New candidate for this month is Miltoniopsis phalaenopsis.

Miltoniopsis phalaenopsis, (Linden & Rchb.f.) Garay & Dunst 1976, is accepted species by POWO Kew. The native range of this species is NE & Central Colombia. It is a pseudobulbous epiphyte and grows primarily in the wet tropical biome.

Previous Awards:

There are 23 AOS award for this species! The latest award was granted in July 22, 2022, Miltoniopsis phalaenopsis 'Okika II' AM/AOS (82 points.

Description:

Candidate plant has 17 flowers and no bud on 4 inflorescences to 20 cm length. Plant is on an Oak log mount and 46 cm wide by 30 cm tall.

Flower Measurements:

NS H - 5.2 cm;                   NS V -5.5 cm;

Dorsal Sep. W - 1.5 cm;    Dorsal Sep. L - 1.75 cm;

Petal W - 1.8 cm;               Petals L - 2.3 cm;

Lat/Sepal W - 1.2 cm;       Lat/Sepal L - 2.5 cm;

Lip/Pouch W - 3.7 cm;     Lip/Pouch L - 3.4 cm.

Judges' Comments

Al Messina (Accredited Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

This nicely grown, primal Colombian species, genotypically contained in many, if not most, Miltoniopsis hybrids marketed today, while not a major improvement over awarded plants, displays clear whites and deeply saturated, sharply demarcated colors which makes an observer minimize slight inconsistent lip cupping and undesirable apical lip clefting. Should qualify for a high HCC or marginal AM.

Deb Jenson (Student Judge, Chicago Judging Center)

Thank you for submitting an eye-catching Miltoniopsis, one of my favorite orchids. It is certainly floriferous for its size. The golden-yellow disc-shaped mask is attractive against the large, burgundy, dense waterfall. However, some things hold this orchid back: the waterfall is inconsistent, with the white coming through in the three stripes, which is distracting. Also, the size of the lip is small in relation to the size of the overall orchid and smaller than recently awarded orchids of this type. For these reasons, I would not nominate this for an award. However, I would score it with an HCC if the team felt it was awardable.

Kris Mason (Accredited Judge, Cincinnati Judging Center)

Full, relatively flat flower with nice color, beautiful water fall. Although the total flower count is low, there is excellent flower count per inflorescence. I really like the flower presentation. Flower size is small but is compensated by the width of the segments and the fullness of the flowers. I pointed at 78 points.

Paul Wetter (Senior Judge, West Palm Beach Judging Center)

Thank you for submitting this very lovely, well grown Miltonopsis phalaenopsis.  As you stated there have been many awards of this species and this particular clone is well presented with a good color pattern and form. It compares favorably to previous awards with some nice features. Sepals and Petals are wide and full and lip is also wide and nicely presented. I would consider for judging and expect this plant to receive an AM 82-84.

 Paul Wetter

Joe Bryson (Accredited Judge, Florida North-Central Judging Center)

I am really taken with this plant. The flowers are clean with a beautifully colored mask on the lip. Flowers are very flat and measurements are in range for the previous AM awards. The floriferousness is there also with 4.25 flowers per infl. One had five flowers on it. The small plant is well-grown on a mount with 17 flowers. The flowers appear aesthetically more pleasing than even recent awards with its pristine white background and contrasting markings on the lip. The only minor flaws I see are a couple of small notches on the petals and some unevenness on the margins; the bilateral symmetry is slightly off with the dorsal sepal canted slightly to one side. Overall, I would score this in the mid-AM range. Understand, we don't get to see many of these live in Central Florida.

Joe.

David Edgley (Accredited Judge, Western Canada Judging Center)

A lovely and well-flowered plant with up to five flowers on one inflorescence.  Growing mounted is likely a challenge for this species - kudos to the grower.  Based on photos and measurements, ‘Okika’ and 'Okika II’ have set a high bar for quality and floriferousness.  Based on the current record, I would give this clone about 78 points.

David Edgley

Larry Hennessey (Associate Judge, Louisiana Judging Center)

I would nominate this one for a flower quality award. Flower count and size are excellent. Form is flat and full. The waterfall pattern is typical of the species but there is some inconsistency among the flowers. I would score this as a low AM.

