Growing Tips for “Pansy Orchids”

“Milts” are not the easiest orchids to grow in the home due to their need for more specific conditions, but if you provide them with what they like, they will reward you with an almost endless display of wonderful blooms.

WATER QUALITY: Without good quality water these plants will not survive.  Use rain water, distilled or reverse osmosis treated water.  Consider bottled water if you have only a few plants.   Most Municipal water systems add chlorine for bacteria control and other additives to adjust the pH  to preserve their piping system.  None of this is beneficial to orchids.

BLOOMING: Stems of flowers can be open for 4-6 weeks at a time.  Plants will often bloom on multiple stems and multiple times a year when they are happy.  With good growing conditions, most of the Miltoniopsis will produce 4-6 blooms per spike.  The flowers should not be exposed to excessive heat or cold, or have their pollen removed. 

LIGHT: They prefer very bright indirect light from an east, south or west window in the home, or modestly shaded in the greenhouse.  Leaves can have a pink tinge when they get just the right light, but red, yellow, or straw colored indicates too much.

WATERING:  Milts like to be kept evenly moist, but never soggy.  Don’t let the media dry out between watering.  In the home, this could be every 2-3 days in the warm seasons to every 10 days in cooler seasons.  It is always best to water in the morning so the foliage can be dry by evening.  

Humidity: For milts, the humidity should be between 50% and 80%, which can be maintained in the home by setting the plants on trays of gravel, partially filled with water, so the plants never sit in water.  Also, you can mist the plants in the morning every once in a while to keep them happy.

TEMPERATURE: Night temperatures should normally be 60-70 degrees, and a day temperature of 80-85 degrees is preferred. 

FERTILIZER: We recommend the new Jack's Classic Liquid Orchid Foods with Micro and Macronutrients, plus Calcium and Magnesium.  There is a general formulation (7-5-6) and a bloom booster (3-9-6).  Use a weak solution (1/2 capful or 3/4 teaspoon per gallon of water) every week following your regular watering.  By watering the plant first, you are flushing out any buildup of salts in the pot.

REPOTTING: This is one of the more critical parts of growing milts.  Miltoniopsis like to be repotted at least once a year. It is essential to repot if your media breaks down (soggy, mushy).  Since milts have a preference to be root bound, use a pot that meets the size of the roots rather than matching the size of the plant.  Most mature plants will do great in a 3"-6" plastic pot.  Plastic is preferred to clay for pots as it helps the milts from getting too dry and will not accumulate salts from the fertilizer as much as clay pots.

For general culture summary on my seminar handout, click here for the Excel spreadsheet.

Copyright © 2007 by Winsome Orchids, Inc. All rights reserved.
This web site was last updated on