miltoniopsis and brown rot problems :(

[silken]

Usually if they can get a cooler respite at night, they can handle the warmer temps for a while in the day. But cooler is better and less stressful. I grow a few of them but not with raging success although I had some blooms this spring and last.

I do think that getting them wet is a problem. I was misting to keep humidity up and lots of them got covered in brown spots. I think watering from the bottom is a good method. I grow them in a variety of mixes from pure sphag to a mix of fine bark, perlite and charcoal. and things in between! I haven't come up with a perfect media yet. I know of several growers who say they thrive in the sphagnum, often with a bit of styrofoam chunks or perlite so that's why I have given that a try. Keeping their roots cool in the heat is also good. It helps them weather the heat stress.

That's about all the tips I can think of and even tho I try to follow that, mine aren't gorgeous specimens or anything. I do love them tho! good luck.

	Mistking Looking for a misting system? Look no further. Automated misting systems from MistKing are used by multitude of plant enthusiasts and are perfect for Orchids. Systems feature run dry pumps, ZipDrip valve, adjustable black nozzles, per second control! Automatically mist one growing shelf or a greenhouse full of Orchids. See MistKing testimonials

[Wrebbitrocks]

wow thank you all for your help. i grow at about 75 degrees in my room and outside for miltonias. i have a shaded nook where it never gets above 85F. also ive been looking into it and erwinia should have killed everything else if it was that since it was so close to so many other plants. i took all this advice to heart and have been experimenting for about 3 weeks now. my miltonias are doing ok. they havent declines as fast as the others and have plenty of new growths. ive been keeping them on the dry side watering only when theyre drying out. not the traditional constantly moist i was using before. i think that because i wasnt estimating the correct meaning of moist and was keeping them a bit wetter then i shouldve. the wet plus the cold i think just made them rot. that was prolly the smell. anyways, im keeping my fingers crossed that these two plants will be troopers and add a new genera to my expertise thanks all

[Leafmite]

Good luck! I went with small lava rock in a vanda basket, sitting in a tray with a tad of water. I am hoping this will keep it cooler during the summer. The only orchid I have in moss is a bulbo....

[NYCorchidman]

Originally Posted by Wrebbitrocks

wow thank you all for your help. i grow at about 75 degrees in my room and outside for miltonias. i have a shaded nook where it never gets above 85F. also ive been looking into it and erwinia should have killed everything else if it was that since it was so close to so many other plants. i took all this advice to heart and have been experimenting for about 3 weeks now. my miltonias are doing ok. they havent declines as fast as the others and have plenty of new growths. ive been keeping them on the dry side watering only when theyre drying out. not the traditional constantly moist i was using before. i think that because i wasnt estimating the correct meaning of moist and was keeping them a bit wetter then i shouldve. the wet plus the cold i think just made them rot. that was prolly the smell. anyways, im keeping my fingers crossed that these two plants will be troopers and add a new genera to my expertise thanks all

The proeblem with keeping moist is that moist can mean very vague term for different people or it's just so difficult to keep things moist at all time.
So many end up rotting their plants.
Maybe that's why. If it smelled bad, it can be erwinia. It's funny but some plants are tougher than others, so even when things grow in a crowded setting, some plants just don't pick up any disease, which I find amazing!

Your two survivors may truly be the survivors!
Water when the pot dries, but don't let it stay bone dry for too long or you'll see the result of what you've done. not in a good way.

Leaf mite- If you grow miltoniopsis in lava rock inside basket, they will dry out too fast. As long as you can water them often enough to avoid dehydration, all is fine I guess. Let us know how your plants grow in that setting.