Tom Mirenda (Accredited Judge, Hawaii Judging Center)

One of my all time favorite species orchids. It is sadly impossible for me to grow where I currently live, but thrives at higher elevations here on the big island where temperatures rarely rise above 80 and nights venture into the mid 50s. But you’re not asking about culture. The latest award was here on the big Island. And two more were presented last month, that were awesome specimens with lovely flowers. At the Ecuagenera anniversary  celebration, they were used by the hundreds in their exhibition, almost like bedding plants, and were used as centerpieces at every dining table at Uzhupud. While I love this, it absolutely makes me want to look very carefully about any new awards, since they are being mass produced. 

There are a few forms of the species, some with the classic waterfall pattern and some a more solid pattern. This is certainly a fine clone in terms of color, form, size, pattern and floriferousness. Sadly, I have not had time to review stats for all of the awarded clones. I would assume this is a fine line bred example, and I would likely recommend it for a quality award. But I don't feel I can accurately score it without doing a rigorous comparison to other awarded clones.

Perhaps others here have done so, I will look forwarded to reading your comments.

Mary C. Mancini (Accredited Judge, Louisiana Judging Center)

Lovely flower but would not award

Mary Mancini

Linda Horton (Accredited Judge, Dallas Judging Center)

There are points for and against this plant. The DS and petals are better shaped, waterfall not so much. Poor presentation. Size and flower count better. I would give it 79 to 80.

Pam Noll (Student Judge, Alamo Judging Center)

Very nice plant with attractive, interesting blooms on the mount.  The flowers look to be an improvement over some HCC awarded plants. Even though the shape is not a round flower, it seems to be within the norm for this species.  I was concerned that photos of different flowers on this plant showed variation in the shape of petals especially.  Close up, the petal and lip margins were somewhat uneven, not ruffled or undulating.  A couple of flowers had a cuppy lip and a dorsal sepal was slightly tilted off-center.  Small details which started to add up.

The color is very pretty, the markings are bold, and I especially liked the magenta striping on the side lobes.  Flowers are white, the callus is lemon yellow with fine dark tan striations and the mask is a golden yellow medium disk. The midlobe has a medium, dark magenta solid and striped waterfall with a few tear drops.

Flower size generally falls a bit less than the range of averages of the six most recently awarded AM plants and somewhat above the average of five HCC flowers. 

The floriferousness is average compared to other awarded plants and are well displayed around the front side of the mount. I think this plant could be nominated, and if scored, I would put it in the HCC range.

Regards,

Pamela Noll

Alamo JC Student

Bob Winkley (Accredited Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

Thanks for finding this lovely candidate - this species has so much charm and elegance. Growing this mounted, while very challenging, allows for a graceful presentation.

Looking at the candidate plant, it has a clean look, with a well defined waterfall pattern.  The flowers appear to be relatively flat, and the flower count per inflorescence is very good. The overall size of the flower, as well as the individual segments, is on the smaller end of the award spectrum.

There are a number of form issues which I find distracting. The dorsal sepal in many of the pictures is skewed to one side, disrupting the overall balance. Placement of the lateral sepals creates a number of fenestrations so that the lip, while beautifully marked, seems small in relation to the other parts of the flower. There also appears to be some notching in the petals.

I would not be inclined to nominate this plant on this flowering. I would be interested in seeing this plant in the future if the form issues cited above were less pronounced or non-existent.

All the best - 

Bob W.

Emily Quinn (Accredited Judge, Dallas Judging Center)

I like this flower, however, I do not like the curling up of the lip or the overall presentation of the plant. It is slightly more floriferous per inflorescence than the most recent award and larger, but the lip curl (form) brings it down. My score would remain in the low AMs.

Richard Garrison (Student Judge, Mid-Atlantic Judging Center)

The candidate is a nicely grown, difficult to grow plant! 

The plant is floriferous for its' size, with 5 flowers on 2 of the 4 inflorescences which helps it meet the median on record for flowers per inflorescence. The flowers present well on the inflorescences in terms of spacing and facing. The mounted nature of the plant allows the inflorescences to emerge nicely from the foliage as compared to plants on record where the flowers are more obscured by the foliage. 

The exceptional form of the flowers is well balanced with proportionately full and overlapping segments. Overall, the segments measure less than the median on record. The lateral sepals are more on the overall plane of the flower as opposed to many plants on the record with recurved lateral sepals. Its not apparent that the flowers are fully open with the lip slightly forward cupped, where as the plants on record have lips that are typically flatter with a slight recurve at the bottom. 

