# Miltoniopsis hybrids 2011



## emydura (Dec 6, 2011)

I have had a good season with the Miltoniopsis. Here are a few photos of some of my hybrids. I changed my mix to 50% chopped sphagnum and 50% coarse perlite and my plants have done much better as a result.


Milt. Nancy Binks 'Star Struck' - probably my favourite








This would have looked a lot better but unfortunately 5 or 6 flowers aborted for some reason. It has never happened before to me.

Milt. Fire Water 'Red Butterfly'







Milt. Elizabeth Castle 'Lilac' x Maufant - another favourite. Big pink flowers.







Milt. Kelly 'Bulls Eye'







Milt. Jersey







Milt. Jean Carlsun







Milt. Breathless 'Good Woman'







Milt. Andy Easton 'Globe Master' x Violet Tears.jpg







Milt. Rising Sun - this will look stunning when it gets bigger







Milt. Red Woodham







Milt. Red Knight 'The King'







I grow them on the bottom bench on the left, so they get a bit of shade. Although on a bright sunny day they still get good light.







As they are on the bottom bench I have to bring them inside when flowering as the flowers will get ruined by the water.


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## Ozpaph (Dec 6, 2011)

David, truly magnificent!
Congratulations on growing some very fine plants.


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## JeanLux (Dec 6, 2011)

Congratulations for blooming them so perfectly David!!!! Extreme beauties on your photos; maybe the last, the King would be my fav.!!!! Jean

(as I killed up to 10 of those I am able to appreciate your successful growing)


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## Marc (Dec 6, 2011)

Allthough I''m not a big fan of these hybrids the first one is really striking and I would actually have a spot for it in my house. :rollhappy:

I must say thought that you have grown them well and you've done a fine job of the photo's you took. :clap:


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## Marc (Dec 6, 2011)

I'm wondering though if the colour balance is wrong in the picture below:






There is a lot of purple in the flower and this might be true but the colour of the leaves itself isn't right either as far as I can tell.


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## JeanLux (Dec 6, 2011)

Whatever the real colors are, the photo is most impressive  !!!! Jean


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## s1214215 (Dec 6, 2011)

Hi David

WHat are your summer temperatures in Canberra? I love Miltoniopsis, but I think its too hot for them here in Brisbane perhaps. We get an average of 30c in mid summer, but of course the odd days are scorchers.

Brett


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## emydura (Dec 6, 2011)

Marc said:


> I'm wondering though if the colour balance is wrong in the picture below:
> 
> 
> There is a lot of purple in the flower and this might be true but the colour of the leaves itself isn't right either as far as I can tell.



It is funny you ask that as the camera did not even get close to getting the colour right in this flower. It came out as a crimson red rather than a velvet red. I shot it in raw so I had to change the white balance quite a bit to match the colour right. I felt I got the colour pretty well spot on. It is an amazing velvety colour which I think is portrayed in the photo. I went to some effort to get the colour right in this photo as it is so unusual and beautiful.


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## emydura (Dec 6, 2011)

s1214215 said:


> Hi David
> 
> WHat are your summer temperatures in Canberra? I love Miltoniopsis, but I think its too hot for them here in Brisbane perhaps. We get an average of 30c in mid summer, but of course the odd days are scorchers.
> 
> Brett



Brett. We get temps above 30oC in Canberra but in my glasshouse it would rarely get hotter than this. Temps above 30oC will stress these plants out. They will probably survive a few days like this but you would want to keep them wet and humid. I have bought a few plants off John Robertson so he obviously grows them up there. So does John Woolf although he is at a higher altitude.


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## Marc (Dec 6, 2011)

emydura said:


> It is funny you ask that as the camera did not even get close to getting the colour right in this flower. It came out as a crimson red rather than a velvet red. I shot it in raw so I had to change the white balance quite a bit to match the colour right. I felt I got the colour pretty well spot on. It is an amazing velvety colour which I think is portrayed in the photo.



Thanks for the answers, I'll take back what I've said then.


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## Roy (Dec 6, 2011)

You have done very well David. Great display.


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## FlowerFaerie (Dec 6, 2011)

Truly gorgeous! I especially love the Firewater & Rising Sun.
I don't have a lot of joy with those (they all seem to get that orange rot eventually), but I can't resist trying again and again. I'm waiting for my Xmas attempt to arrive this week. Can you suggest anything I can do to keep it alive?


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## goldenrose (Dec 6, 2011)

:clap: :drool::drool::drool::drool: :clap:AWESOME!! I'm a sucker for red waterfalls!


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## Erythrone (Dec 6, 2011)

Fantastique!!

Grandiose!

Magnificient!

Incredible!!!!!!

:drool::drool::drool:


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## emydura (Dec 6, 2011)

FlowerFaerie said:


> Truly gorgeous! I especially love the Firewater & Rising Sun.
> I don't have a lot of joy with those (they all seem to get that orange rot eventually), but I can't resist trying again and again. I'm waiting for my Xmas attempt to arrive this week. Can you suggest anything I can do to keep it alive?



