Difficult here and in similar unsuitable climates. Might be easier in San Francisco Needs warmth and humidity but not extreme heat , ancestors are tropical cloud forest orchids. Perhaps somewhere inside your home.

Yep--- give it deeper shade in summer and hose it down often. You'll probably see new growth in the fall as temps cool off.

I've been growing all my orchids indoors. I'm not sure which one will flourish outside. SF is more humid then my area. To provide humidity, I rigged a humidity tray using a loaf pan with 2 inches of rocks. Can I grow it outside or is it better inside?

arthurm2015, tropical cloud forest orchids? Thank you, I'll look them up!

Its fun learning a new aspect of gardening!

That means elevation in the tropics....folklore says the mornings may be sunny but everyday the clouds roll in bringing moisture. The thin leaves tell the story, not thick like say a Cattleya leaf.

The humidity tray thingo doesn't really work and if it did as many think it does......the walls of this room would be dripping with moisture.

Doors are kept closed to keep warmth in and furry friends out. The current temperature in here 14.8C and the humidity reading is 54%. You would think the evaporation from a 600 Litre fish tank would produce a higher reading.

Here is a link to some complete culture notes that may help.

Miltoniopsis notes

arthurm2015, thank you for the Miltoniopsis culture notes. I've read them and printed them out.

Since my Miltoniopsis didn't list the cultivar I did some searching and found Miltoniopsis Jean Inouye Kalapana. I'm still learning how orchid naming works, but mine looks very much like that!

Because of the 100 degree temps and dry substrate I watered it. I'm just crossing my fingers, hoping like crazy and going to do my best!

Now I'm really curious to know what rose your growing other then Mr. Lincoln. But, how can you only grow 2? I adore the blooms and the fragrance they provide and hate not having cut flowers in my home. Here, in SoCal, roses grow year round so there is rarely a time when at least one rose is blooming. Some roses are extremely picky or vulnerable to diseases. But, you're right, roses are in my opinion extremely easy to grow. I happen to enjoy hybridizing roses, that is not an easy task. I have a habit of trying to learn all there is to know about the plants I grow. I find them fascinating.

Would, "Kakapana" be the cultivar? And, would Jean Inouye be like specifying floribunda or tea rose? I'll figure this out, I promise I'm a fast learner.

Thank you!

Carlota

I have found Miltoniopsis to be easy to grow indoors in SoCal (Orange County). I usually put mine on the kitchen counter so I will remember to water it occasionally (I'm not especially diligent at watering regularly otherwise); the location gets bright indirect light during the day, with maybe 30-45 minutes of direct sun just before sunset. No misting or humidity tray.

I don't have a greenhouse, so in my rough-and-tumble outdoor area, Miltoniopsis foliage tends to sustain too much damage to be left outside. I also usually prefer to keep the Phalaenopsis indoors. However, most of my orchids are left outside most of the year: those include cymbidium, Dendrobium kingianum, bletilla, Sobralia, Encyclia, coelogyne, Epidendrum, Maxillaria, Oerstedella, and Phaius. The Tolumnia orchids grow well outdoors here too, but they are so darned cute even when they are not blooming, I like to keep them indoors where I can see them.

I also live in zone 10 in CA. South El Monte

Miltonias and their croses are fussy about too hot or too cold. The miltassias seem to be easier. Where are you in zone 10/

Bill Kemp

Hi, thank you for your input. We're in the IE near the 215/60. It's been really hot lately. Hotter then most summers.

I think my game plan for the Miltoniopsis will be:

Keep it in the most temperate room in the house.

Water once a week unless its very hot & dry then water when its roots dry out

Feed monthly

Cross my fingers and hope for the best.

I'll adapt the routine based on how the Miltoniopsis is growing. If I see it showing signs of distress I'll adapt.

Sounds like a good plan! I do not think you should allow the roots to get too dry. Remember the mist forest stuff, especially in summer.

Confusion over the name, they were all lumped together once as Miltonia.

If the weather is over 95F I'll probably mist frequently. None of my plants have been happy with this weather. I love the cloud story. Thank you for sharing it! It really does explain the different types of leaves on orchids.

Oh Miltonia! That's how it was labeled when I got it. I couldn't find any orchids like it under that name but then stumbled across Miltoniopsis and the blooms fit the descriptions and photos.

It's a beautiful plant. I'm going to enjoy learning how to make it happy.

Oh, your orchids are beautiful! I'm sorry,I missed the photographs earlier. I really love the uniqueness of orchids!

Sorry, the photos were added later after a lot of fiddling around. Not my orchids!

I just maintain a local orchid society's Flickr pages.

You wont find them at Trader Joes,but EVERY new Orchid grower in California's z 9b and up should have a Laelia princeps. Next and not least Dendrobium kingianum.

There is no species orchid called Laelia princeps. There are three Cattleya hybrids

called Princeps. The duplication of names in the Hybrid register is caused by Taxonomists changing species names.

Perhaps a mixup with faded orchid tags? Though it is hard to see how Laelia anceps could become Laelia princeps.

