milton in dire need of help!

[ramelle]

i have a meager collection of oncidiums, dendros, and phals, but have never once owned a miltoniopsis plant. does the care differ? I recently received one in terrible shape from my grandmother, who automatically assumed that since it was an orchid, i would adopt and save it. It is potted in fir bark/perlite, and the potting situation appears to be fine.Having heard that miltons require more frequently waterings, i have been both watering and misting frequently. I have also been allowing the plant to dry out between each watering, and have fertilized it every three weeks with miracid. am i doing something wrong?
The health of this plant is still rapidly declining.More and more of it is turning brown, and now there is a foul odor.PLEASE HELP! i have attached pictures. is there hope? i hate to see any orchid die, even a charity case.

[patticake]

I'm sure someone more knowlegeable than I will help you out soon. I wasn't aware that Miracid was good for orchids. I use it on my azalias. My Hydranges outdoors I use it to have them bloom in blue- But wasn't aware of the use for orchids. Anyone else have advice on that?

[brookn]

I am not sure about the fertilizer, but I think you should probably switch to a different fertilizer. It appears to have fertilizer burn. My recomendation is to stop fert. for at least a month or two. I would also use some Superthrive on this instead. Could you describe the foul smell? If it is rot I recomend cinnamon for it, others will probably also recomend Physan, but I am finding that cinnamon does the trick well also. If you are interested I can give you a good cinnamon recipe for it. The mix it is potted in also looks a bit chunky. I rarely mist my potted orchids, as I find it does more harm than good. I hope that helps.

[mayres]

Check out the culture notes on the american orchid society site - http://orchidweb.org/aos/orchids/doc...edmiltonia.pdf
I would repot into fine bark and perlite mixture and as noted above - no fertilizer for awhile - or at least very weak. Also the superthrive noted is a good idea - to try and stimulate some new root growth.

[patticake]

I love superthrive and have used it for years. Good to know that orchids like it too.- Any other advice on Miracid? I've been using a weak fert. of schultz's orchid fert. superthrive, and peters 20-20-20- . Different times and weak. Is the miracid a good idea? If so- I'll put it into my rotation. Thanks!

[mayres]

Though we have not discussed it on this forum to my knowledge, Miracid appears to be a commonly used fertilizer for orchids (30-10-10). I've used it for other acid loving plants around the home - azalias, rhododendrons, blueberries, camelias, etc. I've always thought it a VERY good product for outdoor use. Anyone else use this on orchids??????

[ramelle]

yeah, the miracid works fantastic for my indoor dendros in fir bark. and its very cheap. i don't use it on the oncidiums so im not sure about that, and apparently it had a hand in the destruction of my miltonia, but it's ok. i've learned from my mistakes!

[11Orchid126]

Miracid is acidic, as its name implies. Unless you know what your water ph and medium ph are, you are gambling with your plant. Safer to use regular Miracle Grow. The foul odor sounds like too much fertilizer in the mix. If it smells like ammonia it's definitely too much nitrogen. I water my miltonia a couple of times a week, more in summer. It seems like it doesn't like to be dried out. You don't mention what kind of light the plant is in. Mine gets good western light. It's right up near the glass.

[digitalgate]

no fertilizer would be a good idea. Has the root rotted? If not add 1 Vitamin B complex
into 1 litre of water (dissolve) water the plant with that and pray for the best.

[MSPProductions]

I agree with digitalgate, not that I'm a huge Miltoniopsis grower but the few that I have do best with no fertilizer and regular waterings, fairly strong light and cool temps. I would say that you probably want a finer grade medium.

I might try and get some of the dead leaves off the bulbs too

[articuno75]

Add a little spagh moss to your mix that way the plant can get moisture longer. These plants are thirsty plants and like water. They like to be a little damp before the next watering. I think your plant is not getting enough water and with the fert burn.....ouch.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

I think that plant is on its way out. I would brace myself for its rapid loss. If I thought it could be saved, I would use a very good systemic like phyton 27, but you would probably not be able to get any soon enough. Repotting isn't going to help, just disturb the roots and hasten the process it is going thru. Might be rust, bacterial infection, or something like it. Keep it away from your other plants.

Miltonias should not dry out completely.

[Joan]

If you have never repotted you might want to do so in order to check the condition of the roots. You should repot with fresh medium. I suspect the roots might be burned from the fertilizer and your drying out between waterings. This orchid medium should always be moist and usually requires watering more than once a week in order to provide sufficient amounts of water.

[PhalPal]

I would be more inclined to gently repot also, especially since your bark is way too big for a moisture loving finer root orchid. Whenever I have an orchid that starts to look a little stressed it is the ROOTS, for one reason or another. If you don't want to repot, flush, flush, flush the medium with tons of water to leach it of fertilizer.

With all that said, Cynthia is probably right that it may be too late but it's worth a little try.