Miltoniopsis Updates | Inorganic Media | Synthic, Pumice & LECA Mixes in Self-Watering Systems

[@Shuzies]

Annabel......thanks for this update.....your really good at this... stay well ....live long

[@elizabethfitzpatrick9590]

Stay safe and thanks for sharing your wonderful orchids with us!!

[@marjandijkkamp5243]

Great video, thanks to you i put all my Miltoniopsis in a mix of leca seramis en pumice, it's working very well, i love these plants.

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Great to hear, I think they can do well in anything moisture retentive yet airy that doesn't dry too much at the top! I'm even considering trying one out in that ikea Vaxer pumice... I started using it for houseplants to save my expensive pumice, and realised it's actually quite airy despite being so small! Hmmmm 🤔😁

[@TanyaD22]

Thank you for your videos. I’ve started using semi hydro for my phals and they already look happier. Can’t get synthic in Australia so I’m trying fleece cut in thin strips with my miltoniopsis orchids. I’ve been using sphagnum moss but really don’t have a lot of success with it here in Sydney Australia. Could just be me though 😎

[@orchidgarden3124]

How beautiful! Clearly your system is working great!

[@pamelal.5448]

Your plants are looking very healthy and this video was very informative. I have killed my miltoniopsis and my Nelly Iler, after watching this I might try again! I live on the SE coast of North Carolina and up until two years ago I did most of my growing in the house but have now started moving all my cattleya orchids outside for the summer.

[@sleepgas]

Miltoniopsis are my favorite orchids thank you for this video. Mine are also doing well in the same combination you use . Please stay safe. Enjoy this time you have with your or-Kids..

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Thankyou I'm really glad you found it useful and the media combinations have helped! 💗 Stay safe too, it's a frightening time, but at least we can get lots of repottings done with the extra home time! 🙂

[@maxineevans9179]

Hi Annabel, I have 9 lovely blooms on my Herr Alexandre right now after multiple repots to try to find the right mix and I'm hoping I've found the right one now. Mine is in fine /medium bark with a mix of seramis and a top layer of moss as I found the new growth roots were drying out too quickly. All good so far but as you said, they react slowly to problems so I'm hoping it won't go downhill later 😩. I also have another miltoniopsis now that came to me in spike so I'm hoping to get blooms from that one soon too. I absolutely love them and want more lol. Really interesting to see your experiment and I hope yours continue to thrive 😊.

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Before this I was keeping them in moss/ perlite in self-watering for a couple of years and found that to be the best thing for my environment up until then, synthic is just an inorganic alternative to moss that eliminates the fast breakdown you get in self watering systems 🙂 it's all about finding what works in your environment! Hope yours continue to do well, well done! 🙂💗

[@maxineevans9179]

@@TheOrchidRoom Thank you 💕. Finding the right balance is defintely the most tricky thing ever lol.

[@AllAboutOrchids]

Very interesting combination of media.

[@wandashaw3551]

Hi Annabel, your orchids look great. I'm going to try one, too. I thought I'd try potting her in pebbles and spagnum moss? I live in North America and we have the four seasons. I was wondering about natural sunlight? Wish me luck. Stay safe and healthy. Happy growing! 🌺🌸🌷💮

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Pebbles would probably act as a standin for bark in that application, and the sphagnum will help to wick moisture throughout the pot since the pebbles won't retain any moisture. Worth trying for sure. Natural light is fine, I grow mine under LEDs, you'll want to make sure there isn't hot direct sun on the leaves for too long. They like bright light but can burn easily. Stay safe too! 💗🙂🌼

[@wandashaw3551]

Thank you for the advice. I'm really excited about this. 😍

[@orchidsbythelake]

Just remembered I was gonna try miltoniopsis around this time but forgot about it... we are in a process of moving so I don’t wanna try now. 😭 great work! You make it so easy... I don’t know how many I killed so far...

[@KP-gw5zv]

Thank you for the info on Miltoniopsis. Lovely ladies. I can see why you have them their blooms look gorgeous. I am beginning to think that on the West coast of Canada is somewhat like the environment of the UK. So that being said I could go with the mixture that you are doing. But I will need to try that out with one of my Phals to figure it out. Anyways be safe and take care. Enjoy your orchids.

