Miltonia orchid
 

In the past several years I have rekindled my passion for orchids which
started in the 80's & then stopped due to building a new home, teenagers,
career changes, etc. Now I have cats, phals, & paphs with one miltonia
which is giving me a fit! And I am very pleased to have discovered this
newsgroup.
It is Milt. Virginia Brashear which I purchased several years ago; it has
re-bloomed once, about 3 years ago...& nothing since then. It is in an
unobstructed southern window about 18-24 inches from the glass. The
foliage is medium to light green & I recently re-potted in sphag.moss; it
had been in an orchid bark mix which I thought dried out too quickly. I
don't water until the moss is almost completely dry, which can be 2 weeks
in the winter. I fertilize from spring to fall with orchid food. I love
the pansy like blooms & would love to see it flower again.
What do I need to change in my culture in order to encourage blooming?
Frustrated in northern Illinois...
Regards,
Debbie

Yeah, I personally find these Miltoniposis sorts hard to grow only because
I'm soooooooooo lazy about watering and repotting. These don't like old
potting medium and they like to be kept evenly moist, so repoting annually
as the new roots begin to show is a must and a steady but light hand in
watering is also needed.

Otherwise, your conditions sound ideal and since you just repotted I'd say
watch your watering.

Heck, if you want to try something really nuts try giving it nicer water.
Just as an experiment. Since so many women drink bottled water (as a diet
aid, for hydration, or whatever) give it the first sip. Open the bottle,
give a glug to the Milt, and finish the rest yourself. You're drinking the
nice water anyway, so share a bit. As long as this doesn't keep the moss
too soggy.

K Barrett

"Deb Anderson" wrote in message
news:1115569891.6ecba760ff9f5b74102480aea39cb663@t eranews...
In the past several years I have rekindled my passion for orchids which
started in the 80's & then stopped due to building a new home, teenagers,
career changes, etc. Now I have cats, phals, & paphs with one miltonia
which is giving me a fit! And I am very pleased to have discovered this
newsgroup.
It is Milt. Virginia Brashear which I purchased several years ago; it has
re-bloomed once, about 3 years ago...& nothing since then. It is in an
unobstructed southern window about 18-24 inches from the glass. The
foliage is medium to light green & I recently re-potted in sphag.moss; it
had been in an orchid bark mix which I thought dried out too quickly. I
don't water until the moss is almost completely dry, which can be 2 weeks
in the winter. I fertilize from spring to fall with orchid food. I love
the pansy like blooms & would love to see it flower again.
What do I need to change in my culture in order to encourage blooming?
Frustrated in northern Illinois...
Regards,
Debbie

K Barrett wrote:
Yeah, I personally find these Miltoniposis sorts hard to grow only because
I'm soooooooooo lazy about watering and repotting. These don't like old
potting medium and they like to be kept evenly moist, so repoting annually
as the new roots begin to show is a must and a steady but light hand in
watering is also needed.

Otherwise, your conditions sound ideal and since you just repotted I'd say
watch your watering.

Heck, if you want to try something really nuts try giving it nicer water.
Just as an experiment. Since so many women drink bottled water (as a diet
aid, for hydration, or whatever) give it the first sip. Open the bottle,
give a glug to the Milt, and finish the rest yourself. You're drinking the
nice water anyway, so share a bit. As long as this doesn't keep the moss
too soggy.

Or try it growing like a phrag. I've had better sucess growing them
that way. Either in a saucer of water, or in a 'semi-hydroponics'.
(firstrays.com).

For me, miltoniopsis tend to get the accordian leaves unless grown very
wet. So I like the semihydroponic system. And I try to water the mix,
not the leaves, they tend to get spotty like a bunch of other oncidinae.

I can't say I grow them well enough to even consider it an area of
expertise, although I had a couple of spectacular specimens this spring.
I think that was genetics (good crosses, from I.M. Komoda), rather
than culture. The plants looked like... well, not so good. But the
blooming was excellent. I hope to get the culture nailed down for a
really spectacular show next year.

Rob
--
Rob's Rules: http://littlefrogfarm.com
1) There is always room for one more orchid
2) There is always room for two more orchids
2a) See rule 1
3) When one has insufficient credit to obtain more
orchids, obtain more credit

I've never been a big fan of them, but when I visited Bloomfield Orchids
while up in Rochester last weekend, Joe had one in S/H with about 10 spikes!

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info!


"Rob Halgren" wrote in message
...
K Barrett wrote:
Yeah, I personally find these Miltoniposis sorts hard to grow only
because
I'm soooooooooo lazy about watering and repotting. These don't like old
potting medium and they like to be kept evenly moist, so repoting
annually
as the new roots begin to show is a must and a steady but light hand in
watering is also needed.

Otherwise, your conditions sound ideal and since you just repotted I'd
say
watch your watering.

Heck, if you want to try something really nuts try giving it nicer water.
Just as an experiment. Since so many women drink bottled water (as a
diet
aid, for hydration, or whatever) give it the first sip. Open the bottle,
give a glug to the Milt, and finish the rest yourself. You're drinking
the
nice water anyway, so share a bit. As long as this doesn't keep the moss
too soggy.

Or try it growing like a phrag. I've had better sucess growing them that
way. Either in a saucer of water, or in a 'semi-hydroponics'.
(firstrays.com).

For me, miltoniopsis tend to get the accordian leaves unless grown very
wet. So I like the semihydroponic system. And I try to water the mix,
not the leaves, they tend to get spotty like a bunch of other oncidinae.

I can't say I grow them well enough to even consider it an area of
expertise, although I had a couple of spectacular specimens this spring. I
think that was genetics (good crosses, from I.M. Komoda), rather than
culture. The plants looked like... well, not so good. But the blooming
was excellent. I hope to get the culture nailed down for a really
spectacular show next year.

Rob
--
Rob's Rules: http://littlefrogfarm.com
1) There is always room for one more orchid
2) There is always room for two more orchids
2a) See rule 1
3) When one has insufficient credit to obtain more
orchids, obtain more credit

In article ,
says...
K Barrett wrote:
Yeah, I personally find these Miltoniposis sorts hard to grow only because
I'm soooooooooo lazy about watering and repotting. These don't like old
potting medium and they like to be kept evenly moist, so repoting annually
as the new roots begin to show is a must and a steady but light hand in
watering is also needed.

Otherwise, your conditions sound ideal and since you just repotted I'd say
watch your watering.

Heck, if you want to try something really nuts try giving it nicer water.
Just as an experiment. Since so many women drink bottled water (as a diet
aid, for hydration, or whatever) give it the first sip. Open the bottle,
give a glug to the Milt, and finish the rest yourself. You're drinking the
nice water anyway, so share a bit. As long as this doesn't keep the moss
too soggy.

Or try it growing like a phrag. I've had better sucess growing them
that way. Either in a saucer of water, or in a 'semi-hydroponics'.
(firstrays.com).

For me, miltoniopsis tend to get the accordian leaves unless grown very
wet. So I like the semihydroponic system. And I try to water the mix,
not the leaves, they tend to get spotty like a bunch of other oncidinae.

I can't say I grow them well enough to even consider it an area of
expertise, although I had a couple of spectacular specimens this spring.
I think that was genetics (good crosses, from I.M. Komoda), rather
than culture. The plants looked like... well, not so good. But the
blooming was excellent. I hope to get the culture nailed down for a
really spectacular show next year.

Rob

Thanks for the tips...mine also gets the accordion leaves so I'll try
keeping it "wetter".
Debbie