Yes, I notice a lot of people have trouble with these. I've never lost a plant myself and I have quite a few now. They don't like extreme temperatures. Mine basically live with temps between 16oC and 30oC. They like a bit of shade and high humidity. The potting mix should be pretty moisture retentative and never allowed to dry out. They have fine roots so they need a fine mix. This year I moved to 50% chopped sphagnum - 50% coarse perlite and my plants look much better for it. A lot better root growth and bigger growths. 

I think rot is a big problem in summer. Last year I had a couple of big plants lose a few growths to rot. Good air movement is important.

Good luck.


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## toddybear (Dec 6, 2011)

Unreal display! I'm soooo jealous!


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## Paph_LdyMacBeth (Dec 6, 2011)

Why oh why oh why oh why did I give mine away 
So so beautiful! Great growing!


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## NYEric (Dec 6, 2011)

emydura said:


> This would have looked a lot better but unfortunately 5 or 6 flowers aborted for some reason. It has never happened before to me.]



Temps got too warm?



emydura said:


> As they are on the bottom bench I have to bring them inside when flowering as the flowers will get ruined by the water.



Nice displayes, good growing. what is the lowii hybrid (?) on the top right?


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## SlipperFan (Dec 6, 2011)

emydura said:


> It is funny you ask that as the camera did not even get close to getting the colour right in this flower. It came out as a crimson red rather than a velvet red. I shot it in raw so I had to change the white balance quite a bit to match the colour right. I felt I got the colour pretty well spot on. It is an amazing velvety colour which I think is portrayed in the photo. I went to some effort to get the colour right in this photo as it is so unusual and beautiful.


It looks like there's a little cyan imbalance -- it's seen in the leaves and in the whites of the flowers. Otherwise, your photos are beautiful, David. They capture the beauty of these flowers wonderfully. And I'll bet you home is very fragrant with these flowers in it.


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## jjkOC (Dec 6, 2011)

All I can say is WOW! Fantastic growing!


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## emydura (Dec 6, 2011)

NYEric said:


> Temps got too warm?
> 
> Nice displayes, good growing. what is the lowii hybrid (?) on the top right?




I don't know Eric. It didn't happen on any other Milts and I have flowered this particular one so many times before without a problem. It has never really got that hot here so far. Hopefully it is just a one-off. It would have looked pretty nice with a whole lot more flowers. This was my first Milt actually many years ago. So it is pretty tough surviving all my initial abuses.


Paph Julius.


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## emydura (Dec 6, 2011)

SlipperFan said:


> It looks like there's a little cyan imbalance -- it's seen in the leaves and in the whites of the flowers. Otherwise, your photos are beautiful, David. They capture the beauty of these flowers wonderfully. And I'll bet you home is very fragrant with these flowers in it.



Thanks Dot. Those leaves don't look quite right do they. When I get home from work, I'll try and post a photo of how it came out of the camera which will show the initial problem. It never happened with any of the other Milts.


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## cnycharles (Dec 6, 2011)

very nice flowers and pictures


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## NYEric (Dec 7, 2011)

emydura said:


> Paph Julius.


I think not. I mean the light color one with spots on the lateral petals, please.


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## emydura (Dec 7, 2011)

NYEric said:


> I think not. I mean the light color one with spots on the lateral petals, please.



Paph haynaldianum


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## Roth (Dec 7, 2011)

Very nice miltonipsis ( and paphs...).

In the Netherlands, Van der Weijden in Kudelstaart, possibly the largest miltoniopsis pot plant grower, grows a lot of varieties ( including Jersey, St Helier, etc...). They are grown very warm, with phalaenopsis seedlings. In fact before he was a phalaenopsis grower, but then he changed to miltoniopsis. Miltoniopsis are not odontoglossum, they are warmer growers, and can be warm growers ( with a cooling period to bloom them with nice colors however...).

Vacherot and Lecoufle used to grow all the miltoniopsis motherplants hot too, with their phalaenopsis motherplants. They grew the seedlings cooler, because of costs matter, but that's it. Very big clumps, and no rot. Miltoniopsis in my experience like lime, and quite alkaline potting mix to avoid the dreadful orange rot...


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## Ozpaph (Dec 7, 2011)

emydura said:


> Brett. We get temps above 30oC in Canberra but in my glasshouse it would rarely get hotter than this. Temps above 30oC will stress these plants out. They will probably survive a few days like this but you would want to keep them wet and humid. I have bought a few plants off John Robertson so he obviously grows them up there. So does John Woolf although he is at a higher altitude.



John is on the sunshine coast in the hinterland (I believe). Its quite a bit cooler there, like Toowoomba, than Brisbane. The few I have are decidedly happier with a new fan and misting system than prior years.


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## paphioboy (Dec 7, 2011)

Gorgeous!:drool: :drool: :drool:


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## NYEric (Dec 7, 2011)

emydura said:


> Paph haynaldianum


Really!? I only was interested in album and its hybrids! I will look for one of those. Are there any clonal names?


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## biothanasis (Dec 7, 2011)

Fantastic flowers!!! Well done David...! :clap:


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## John M (Dec 7, 2011)

These photos make me miss my Miltoniopsis! Well done, David!!!!