The yellow background color on the lip, with the well delineated fuchsia markings, make the center of the flower glow more distinctively than all but the 'John leathers' clone on record. The more open fuchsia markings in the waterfall give the flower additional contrast adding to the flowers overall presentation in comparison to the flowers on record. Overall, more growths (and likely inflorescences), and a flowering that is more 'mature' (assuming these flowers have just recently opened) would improve the scoring of the plant. With this plant, as presented, i would expect scores in the HCC range.

Mary Cash (Student Judge, Alamo Judging Center)

Miltoniopsis phalaenopsis  

The subject orchid has blooms that are well presented on arched inflorescences. The blooms, with a base color of white, are well spaced. 

The sepals and petals are displaying a gentle rounding distally. The Miltoniopsis phalaenopsis variety is characterized by having slightly notched margins.

The crisp white flowers shine with the yellow masking. They are accented with a large magenta water fall covering 3/4th of the lip and with a magenta blotching towards the distal margins.

The subject exhibits a higher than average bloom count. The blooms are small, in measurement, but an average size for the Miltoniopsis phalaenopsis variety.

Coming to the judging table, I could see it earning an AM with scoring 80-82 points.

Elena Skoropad (Accredited Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

First of all, kudos to the grower who did an amazing job! This plant is extremely difficult to grow and keep alive. The candidate plant is grown mounted on a cork. It has good number of flowers, approximately 4 per infloresence.
Flower size is good, in the range. Some awarded plants with less flowers have slightly lager flowers. Flowers have good flat form, central waterfall pattern is pleasant. The presentation on the latest award from 2022 is more impressive. Our candidate has good marking and it looks like it has a firm substance. I would nominate this plant for a flower quality award and I would score in high HCC/ lower AM range. Once again, kudos from the grower who did such a good job!!

Thank you,
Elena

Alejandro Capriles (Retired AOS Judge, Accredited Judge Società Felsinea di Orchidofilia, Bologna, Italy)

Although there are cultivars with larger flowers and bolder masks, I find this particular one to be well-above the type for the species. The mask pattern is rather similar to the cultivar ‘John Leathers’ which received an AM of 87 points (perhaps a score heavily based on flower size?), and the flower form is, in fact, an improvement, but the measurements are noticeably smaller (over 1 cm in natural spread, H or V), although more-or-less within range of other awarded clones. A well-flowered specimen for a relatively small plant, unusually grown on an oak slab. Well-balanced and proportioned flowers. I’d be curious to see if the flower dimensions increase on future flowerings as the plant matures. As presented, I would score it an HCC of 78 points.

Exhibitor - Tyler Albrecht, CA (Associate Judge, California-Sierra Nevada Judging Center)

Virtual Award Description

Seventeen full, relatively flat flowers on four up to 20-cm inflorescences borne on a plant 46 cm wide by 30 cm tall mounted on an oak log mount; sepals and petals broadly ovate, clean white; lip round, white, callus marked yellow, waterfall pattern distinctly veined maroon, clearly marked, centrally darker; substance good; texture crystalline

Grower's Advice

I love this species and it is so variable, just want to collect them all. A dear friend has several clones that make mine look like a average boring plant. But he wont exhibit them. Oh well.

So its odd that you say that mounting is almost impossible. I find that they do best on mounts and die quickly in pots. The key to Mtps phalaenopsis (for me and several friends) is to keep the roots cool-cold and aerated. Air seems to be the biggest factor. Also clean water. Excessive salts are an issue. As for the mounts, I use only hardwood as it absorbs some water and slowly releases it to help with evaporative cooling. Cork is seemingly the worst type of mount. Also minimal moss, just enough to cover the roots. Remember the roots want air. Too much moss means to air.

I place them in a cool bright spot in the GH next to the Den cuthbertsonii. They require similar conditions actually.

In the summer, I water (ferts too) two to three times a week. I’ll start a light misting for one minute 36-48 hours after watering. So lets say I water on Sunday, the plants wont see mist till Tuesday. If the temps are above 95°F outside, I’ll likely water again on Wednesday or Thursday. If its 100-115°F like it was in most of July water three times a week and mist for one minute every day.

The misting system does not have fertilizer but every time I water I fertilize with 20-20-20 at 400ppm pH around 6.3.

Tyler