miltoniopsis root rot

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Hi, I posted a few weeks ago about a miltioniopsis with what I thought was early root rot. I looked again, and there are new roots growing, but the other roots are rotting more. They are very slowly getting a bit mushy, and not some of them are comming off.



I never had sucess with this type of plant, and keep killing the roots. Although last summer, it was kept outside, and basically neglected from july to mid august, and it grew 5 million roots. But over the fall and winter I think they slowly rotted.

What should I do.

Ummm.. I also think that it must have been fairly fry out there. So maybe the roots werent used to a lot of moisture... maybe watering it regularly is too much for the roots. It gets dry pretty quickly, probably after 4 days, it would be dry. I water on the 3rd day after it was last watered.

Any tips or thoughts on this would be helpful

Thanks!!

[shams]

Hmm.... I don't really know a lot about Miltoniopsis at all, only that other orchid hobbyists up here say they like it moist around the roots....(maybe not sopping wet though... )

What kind of medium are you growing it in? My Miltonia came in moss, but I got really concerned that I was watering it too much, and repotted it into bark mix with moss at the top. It seems to be doing alight like this, if I keep the moss misted. Roots looked ok.... I could be totally wrong too!

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I have mine in moss, but not tightly compacted. I try to keep it moist and not wet, but it still seams to be losing some roots. I'll prepot it soon, maybe in the next 2 weeks

[Phantasm]

Miltoniopsis need an annual repotting, preferably in the fall so the roots can grow before the spring blooming season. If you neglect this little project, the mix breaks down and the roots will rot. Get rid of the rotted roots and repot asap so the plant will be established before the summer.

I would not suggest potting in moss. A fine bark mix works the best for miltoniopsis!

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Originally Posted by Phantasm

Miltoniopsis need an annual repotting, preferably in the fall so the roots can grow before the spring blooming season. If you neglect this little project, the mix breaks down and the roots will rot. Get rid of the rotted roots and repot asap so the plant will be established before the summer.

I would not suggest potting in moss. A fine bark mix works the best for miltoniopsis!

I can't seem to grow these in bark... I keep them to wet I think. I have another one that I just transplanted in bark- I have half the pot filled with penuts, the rest with a small-medium grade bark... It needs watering everymorning, but I checked this week and the new roots seem fine so far.

Its frustrating! I can't figure out what I am doing wrong! For your miltoniopsis, how long do you wait in between waterings? What does the mixture feel like when it need to be watered?

oh and for this plant, there is new growth on some roots that may be rotting - what do I do, just leave them on?

[Lagoon]

I keep mine in sphag with 30% of coarse rok (perlite) thru-out the media. I water mine when it just starts to get just damp. In other words, don't grow it wet and don't let it dry out.
I know it's tricky but you'll get it down.
These things drink like fish during the warmer months.

[Pippin]

I grow my miltoniopsis in hydroton (coarse), some in S/H and some classic. I water those in S/H twice a week and those in classic every second day.

[Phantasm]

They need to be evenly moist and it depends on the weather. In warm weather they are very thirsty. This time of year they are watered about twice a week and sprayed with water to keep the foliage hydrated. They are native to cloud forests in Colombia so they need moisture in the air. Moist but not soggy, and don't let them dry out.

[Des]

You have had some good advice here , I would just like to add that if you don't have good quality water to give them they will eventually die, So have the ph and ec or tds checked.