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Phals have very different media requirements so I wouldn't necessarily try this mix with phals, oncidiums would be a safer bet to trial these sort of media combinations 🙂 also note the temps and humidity I have given in figures, as I don't let this room get cold like many rooms do in the UK, and from my understanding from Dustin (herebutnot on YT) some parts of Canada can get quite chilly, not sure where abouts he lives though. If you're keeping them cooler you'll probably want to use less moisture retentive media. Hope this helps! Take care! And yes, the flowers and unbeatable fragrance are the reasons I love them 🙂

[@renovatiorenovatio1056]

Hello dear. Very healthy plants bravo, but I think they need a little help. I suggest you to use 30-10-10 fertiliser half strength every 15 days to help growth and have bigger and stronger pseudobulbs. You would be amazed with the results. When spiking use 10-10-30 half strength to help blooming. Thanks!

[@TheOrchidRoom]

If you're going to make suggestions like this you should give ppm for each nutrient, as if you were to feed 30 10 10 at 200 ppm but then indicate half strength at 100ppm, you would be feeding 30ppm nitrogen. I feed 35ppm nitrogen at each watering, semi hydro so constantly available, you can see my nutrient breakdown here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/q6mciK2Io7KNo8k. I dont think my orchids need any more feed, I feed them consistently, probably with more nutrients that you are suggesting since you haven't even mentioned calcium or magnesium, which are particularly vital for orchid growth.

[@o_o8203]

Yay, Miltoniopsis! I can't wait to try some more Miltoniopsis this summer, now that I have LED lights. I killed all of mine 💀 For now, I'll have to do with the faint scent of my Phal Schillmann (which smells quite similar) until I can get some new Miltoniopsis 😭

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Mine seem to do well under LEDs! I think they're great candidates to grow under lights since they won't receive the heat on the leaves that the sun can give, and they do like bright light. The fragrance is unbeatable, it always makes me happy when the milts bloom!! 😀💗 Is the Schillman Schilleriana x mannii? Is it the same cross as the bronze maiden? I have some baby bronze maidens! Hope they grow up to be fragrant 🙂

[@o_o8203]

@@TheOrchidRoom yes, I was doing some research and "Schillmann" was actually the original name for the Bronze Maiden. I have pics of it at @mostlyorchids. It completely changed color and shape after I put it under my lights! The fragrance is like the Miltoniopsis but it's very faint and only during a short time.

[@TheOrchidRoom]

I didn't realise that was you, I'm already following you! 😁 Checked back, gorgeous flower! One day... for now I'll admire yours! 😀

[@o_o8203]

@@TheOrchidRoom yeah, I may eventually start a channel so I don't usually tell people lol. My Schillmann says "thank you" 😊

[@orchidgarden3124]

Can you do an update on your novelty and species phals and care? Thanks!!

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Yes no problem! 🙂

[@Twigarati]

🤩 superstars!!

[@kayte13]

Hi Abigail, love your miltoniopsis. I gave one and am pkanning to repot it into a self watering container. Can you tell me why you seitched them from sphag moss mix to the synthic? 2/ are your self watering pots self made.? Thank you so much

[@orchidlore7817]

I’ve been wanting to start collecting these but am afraid to kill them. Thank you for the info!

[@TheOrchidSaGa]

I love your updates on the Miltoniopsisses! Thank you so much for all the great info on growing them S/H. I only am wondering which Ph level you use when you water/feed them, and how often do you flush the pots? And maybe soak them? Thanks in advance for your help! :D

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Hi, I go into detail on my pH and nutrient regime in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/q6mciK2Io7KNo8k pH around 5.8-6. 250-300ppm usually. I don't really flush separately as I don't get build up, indicating they're using what I'm giving them. And since I I water with a pump sprayer they get flushed to some extent every watering anyway. Self watering systems so no soaking required 🙂

[@noahokin5581]

Hi Annabel! Glad you're staying safe during the crisis, I'm a relatively new subscriber of yours and I was hoping to ask you a question about a Miltonidium which I recently purchased. I can't seem to find a way to pm you, so I was wondering if you could reach out or something similar. Thank you! p.s your orchids are absolutely stunning!

