Miltoniopsis care

[siriusmk]

Hi everyone. I purchased a Miltoniopsis Bert Fields Elieen about 2 months ago. It has bloomed since my purchase, but the flowers started to shrivel up 2 weeks after they bloomed. Is that normal? I had read that flowers typically stay open for at least a month. I have been watering every 4 days with 20-20-20 fertilzer and flushing it with water every 3rd watering. The leaves also started to look wilted so I had recently repotted it in fine bark, perlite, and coconut husk. The root system doesn't seem to be compromised, but I don't understand why the leaves and bulb is so shriveled. Am I not watering enough? I mist it once daily. I read they prefer cooler environments and it is around 75 in my apartment. Is that too warm? Could the temperature be at fault?

[Ellen]

I grow Miltoniopsis in my greenhouse, where they thrive. Temperatures are pretty variable, going down to the 50s at night and 60s-70s-80s during the day, depending on how much sun there is. Humidity also varies a lot, from 70% at night to as low as 30-40% on a warm day when I haven't watered. The milts are all up where they get lots of light. Most are potted in a sphag/perlite mix which you might want to try. It keeps the plant moist for a long time. I try not to get too much water on the leaves because I think it can cause rot, so am not sure that misting is such a great idea. The plant may just be adjusting to conditions in your house, so I'd give it some time and see what it does.

[Fabolusus]

Did you soak your potting mix for at least 24 hrs? Miloniopsis do not tolerate being dried out at all. I thoroughly drench mine at every watering and only fertilize every other time. Did you repot while it was in bloom? The shock of transplant may have cut short the life of the blooms. I think most people wait till blooming is over, once the new growths emerge.

[jerrymeola]

The heat that they do not like is my 100 degrees for a month or two every summer not your 75.

You are heavy on the fertilizer for indoors. Your plants will not be growing fast enough to use large amounts. Now I have to qualify this in that it is the quantity of fertilizer not the frequency. Normal dilution is 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of fertilizer per gallon of water every third or fourth watering.

I have recommended constant fertilizing to some customers with the restriction that they dilute the mix by another 1/4th. That would be 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon of fertilizer every watering.

It is good to flush salts but flushing means 30-45 minutes of water every three or four months.

[siriusmk]

I generally do soak my potting mix for at least 24 hours, but I did not in this case. Because of this and the type of potting mix i choose (I probably should have added some sphag like ellen suggested) I have been watering it every other day if not daily. The flowers were just about completely dried when I repotted it :-(. It has been a couple days since I repotted and the leaves look much fuller. They too were beginning to wilt, but the bulb is still somewhat shriveled.
I fertilize often because I use about 1/8 of what my orchid fertilizer recommends. I thought that if i substantially dilute it, it would be okay.
I had no idea I should be flushing for 30-45 minutes. I will do that next time. I generally just run copious amounts of water through the mix for about 5 minutes. I guess that probably isn't enough time to get rid of all the salts.
Thank you for all your advice. Hopefully it will bounce back enough to flower next year.
Here is what it looked like 3 weeks ago and what it looked like a week and a half later. As you can see the flowers are kind of wilted and somewhat dried.

[fred]

I just found this link that may be of some use.

I hope it helps.


http://www.carterandholmes.com/miltoncare.html