Beloved Miltassia: Replace or wait it out?

[poetiscariot]

Got a Milt. Charles M. Fitch 'Izumi' a few months ago, from a grower selling online. The plant came bare root, which made me nervous this time of year, but I decided to risk it. It also came with a full spike of flowers, which was a lovely surprise -- but in the intervening weeks, it's abandoned all its p-bulbs but the front one. Everything else I have, including other plants from that grower, is doing fine, so I don't think it's me; my guess is that being dug up and repotted mid-bloom was too stressful. Maybe it used all that energy to make a bunch of new roots -- or maybe it just used it up surviving the transplant. Anyway, I'm considering ordering from another grower, who also has some 'Izumi' in stock, and I'm tempted to just replace the one I got. A couple sources online say the clone grows really fast, though. My question is -- in your experience, does it grow super fast? If so, maybe I'll stick with the one I have and hope in a year or so it's recovered enough to bloom for me again.

Thanks!


Victoria

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Hi Victoria,

Why not just get the other orchid and grow both plants? If the first one makes a recovery, then you can gift or trade the second one. If not, then you still have the Milt that you really wanted to grow. I think it is personally a good idea to buy from different vendors to find who grows her/his plants the best as well as how they ship (says a lot about the care they put into the orchids). Good luck!!

Cheers,
BD

[pavel]

I've never grown it but shipping a plant in bloom bareroot seems rather foolish IMO. I would first suggest contacting the grower though after 2 months it is unlikely that they will do anything by way of compensation.

Unless you are desperately in a hurry for some reason, I would suggest to wait and:

1) Search online or by contacting a local OS to see if there are any upcoming shows within driving distance. If there are, check to see which venders are going to attend. Then check and see if any of those venders carry it. If they do, then you can preorder and they will bring the plant with them to the show. Not only will you be able to check the plant out before buying, but it will also be potted, and you likely will avoid any shipping and handling charges.

2) If the above fails, wait until spring before ordering would be what I would do. I know lots of folks order during the winter, but I'm always concerned about the chance that the heat pack could "run out of steam" while the box perhaps got lost in some cold place.

[poetiscariot]

I like your thinking, BD! Tee hee.

And I thought it was odd to ship the plant bareroot and in bloom, too, but said, oh, what do I know, I'm just an amateur. Hrmph!