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Drooping leaves on milt.

16 years ago

Does anyone know what would cause the leaves of a milt to droop? I noticed that one side of my milt the leaves are standing upright, but on the other side they are falling down. I recently repotted the milt, about a week ago, wondering if that was the problem. I had the milt for about a year and a half, it was still in the original pot. The roots appeared to be too bound, so I upgraded in size. The orchid is watered weekly, with sunblaster t5 lights that are on about 6 hours of the day. It sits in an indoor greenhouse in front of a window. Lately the temp has been in the upper 60s in the greenhouse.

Any suggestions?

I can post a photo later, as for some reason Flickr is not updating my photostream.

Sarah

Comments (7)

  • 16 years ago

    A couple of questions, please. When you upgraded in pot size, how big did you go? The pot should just accommodate the roots and a little bit more.

    Did you soak the bark for at least an hour or more before you used it?

    Did you change the medium? For example, did you go from small bark to medium, or from medium to large?

    Did you plant the rhyzome deeper on one side than the other? (A shot in the dark).

    Is it in the exact same place it was before you repotted?

  • 16 years ago

    The pot may be a tad bit too large, but it is temp. I didn't have a smaller pot as I need to buy one. There isn't too much room though, outside of the roots. No, I didn't soak for an hour, which I know isn't great. The medium is the same. The rhyzome is about the same height as before.

    However, I don't think the drooping has anything with it begin repotted, b/c this has been occuring for over a month or so now--way before I repotted the plant. In fact, I repotted the plant for this reason, wondering if the orchid grew out of the old pot size.

    Here is the photo (now that flickr is working), it was taken just after watering.
    {{gwi:140407}}

    The plant is in the same location is has been since September, when I moved to the house I currently live in.

    Sarah

  • 16 years ago

    A few thoughts:

    I really don't think you have a problem, but did the roots look nice and healthy when you repotted? If the roots attached to those droopy pars were in trouble, that could be the cause.

    When I grew Milts I noticed some hybrids just seemed to do this more than others. It could also be a sign of aging. Have those drooping parts been on the plant for a while? If the answer is yes and these are not new growths, they could simply be on their way out. Milts won't keep their leaves forever. The oldest PB's eventually drop their leaves, but way before the leaves turn yellow and fall, they can start looking a bit sad - kind of like yours.

    IMO put this one in a much smaller pot. Milts like crowded conditions, but they like fresh medium on a regular basis. Usually when I repotted mine, I took them out of their pots, cleaned off the old medium and put them right back in the original pot. If I did go to a larger pot, it was only slightly larger.

    Kevin

  • 16 years ago

    Not the greatest time to repot and you might have damaged the old roots which could cause the wilt. Try soaking the plant and increase the humidity if possible. Probably just shock from repotting. Plant looks healthy.

    Jane

  • 16 years ago

    Kevin-I don't think these are old leaves. But I did buy a smaller pot today and repotted it. Slightly larger than the original. I'm glad to know it doesn't look bad. This is the only milt I've had, so I'm not familiar with any quirks.

    Jane-The repotting couldn't have caused the wilt, b/c the leaves have been dropping for about a month before I repotted the orchid. I added to pebble trays to increase the humidity. Unfortunately, my humidifer broke.

    Thanks for the help! I took two more photos. I noticed a bit of fanning in newer leaves. Could this be a sign of not enough water?

    {{gwi:140409}}
    {{gwi:140410}}

    Sarah

  • 16 years ago

    Sarah,
    Your plant is needing water. If the roots were nice and white with green tips when you repotted then water daily.
    If the roots were few or not white you may have an issue with root loss-not enough root left to support the growths.
    In your topmost image the new growths look weak and have wilted over. In your image made before you repotted the leaves all look robust and normal even though they are leaning over which is due to the way the bulbs grew out.
    Seeing the kind of pot you are using I would begin watering daily.
    It is important that you do not use tap water with Miltonias. Use either distilled, rain, or r/o water. One of the major reason for root loss in Miltonias is damage due to salt sensitivity in tap water. As mixes decompose the salts in tap water tend to adhere to the compost as well as the tender roots of Miltonias and cause salt burn on the roots. One thing I recommend for plants such as Miltonias that you can water daily is using a pond foam filter as the substrate instead of bark or any other mix.
    The foam can be cut to fit your pot and what I do is to fill one half of the pot with the foam, put in the plant and holding it with the base of the plant just at the top edge of the foam insert in more foam, squeezing in to get a tight fit. This will not deteriorate and will provide a humid atmosphere for the orchid's roots while allowing for excellent aeration. Check the link to see what I am talking about.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Recommended foam filter

  • 16 years ago

    Thanks terrestrial_man, but the problem has nothing to do with the repotting. In fact all three photos were taken today, so the leaves in the first photo are no different than those in the two later photos. The angle of the photos are just different. The pink pot was used only for one week until I could get a smaller pot. The falling leaves began over a month ago, before I ever repotted the orchid (it was in the original pot it came in 1.5 years ago).

    I don't use tap, all of my water is filtered and any fertilizer is mixed with distilled water.

    Sarah

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