Miltonia Lindl.
To begin, we must first establish: What is a Miltonia?
The first orchid plants that were called Miltonia were specimens of the (warm growing) Brazilian Miltonia spectabilis. This species and its cousins can be recognized by having little ‘ears’ on the column, yellow-green foliage, two leaves on top of each pseudobulb and up to 6cm spaces between the growths. We are not going to discuss these in this article.
Some time later, the plant hunters found orchids quite similar to the first Miltonias. These come from higher elevations and farther North, like Colombia. Their leaves are more delicate looking than the above mentioned and light greyish-green with only one leaf on top of each pseudobulb; their growths are tightly clustered together. These orchids were called “Miltoniopsis”, (1976) because they looked quite similar to the Miltonias.
There are six species of Miltoniopsis orchids:
- Mps. roezlii from Panama, Ecuador and Colombia at 300 - 1200 m elevation, together with Paphinia and similar plants.
- Mps. santanei from Venezuela, Peru and Ecuador at 350 - 1000 m elevation, can be found with C. rex and Coryanthes.
- Mps. phalaenopsis from Columbia at 1300 - 1600 m elevation, always in shady and humid situations.
- Mps. bismarckii from Peru, at 1000 m elevation, in mountain forests.
- Mps. vexillaria from Colombia and Ecuador at 1000 - 2000 m elevation, very humid situations, bright, no direct sun
- Mps. warscewiczii from Costa Rica and West Panama (syn. endresii) at 1500 - 2700 m elevation in fairly cool mountain forests.
As you can see, the first two species will do better in warmer temperatures, as will #3; I have been told that this also applies to some of their offspring. If you notice that your species Miltoniopsis is not doing so well, try to give it higher temperatures, but do not let it go dry. However, in this article, we shall not concern ourselves too much with the species. They are the main parents of our hybrids, although way back, other compatible orchids were crossed with them, so we will just call these hybrids "Miltonias", or Pansy orchids. They have flower colours ranging from white through yellow and pink to dark red with patterns of stripes, spots and other colour contrasts. There can be up to eight flowers per stem, each flower usually lasting about four weeks. A large plant with many spikes can be in bloom for three months. Their peak flowering season is May to June with a smaller spurt in October.
 Miltonia Jeannette Brashear ‘Victoria’ AM/AOS |
The Miltonia hybrids we usually try to grow are not too particular about the exact day- or night time temperatures. They will tolerate high daytime summer temperatures of 27°C (with good air movement) and can go down in cold winter nights to 10°C (when their foliage is dry!). Always keep in mind that young seedlings cannot cope with extremes of anything.
These plants enjoy bright light – remember that they come from the tropics. They do not enjoy hot, direct sun. If you see a soft pink flush on the leaves, that is good; red or straw-coloured leaves show overdoses of light. Once you see the flower spikes, it is a good idea to give your plant a little less light. The spikes will grow better and the flowers will last longer under very light shade.
All Miltonias must be kept constantly and evenly damp. It works well to have extra drainage in the pots or baskets (colander!) so you can keep pouring on the water. If Miltonia leaves show wrinkles, this is caused either by insufficient water given to the plant or too much water stagnating around the roots, rotting them and then – no water will go to the plant, either. Please, remember that here on the West coast, we have water with very low salt counts. We have tried to grow Miltonias in the prairies and only when we began using the Reverse Osmosis water, did we have success with these plants. They do not need much calcium and prefer pure rainwater.
Miltonias do not have a rest period, growing all year. Still, our dark, short winter days will slow them down. That is when we can reduce the watering and the fertilizing. During the summer months, our Miltonias get fertilizer at almost every watering, something like one teaspoon of 20-20-20 per gallon . Every orchid grower has her/his favourite fertilizer; use whatever you feel is right. Watch the results. Your mature plants should make abundant growths, strong, wide leaves and push two new pseudobulbs from every old one. Of course, the dainty hybrids with Milt. phalaenopsis will always have slender leaves; Milt. vexillaria will influence its hybrids with big, upright and heavy growth. We sometimes use calcium nitrate, Epsom salts and at times apply fertilizers with trace minerals added. Seedling plants will need much less fertilizer than mature plants that are expected to bloom.
The Miltonias have one special requirement besides needing constant moisture: they have to be re-potted at least every twelve months. It is better to get this job done before warm spring weather arrives. One thing to remember: do not overpot Miltonias! Keep in mind that they will need that pot only one year. Be thrifty! As with fertilizer, each grower also will have some special potting mix formula.
One very successful grower in Portland uses the following recipe: to one gallon fine fir bark he adds 3 c peat moss, 3 c perlite, 3 c granular cork, 3 c charcoal, 2 c oyster shell, a pinch of Dolomite lime stone and for mature plants he adds a pinch of steamed bone meal.
Another very successful grower uses our native BC rock moss with extra drainage at the bottom of the pot. Please remember that orchids in moss need to have it renewed at least every six months.
Our own mix consist of 2 parts fine bark, 1 part perlite, ˝ part charcoal and ˝ part shredded New Zealand Sphagnum moss.
Insects and diseases come to all orchids; Miltonias can be found by all the regular pests – just use the regular controls. Aphids like to suck the young buds and flowers dry, but they can easily be washed off with plain water. The Miltonias’ need for constant moisture and humidity can result in fungus spots on their soft leaves. Just make sure that you don’t put them to bed wet – have fans blowing over them after you have misted the foliage, before the temperatures go down overnight.
Miltonias have been bred with many other members of the Oncidium family. It is interesting to read the combination of different genera in Sanders’ List of Orchid Hybrids. It takes about 9 – 12 months for a seed pod to mature. Then it will take about three months for the seed to germinate in the first flask. After that, it usually takes at least two years in different replated flasks before the baby plants can go into community pots. After 6 to 12 months, they can be potted up separately and then it will still be two to three years before you can expect to see the first flowers. So, altogether, it will be at least five years from pollination to the first blooming- that is if you are lucky!
Therefore, I wish you luck and happiness growing Miltonias! Oh, another Miltonia delight: in daylight, most Pansy Orchids have a wonderful scent.
Ingrid Schmidt-Ostrander - Canadian Orchid Congress