K Barrett wrote:
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

Hi K,

You've given me a lot to digest. Just a quick question or two, how do I tell
when it's sprouting new roots without taking it out of the pot? I'm still a
little confused about my earlier question. Can I take the plant out of the
pot to inspect it, and if it's in good condition, replace it with the same
bark and soil? In other words, can I reuse the old mixture until I get a
chance to buy some new mix?

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