Miltoniopsis spikes drying up

[seaj]

Here are the spikes that are drying up. Notice the nonexistent pseudobulb they are growing from.


Here is a mature pbulb on the left. The one pictured above is on the right. There are also 3 new pbulbs forming.


Here is a picture from a few weeks back. The 3 spikes that came fully bloomed on the plant are much longer than the two spikes that bloomed between the foliage under my care.


The temps in the house are 65-72 degrees and the plant is in front of an eastern facing window. The humidity in the house is probably on the lower end, and I haven't checked the roots because I didn't want to disturb it while it was blooming. I may have over fertilized it.

Why were the newly bloomed spikes so short?
What could cause the last two spikes to dry up?

[plantaholic]

I'm think the humidity has to be at least 70% to bloom and keep the blooms going. That's what I've found anyway.

[seaj]

Thanks Plantaholic. I had a feeling it was the humidity. A few days ago I started using my rice cooker as a humidifer, but it will probably take more than that to make this plant happy. The air in the house get's really dry because we run the heater at night. I know it's not the most effective solution, but I think I'll surround the plants with humidity trays filled with hydroton to at least provide more surface area for the water to evaporate off of.

[orchidsarefun]

you are doing really well to get new growths developing.
I suspect you bought this recently - if so the greenhouses keep the plants in "perfect" conditions to get them to have multiple blooms. You brought this into your house with less than perfect conditions which then impacted any developing blooms, but doesn't impact already flowering/budding blooms.
Another thing - all spikes seem to flower within a week of each other, maybe yours missed the synchronised "event"
and therefore withered.
BTW - my humidity is around 40-50% and seems OK. They prefer lower temps in the evening, so I have mine in an unheated room.

[seaj]

Thanks for the input Orchidsarefun. I think my mom got the plant in early January as a gift, but I'm the one who has been taking care of it. I had no interest in anything but phals until a few weeks ago, and I just started learning about orchids with pseudobulbs. I'm not sure if those new pbulbs were there or not when the plant came, but I sure hope they continue to grow and eventually produce blooms. The last spikes to bloom did so during the first week of February, so it seems that the last two spikes were forgotton while the plant was adjusting to my conditions. All spikes were present when my mom got the plants, but the last 2 never developed into anything else.

I also forgot to mention that I kept them on a heating mat for 2 weeks until a few days ago. I didn't know better. I also gave it some K-L-N sometime in January, so maybe that's responsible for the 3 new pbulbs? I have some plants I'm moving to semi-hydro and I didn't think that stuff would hurt it.

[orchidsarefun]

http://www.cloudsorchids.com/culture...m.htm#oncidium


Not sure of the impact of the heating pad, never heard that before with miltons.....you could have had all the new growth initiated by using it ! Maybe you have discovered something new !

[seaj]

I'm sorry I didn't keep any real records. I'll keep all of this in mind if I'm able to get this plant through another bloom/growth cycle. I plan on moving this plant to semi-hydro once these new growths start putting out roots.

[plantaholic]

I kept mine in a small (about 2 ft tall) plastic greenhouse that I picked up in the gardening section of our local Fred Meyer a couple of years ago. Also, it was in a north bay window with a $25 vaporizing humidifier that I bought at Walmart. That kept the humidity up around 70% and higher.

[seaj]

Originally Posted by orchidsarefun

http://www.cloudsorchids.com/culture...m.htm#oncidium


Not sure of the impact of the heating pad, never heard that before with miltons.....you could have had all the new growth initiated by using it ! Maybe you have discovered something new !

I just moved the plant over to semi-hydro because I found new roots growing in while digging through the surface. While rinsing off the soil I found 2 more new growths concealed between leaves. This plant came with 5 pbulbs and now it's making 5 more at once. That't alot to do at once right? Maybe it was all the K-L-N with the heating pad that activated all the growth points? I hope they all make it through the transition. It has only been a few days and one of the leaves is turning yellow. I also have a Sharry Baby recently put in semi-hydro that went through the same treatment with 4 mature pbulbs and 3 new growths.

[RJSquirrel]

your spikes and flowers dried up bec they got too hot in the window. they cant take direct sun from any window, they dont like it. might as well finish it off with S/H and send it out with a bang hey?