-faced" and I'm almost certain it is because of the much lower humidity inside my house. Add to that my chronic under-watering and you've got a pissed off plant.

From my little experience with one plant I do believe they need higher humidity, lots of water (not drowning), and cooler temperatures at least some of the time. Agreed as well that they don't need that much shade really at all.

Astrid can I tell you how I love your plants and envy your humidity? My fav is the first one, gorgeous. That's great you have so many spikes and so many bulbs!! My little guy just grew its third. Great picks!!

[astrid]

Originally Posted by lotis146

Astrid can I tell you how I love your plants and envy your humidity? My fav is the first one, gorgeous. That's great you have so many spikes and so many bulbs!! My little guy just grew its third. Great picks!!

Thanks so much for all your info!
I think the climate here is great- we have high humidity in winter, but it goes down in the summer to being moderate, so we stay humid but never get disgusting and muggy! It's really quite nice.

I am only now realizing how instrumental the climate here is to all the orchids I've chosen!! I worry what will happen if I ever move, but I suppose I'll just buy a humidifier or something... oh these plants...!!

[Iray]

Very nice orchids!! Thanks for all the info