Searching for princeps on RHS Database gives

CattleyaPrincepsPrinceps (1898)Princeps (1923)

Masdevalliaprinceps

OncidiumPrinceps

Satyriumprinceps

gyr_falcon, are you inland in OC or near the beach? My uncle had an amazing orchid garden in Santa Monica that flourished but he was lucky & lived only a block from the beach. Here in the IE we don't get that much humidity.

I think once I get the hang of it, most of my orchids will be alright. I'm a pretty attentive gardener and I do love orchids.

Arthurm2015, the photos are still gorgeous. I would be so tempted by all the orchids!

We are probably about 6-7 miles away from the coast, so there is some marine stratus influence compared to locations farther inland, but it still gets plenty hot and dry.

The cold NE Pacific Ocean current creates the conditions in San Francisco to enable orchid fanciers there to grow some wonderful orchids I can only dream about. Further south it helps keep the summer night temps below the 20C average needed to grow Standard Cymbidiums to perfection.

Climate does matter. If somehow another Miltoniopsis came my way I would try it indoors. They are Scarce as hen's teeth around these parts.

Pruned my two roses last month (winter here)

The one with the suspect name (registered in 1919 by Alistair Clark) was planted 40 years ago by me when I purchased the house.

Winter here and if you walked around the streets, there are still plenty of roses to see in-bloom. I guess roses are like orchids "Real Rose growers live in the frozen north".

I used to exchange cuttings with other gardeners on the rose forum, but I'm pretty sure Australia's rules wouldn't like that. They are pretty strict about flora & fauna entering the country. Not that I blame them.

My husband went to Melbourne, Australia for work twice and really enjoyed it. He wanted to bring plants home but didn't want the hassle. Another co-worker lived here for a couple years and when he moved back we inherited his plants.

We had a busy weekend & Independence day so I was off my computer. My Miltoniopsis seems to be stabilizing so thank you very much for all your help. Our temps have dropped to the high 80's and it seems to really enjoy cool down.

I have 2 new orchids, one my husband brought me as a gift and the other is an orchid in distress my mother-in-law gave me in the hopes I could save it. I'm not sure if I should post those under new threads?

Are both your roses red? I know of Alistair Clark, but haven't seen many of his roses in person. In the US the hybridizer names the rose, and I have seen some very unfortunate names. One of my favorite roses has a name that many women object to, but I don't judge a rose by its name. I took this picture a few years ago...

See, I do love my roses! But, I feel that way about most of my plants. Gardening is pure happiness.

Carlota

Arthurm2015,

I wanted to give you an update. Thanks to your helpful advice it seems my Miltoniopsis is happy here. I have new growth and the foliage looks very happy. The roots are nice, healthy and hydrated.

I do have one more question, should I re-pot it now or wait til after the summer heat has died down to autumn weather?

Thank you for everything!

Carlota

Hi Carlota, I do not know the answer to your question, perhaps it doesn't need a repot because the mix is fresh and there is still room to grow in the pot????

Remember, the mist forest thingo, the orchids are not growing in mix, the roots are running along tree branches or running along rock outcrops and some will be in the air.

Great to hear success stories.

Repotting most orchids is usually done in spring. I start in August and maybe finish in December (Southern Hemisphere) (I have too many orchids)

Maybe Gyr Falcon can assist.

I confess, I tend to do a lot of necessary repotting in the fall. Not necessarily because it is the best time for the plant, but because I am way too busy in the spring. If I wait, it won't get done at all. I use smaller bark with the Miltoniopsis than with my other orchids, so it tends to degrade quicker. The roots seem to dislike old bark more than with my other species. They also seem to not like being stepped into larger pots too quickly; often I just change out the bark mix and put them into the same pot, or one just slightly larger if the plant is beginning to put out a lot of new growths and the root system appears it will need the additional room.

Another advantage I have with the fall repotting is that the new bark mixes tend to be more difficult to keep sufficiently moist (remember, I am sometimes lax in my watering habits...). Over the cooler winter months, being slightly dryer is not as big of an issue. By spring, and more so by summer, the bark has degraded just enough to hold more water--just in time for those warmer temperatures. So, for me, fall repotting works out better than waiting until spring.

Back to roses! Yes, both are red and no problems in growing them. I do not believe in this vigorous pruning stuff (except for see below). I just do a tidy up. Cut the canes back by about a third on the climbing rose.

Lovely colour on the rose in your pic.

There is no room in the yard to grow much stuff because I have two glass-houses and a shade-house and the garden, what there is of it is casual cottage.

As for the guardians of the gate. Horrible, both coming and going! My Daughter had her tube of toothpaste confiscated at LAX because it was 25 mil too large. You would think they would have given it back when they verified it only contained toothpaste.

Anyway, welcome to the orchid forum, mostly peaceful, till the just add ice stuff comes up every so often.

I had the same problem on another forum when discussing the crepe myrtle growing down the yard. It is at least 60 years old and the six trunks have been pruned down to four feet every year. AXE Murderer!!!