I have been thinking about writing this post for a while
now. Why? Miltonipsis right? Beautiful orchids! Their flowers are so big, the fragrance
is charming and strong, they don’t take too much space and plenty of people love
them. Gem among orchids!
Well I’m telling you now, that if you have not ever grown a
Miltoniopsis and decided “Well I’m going to research before I make this
life-changing decision and go on the Internet!”
Well No.2, you probably made a very bad decision right now.
Internet as much it is a good source of information and individual opinions on
many occasions is over exaggerated. When I started growing Miltoniopsis and I
first bought the orchid then researched (I’m a dope) most of the opinions I
have seen was “I hate this plant”; “It’s dying on me without a reason”; “It’s
so fussy and annoying”; “Miltoniopsis orchids are a Bi***” – yes I honestly
seen comments like this, especially the last one; more than once.
However, most of these comments came from the US and places
like California and Southern States, but we are not in the States right? At
least some of us (sorry guys! No offence). For my readers in the UK there is
not a lot of advice which actually applies to our growing zones.
Furthermore I have seen dozens of videos on growing Miltoniopsis
orchids, and well… I am probably doing something wrong because I don’t grow
them in any way similar to the one people show.
First of all growing them in sphagnum moss? Oh my Lord how I
hate this thing, it’s all mushy, and stinks and just makes me sick. I am pretty
sure that in real life they don’t grow in moss either. And to somehow achieve
success we should mimic the environment of the orchid? True but to a extent,
replicating a perfect environment would require a great deal of space, money
and time and oh right, no insecticides and other good stuff because that’s
cheating. Instead I mixed 3 potting mixes, first was normal bark, medium grade,
second was some hydroton balls but just literally a random few which was the
first two layers and the third layer I used to retain the moisture was a mix of
high quality chopped coconut husks mixed with charcoal chips, bark slashed
waste and other little bits of stuff like broken up sunflowers seed shells – I purchased
it from Amazon, seller was called E-Coco Products UK. The sell a really
extensive range of orchid potting mixtures which are really good and my orchids
have been very happy so far.
Secondly, sourcing the orchid. I personally recommend for
people in UK to visit Ray Creek Orchids, I know I have been mentioning them a
lot but they are great. They have a lot of orchid variety to choose and their
hybrids will catch your eye, they come from white to pink, violet and red. But
there is a catch, these Miltoniopsis are plug plants, which mean you will
receive a rather large but still young orchid. Well that’s rubbish you will
say, NO it’s not. Why? The plants that we buy from the stores, especially the
blooming one’s have been feed with special boosters that forces the plant to
bloom faster without proper root system or even getting to a right blooming size.
Also they are transported from afar, dehydrated and stressed. All of this can
lead to a disaster which may make you think Miltoniopsis are really terrible. Plug plants however are young and healthy, and
because of that they are more resilient and can take a bit more. When
introduced to your home they will take maybe a month to get used to and then
they will start growing a new sudobulb, and plenty of new roots. This is a sign
that the orchid is doing well. Young orchids are usually very vigorous and they
reached the stage where they can’t wait to get out of that tight cork space and
when moved to a spacious new pot with fresh medium their activity will explode
before you.
You may think it will take years for it to bloom, NO it won’t.
I have grown my first Miltoniopsis from a seedling which I have purchased September
last year and in middle of April it started to send out it’s first flower
spike. Not with one poor flower, but five flower buds! That is something for a
first flower spike on a orchid!
Third point will be – watering. Someone somewhere wrote that
they require ridiculous amount of water because they shrivel very fast and die
from dehydration. What a load of pig… If your orchid although watered shrivels
on the bulb it means there is a problem with the root system not the watering
amount. I water my Miltoniopsis twice a week, Thursday and Sunday. One day is
with fertilizer, the second is with plain water. I also spray the surface almost
every day in the evening. That keeps it happy… You think that is so much
hassle. Well it’s no more hassle if you do something different. Somebody will
say that they are getting the accordion effect on the leaf, well it cannot be
helped, it may happen even if your orchid is super healthy and watered and
fertilized, it’s just something that can take place due to a random event.
Fourth will be position in the house, of course we know no
direct sunshine and Miltoniopsis prefer the colder range of temperatures. If
you have a window located like me that the sun doesn’t shine into your room
/conservatory/growing space till after 4 pm then you are a winner. Basically
you can grow any orchid that is said to like bright, but indirect light. Your
plants will have enough light during the day and that bit of sunshine in the
afternoon for an additional kick of energy. Also it will have a great influence
on how fast the water evaporates from the pot. Best put your plastic pot into a
ceramic one to decrease the moisture evaporation speed.
Fifth is humidity *add dramatic music here*. Boys and girls
do not fret, humidity is nothing scary, why? Because we live in England, and
the humidity is already really high here. But on the serious part, Miltoniopsis
thrive best in higher humidity and prefer to be rather more moist all the time
than most orchids. Best things to do and not to do to create a suitable environment
are:
-
Surround your Miltoniopsis with other plants or
orchids, it is proven that growing orchids together, really close to each other
(yes leaf touching and creating a small jungle) will increase the humidity
around the plans and stabilize it’s level.
-
Never grow orchids on a windowsill on a radiator
that gets used. I grow mine like that but the radiator hasn’t been turned on
for two year because my room is placed between two bathroom so the walls always
stay warm and the temperature during the day never drops below 14 degrees Celsius.
-
Good ventilation in the room. Stale air will
have a bad effect on the moisture in the pot which will evaporate much faster.
-
Humidifier? Yes and no, make sure that your
growth space is big enough and well ventilated so you don’t end up getting mould
on your windows on the other hand the typical “Zen” humidifiers for us humans
may not work to well, especially if you add some of those breathing essences
and oils. These may cause harm to the plan and kill it.
Sixth
is like with a new relationship, give your plant love and care but don’t
smother it and don’t stand there every day, 50 times waiting for something to
happen. It’s a plant for Lords sake!
To
make you think, in Chinese “Nature” is called Tianran, which means “What
happens by itself”. So give it time and space, nurture it and care for it, make
it a part of something you will do regularly and one day you will come back and
find your orchid with a flower spike, being happily surprised.
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