David Farber wrote:
"David Farber" wrote in message
...
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


Diana Kulaga wrote:
David,

*Soil* is a misnomer for epiphyte mixes. There are in fact terrestrial
orchids that grow in soil, but the majority of what most of us grow
are epiphytes that won't do well in dirt.

There are many potting media that are suitable for our orchids. They
range from the classic bark (usually lightened up with some sponge
rock or Perlite) that you show to fired clay pellets to plain old
pebbles.
Regarding your plant, the bark on top looks okay, but what matters is
how the bark down in the pot is like. You may want to check it to see
that it hasn't broken down and turned to mush. Also, while the plant
appears to have a new growth and looks pretty healthy, there is at
least one brown pseudobulb right smack dab in the center of he
photos. I can't tell if it is soft or just dried up.

If it is soft, it's necessary to excise it using a clean razor blade
or a sterilized cutting tool Cut away any rotten tissue and then seal
the cut with a paste of Elmer's Glue and cinnamon. (Cinnamon has
properties that protect the plant from bacteria and fungus.)

If the p-bulb is hard, you might be able to just cut it off or leave
it to shrivel on its own.

One last thing. You picture the plant in a glazed, decorative
planter. I see indentations on the side that may or may not be holes.
The plant needs air circulation in order for the medium to dry out.
Does the pot have holes anywhere?

Diana


Hi Diana,

Those indentations in the planter are holes.

I don't have any more orchid soil. I have some leftover product called
Wonderbark and presently that's what's mixed in with the orchid soil. Is it
possible to inspect the roots and bark without repotting the plant?

Thanks for your reply.

--
David Farber
L.A., CA



These orchid "soils" - as Diana says - are mixes of peat moss, which I
find very hard to re-wet once dry. The peat moss mix will allow air to
the roots, which - as you've read - is what epiphytes need. But the
question is how much? Does it keep too much water at the roots,
smothering/rotting your plant?

The trick in using these "soils" (imho) is to find the proper balance
between air and water. As you know more orchids are killed by over
watering than under watering. These closed down media (that is to say
fine peat particles with concomittantly fine air pockets between the
particles) do not allow for much air in the pot, or not as much as the
plant would like to 'breathe' (No the plant doesn't breathe with its
roots, but one can think of it that way)

You've had poor success with soils in the past, better success with
bark, so I'd say the plant was asking for bark. A finer bark is usually
used for plants with fine roots. Closing down the air spaces between
the bark 'particles' just a bit to keep more humidity at the roots

As Diana says, there are two sorts of pots, too. Unglazed terracotta
with drainage holes, and glazed terracotta or plastic. The unglazed
terracotta will breathe - sometimes too much drying the plant out
prematurely before you have a chance to water again. The plastic
doesn't, air transport occurs when 1) watering pulls air through the pot
and 2) with the day/night change in temps causes air movement(convection).

Its been my experience that Miltonias do not like a stale mix. They
prefer potting annually. They prefer to be evenly moist to the drier
side of moist, but never to dry out completely like you would for a
Cattleya.

My advice would be to do what the nice lady who sold you the plant said:
repot in bark and see what happens. Then maybe go back to the lady and
buy another Miltonia so you can see how they change over time. That is
to say if your Miltonia doesn't make it you'd have another to experiment
& learn with.

Do not worry about repotting at this time. Orchid roots aren't like
other roots. They do not have fine hairs that get damaged when
repotting. The plant would probably thank you for it. In general
however, repotting is done 1) when the new roots start to sprout or 2)
the plant is in danger of death and you have nothing to lose.

K Barrett