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Hi! Still going into work at the moment at the hospital site, but I'm not in an at risk group and our lab will be closing soon. You can contact me on Instagram, there's a link in the description to my page, or ask in the comments on here of course 🙂 Hope you are staying safe!

[@checkplease7735]

I'm so happy with my saved miltoniopsis from a toasted bulb with only a back bulb it looks lovely with 2 new bulbs and getting bigger with each one but my other one skiped flowering makes me so sad

[@TheOrchidRoom]

So glad to hear yours are doing well, I'm sure the other will bloom as it establishes more!

[@checkplease7735]

The new growth looks promising but I think it's because I kept reporting it 😅

[@olya4903]

I just adore your miltoniopsis! I'm hoping your setup ideas help me keep one alive one of these days. Unrelated question: in a recent video, you mentioned successfully finding larger clear containers by searching for food storage stuff on amazon. Do you recall the diameter of the ones you found? Most of those on US amazon seem to only be 10cm.

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Thanks! I hope so too! Once you can get them established they are quite resilient 🙂 Yes the bulk pack of containers are 13cm diameter, 1 litre volume 🙂

[@olya4903]

@@TheOrchidRoom Ah, that's the size I'm trying to find an upgrade for, that's a shame. My Sharry Baby is climbing out of her 13cm pot 😂, so I may give up and use a big opaque one.

[@TheOrchidRoom]

@@olya4903 So for me the struggle was finding small ones. For larger pots I can just use the 15cm clear orchid pots in ikea Nejkon outers, far cheaper. For 16-25cm elho outers with clear inners or just semi hydro with cheap garden centre flower pots, if I dont want to see the roots. I only use clear now because I'm filming them tbh so I need to be able to show the roots where possible, before that, once I knew they did well I would just put them in cheap plastic sh pots.

[@AllAboutOrchids]

I find synthic very usefull for vanda orchids

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Interesting, do you pot them in full synthic? I can imagine that would be a bit too heavy in my environment. Or do you just wrap the roots so they stay moist a little longer?

[@AllAboutOrchids]

@@TheOrchidRoom The second, and I adopt the quanity of synthic according to season. Summer a lot ,winter less or non. Just to let you know that my vandas are potted on clay pots with lots of holes so they dry very easy especially during the summer.

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Sounds like a good application for it! The clay pots probably stop it being too soggy also. Great to hear about another method 🙂

[@TrishsOrchidLife]

You pulling the leaves to give way for roots got me thi no big about checking my Nelly Isler

[@TrishsOrchidLife]

For me thinking about my Nelly Isler- removed the two outside leaves on the two growths and lo and behold- 2 new growths and roots trying to come through on the older growth! Thank you for the inspiration! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@sunahyun6339]

I use microfiber extra thick yarn instead of synthic. I think they are same but yarn is cheaper

[@TheOrchidRoom]

I've tried both synthic and microfiber mop head strands and synthic does hold more water, and is supposed to be antimicrobial. Microfiber is an alternative for sure though, I've suggested it as an alternative on previous videos, but for me I prefer synthic 🙂

[@reefkeeper2]

Is there an advantage in using self watering pots over semi hydro?

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Larger reservoir which means they can last a week in summer vs a few days

[@reefkeeper2]

@@TheOrchidRoom Thanks! Also the links you provided are very helpful. I had given up on finding Synthic in the U.S. and now I have some on the way!

[@TheOrchidRoom]

@@reefkeeper2 No problem! I was tipped off by a subscriber that glassbox had started stocking it! Now you can also dress your orchid pots in little woolly jumpers 🙂

[@jokennedy2943]

I still can’t get hold of any Synthic!

[@TheOrchidRoom]

Have you tried the dartfrog website?

[@jokennedy2943]

The Orchid Room Many times, the website seemed inactive and the last time I looked a couple of weeks ago there was no Synthic on offer.

[@TheOrchidRoom]

@@jokennedy2943 I just checked and it's still for sale on their site, I've ordered it from them a couple of times in the last few months. On the link I've provided in the description ( www.dartfrog.co.uk/epiweb/ ) you click on the top left blue underlined header, epiweb. scroll down to the 4th product header, below the branch mounts. Synthic is for sale in both sizes: 6L bag 100mm substrate £12.99 10 in stock 12L bag 100mm substrate £19.99 10 in stock