Miltoniopsis endangered - Orchid Board

Orquiadicto · #1 10-16-2011, 05:27 AM

A few weeks ago I bought this Miltoniopsis. Beside the blooming spike, it had two more spikes growing. It's the first Miltoniopsis I have and I must have done something wrong. One of the new spikes died and the second one is on the same way. A few days after buying it, the flowers started to bend down and they haven't recovered yet. I don't know if I overwatered it or not. I grow my orchids on a east facing window, so they receive plenty of tlight, but no direct sun.
Please help me save this plant. I hate seeing plants "suffering".

Fernando · #2 10-16-2011, 07:05 AM

Hi,
definitely too much water! Before doing anything - as leaving the plant in the sun! - let the plant dry. I assume there are very little living roots left, so watering will not help, and the plant won't be able to replace water if kept in a sunny place. You just would weaken the plant.
A fairly "cold", shady place with good ventilation would be my option. Miltoniopsis normally thrive quite quickly when left dry. Than you can repot if you feel it's necessary. Reassume waterings only with strong roots growing from new shoot!
Fer

Orquiadicto · #3 10-16-2011, 08:10 AM

Since it's quite likely that the blooms will be lost anyway, and in order to save as much of the roots as possible, I just changed the medium to dry bark. When I took the plant out of the pot I discovered a huge amount of sphagnum moss in the centre of the medium. The sphagnum was soaking wet of course. I should have checked with a stick or something if the medium was dry in the centre of the pot and not only rely on what I saw on the surface. on the surface the bark was dry when I watered it again.
I hope with this new dry medium roots will not rot. Well, time will tell. I'll post the results.

Arenalbotanicalgarden · #4 11-01-2011, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orquiadicto

A few weeks ago I bought this Miltoniopsis. Beside the blooming spike, it had two more spikes growing. It's the first Miltoniopsis I have and I must have done something wrong. One of the new spikes died and the second one is on the same way. A few days after buying it, the flowers started to bend down and they haven't recovered yet. I don't know if I overwatered it or not. I grow my orchids on a east facing window, so they receive plenty of tlight, but no direct sun.
Please help me save this plant. I hate seeing plants "suffering".

Too much water and no air circulation. Either put it in a real clay orchid pot(with slots) or better yet, in a teak basket with very little medium....like a few big chunks of tree fern. One established the roots will wind their way through the basket slots.

Gage · #5 11-01-2011, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arenalbotanicalgarden

Too much water and no air circulation. Either put it in a real clay orchid pot(with slots) or better yet, in a teak basket with very little medium....like a few big chunks of tree fern. One established the roots will wind their way through the basket slots.

Really? The Oncidiums in your picture are in just tree fern? I would love to grow mine this way, but it seems too dry for Oncidiums. Please elaborate.

Arenalbotanicalgarden · #6 11-01-2011, 04:36 PM

Even in Homestead that's what I used.
Basically watching them in the wild for many years they like a place with decent sun, high up in the trees. During the growing season they are use to a daily drenching followed by a breezy evening.
After the growing season most of the pups have already rooted (Jan here),the rains cease and everything "somewhat" dries out before getting ready to flower in March and April. The main difference in Florida is stagnant, sometimes cool air that time of year so some misting is a must.
In the rainy season, in the right potting scenario, they think they're in the tropics ! Miami actually gets more rain than we do in your rainy season months.

These classes grow right along side Cattleya Skinnerii on the trees. That'll give you an idea on lighting. I'd guess 40 to 50 % filtered.They'll take more but it's a heat issue in Fl. Strong sun at 70 degrees is easier on them than hard sun at 92.

More orchids are lost to wet feet and lack of air circulation than any other cause.