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## emydura (Dec 8, 2011)

SlipperFan said:


> It looks like there's a little cyan imbalance -- it's seen in the leaves and in the whites of the flowers. Otherwise, your photos are beautiful, David. They capture the beauty of these flowers wonderfully. And I'll bet you home is very fragrant with these flowers in it.



Firstly, I can't smell a thing. Maybe only some of them have fragrance. Or maybe I have no sense of smell.


This is how it looked out of the camera. It is much more burgundy/velvety in real life. I changed the white balance so it was a lot cooler. I think the burgundy colour was much closer but agree the leaves don't look right.





Uploaded with ImageShack.us


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## emydura (Dec 8, 2011)

NYEric said:


> Really!? I only was interested in album and its hybrids! I will look for one of those. Are there any clonal names?



Here is another post with a closeup of that plant just to be certain this is what you are talking about. These look a bit more colourful as they are not so washed out due to the bright light high in the glasshouse photo.

http://www.slippertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23191&

As for clonal names, I don't know. Mine is just a basic clone, nothing special. I'm sure there would be some superior clones in the US but I'm not an expert on them.


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## SlipperFan (Dec 9, 2011)

Like this, David?


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## cnycharles (Dec 9, 2011)

Hello David,
I know miltonias and miltoniopsis aren't the same thing, but do you and the collective wisdom on the forum think that your chopped sphagnum/perlite media would work well for miltonia spectabilis?


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## paphioboy (Dec 9, 2011)

Charles, I think Brazilian miltonias can be grown using the same mix but must dry out more before re-watering. They also love a breezier and sunnier location. I have a couple of the hybrids..


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## emydura (Dec 9, 2011)

SlipperFan said:


> Like this, David??





Thanks Dot. Yes, that is a lot better. What did you do? Just adjust the colours?



cnycharles said:


> Hello David,
> I know miltonias and miltoniopsis aren't the same thing, but do you and the collective wisdom on the forum think that your chopped sphagnum/perlite media would work well for miltonia spectabilis?



Charles, I have never grown the Miltonia's myself so it is hard for me to comment. The Miltoniopsis themselves need a lot of moisture, particularly in summer. So I find the mix I am using retains a lot of moisture but still chunky enough to allow air into it. I am not sure if Miltonia's are so mositure dependent.


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## Yoyo_Jo (Dec 9, 2011)

Incredible displays! You sure know how to grow those lovelies!


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## JeanLux (Dec 10, 2011)

emydura said:


> Thanks Dot. Yes, that is a lot better. What did you do? Just adjust the colours?
> ....



she definitely is a magician !!!! Jean


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## SlipperFan (Dec 10, 2011)

emydura said:


> Thanks Dot. Yes, that is a lot better. What did you do? Just adjust the colours?



Yes. When I saw your original photo, I realized you were on the right track. But I took a different approach: there is a yellow cast to everything. So I moved the yellow slider in Color Balance toward blue (in all three areas: midtones, highlights and shadows. That made the edge of the red/majenta color too bright a majenta. So in Hue/Saturation, I moved the majenta saturation slider a bit to the desaturate side.

I'm not sure why this happens with digital cameras, but I've noticed that I can be photographing flowers in the same light and at the same photo session. One can be spot-on with color and another I can have a heck of a time getting the color just right.


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## emydura (Dec 11, 2011)

SlipperFan said:


> Yes. When I saw your original photo, I realized you were on the right track. But I took a different approach: there is a yellow cast to everything. So I moved the yellow slider in Color Balance toward blue (in all three areas: midtones, highlights and shadows. That made the edge of the red/majenta color too bright a majenta. So in Hue/Saturation, I moved the majenta saturation slider a bit to the desaturate side.
> 
> I'm not sure why this happens with digital cameras, but I've noticed that I can be photographing flowers in the same light and at the same photo session. One can be spot-on with color and another I can have a heck of a time getting the color just right.



Thanks Dot. I had a go on PS and was able to come up with much the same based on your instructions. I wish I had your eye for colours and ability to make subtle adjustments. I guess I am always looking for one magic slider that will fix it in one go. But it is not that simplistic. 

So is the initial problem related to incorrect white balance? If so, I should be able to adjust the white balance in RAW.


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## wojtek (Dec 11, 2011)

OMG !!! Fantastic photos !!! Fantastic orchids !!! Fantastic blooms !!!


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## SlipperFan (Dec 11, 2011)

emydura said:


> Thanks Dot. I had a go on PS and was able to come up with much the same based on your instructions. I wish I had your eye for colours and ability to make subtle adjustments. I guess I am always looking for one magic slider that will fix it in one go. But it is not that simplistic.
> 
> So is the initial problem related to incorrect white balance? If so, I should be able to adjust the white balance in RAW.



I'm not sure. Sometimes, even with corrected white balance, it seems the color capture of digital cameras can be off. Color is such a variable thing -- there just is no magic bullet. Throw in the variables of light, different camera phosphors, lenses, computer monitors, etc., and it becomes a daunting task to make color accurate.

Even back in the days of film cameras, photographers agonized over getting color right.

I always bring the photos into Photoshop raw first, but it's rare I don't do fine tuning in Photoshop.


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