Miltonia - home care

Is it possible to catch a butterfly and settle it on your windowsill? Of course, it is possible, if this painted butterfly is the most beautiful flower, which is called miltonia. Some growers call miltonia one of the most unpretentious species of orchids, but in order for the plant to please you for a long time with its flowers, it is necessary to adhere to some rules of care. In natural conditions, miltonia grows in the highlands with a relatively stable temperature regime of about 23 ° C and high humidity up to 70-80%. So, let's look at how you can create favorable conditions for miltonia.

How to care for miltonia?

If you are going to grow miltonia in an apartment where there are seasonal temperature changes (in winter it is heavily heated, in the summer on the south side of the windowsill there is scorching sun or air conditioning is turned on), it is best to create an "orchidarium" for the flower, a place where high humidity is maintained. Optimal conditions for the flower are: apartment with eastern windows, lack of direct sunlight and drafts, as well as maintaining optimal humidity in the room.

Very often, the maintenance of miltonia at home is reduced to regular watering, but it should be remembered that the roots of miltonia do not tolerate moisture and rot from overmoistening. In order to ensure the necessary ventilation of the roots, it is necessary to select a loose and quickly drying soil and drainage from expanded clay or foam.

Watering miltonia should be by immersion in a stand-by or boiled water temperature of about 25 ° C for 10 minutes. In spring and summer, the plant needs almost daily watering, while in winter it is not necessary to water miltonia more than once a week. Miltonia likes and sprinkles, which sometimes can replace watering.

Miltonia transplantation and reproduction

Miltonia, like other orchids, is best transplanted into a translucent pot so that the condition of the roots can be seen. The plant very much likes to "breathe", so at the bottom of the pot and at the sides you need to make a few holes. Just bought a flower must necessarily be transplanted, as the roots of the plant can be rotten. Transplantation of homemade miltonia should be carried out when it has faded and not more often than once in 3-4 years, when the roots begin to appear from the pot.

If a flower has several "bulbs" or so-called pseudo-bulbs, then they can be detached from the bush and rooted. Another plant can be propagated by dividing the bush into 3-5 shoots: this process involves cutting the rhizome and sprinkling sections with activated charcoal or ash. The separated part of the flower is transplanted into another pot, not too deep into the ground.

Diseases of miltonia

Miltonia is a pretty whimsical beauty, so if mistakes are made, miltonia can get sick or "suffer" from pests: whitefly, thrips, or scutellum . Very often it can be observed that the tips of the leaves turn yellow or dry out in miltonia. This may be due to excessive salinity of the soil, which can be corrected by watering the plant with rainwater or demineralized water. If the miltonia begins to rot roots, then the plant must be urgently transplanted into a new disinfected pot with replaced soil. The plant can be affected by the worm, and in order to relieve miltonia from the pest, it is necessary to wipe the leaves with alcohol solution and treat it with special insecticides. Resuscitation of miltonia with dried leaves and dropping buds is carried out by spraying with Fitosporin.

Only by paying attention and taking care, you can enjoy the unusually beautiful flowers of this amazing plant.