I started with this nice Miltonia plant which I purchased at a local farmers
market about four years ago. It was spring and it had a few bright,
colorful, blooms. That winter, new shoots emerged. What I knew about orchids
then were that they were supposed to be temperamental and needed to be
watched carefully. I looked at the "soil" and wondered, "What the heck is
that? What could possibly grow in that? It looks like something you'd find
blown up against the curb on a windy day?" I figured, I must go out and buy
the good stuff. So I bought some potting soil and repotted it with that.
Yes, the exact opposite of what it needed. The plant soon stopped growing.
The leaves turned yellow. I waited until next spring for a bloom but
nothing. Later that year I returned the plant to the nice lady that sold it
to me. She looked over the situation and told me that the plant needed to
have bark, not soil and promptly did the changeover for me. She told me to
wait until the next spring for the next bloom. Sure enough, her prediction
was correct. Then the following winter, I repotted with some bark mix and
some *orchid* potting soil. And I'm wondering now if orchid potting soil is
an oxymoron. According to my research, a Miltonia is an epiphyte which never
even touches soil in the forest. Here are some pictures of the plant:

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/.../miltonia.html

The top two photos are how the plant looks today. The bottom two are how it
looked last year.

I was wondering does it look healthy now and should I get rid of the orchid
potting soil?

Thanks for your reply.
--
David Farber
L.A., CA