Should they all be planted in the baskets? Or charcoal in a pot? or bark in the basket or pot?
VANDA- How to plant them?
I have mine in a basket with lava rock. Since I have mine in the house (hung up high under a skylight) for the winter I need to water most every day. It does quite well, then I put it out in the spring. Hope that helps.
Maybe someone else can counter my post, but I've never seen them potted in pots beyond occasional young'uns. They are best in baskets and hanging. I'm not sure the media is that important. I've used a variety of mixes, but usually it's a basket with some coconut lining and a fir bark/tree fern fiber and charcoal mix. Sometimes coconut husk chunks too. Many growers grow with no mix at all in open baskets. That's probably closest to ideal. If you do that, you will have to water, religiously (daily) and be on top of your fertilizer and humidity. I skip a bit, so the additives allow me to cheat.
L
I think you're right about the mix, mine was already potted in the lava rock when I got it and it has always done well so why change^_^ I also think that light is the most important, moisture is important and can be met one way or another, but without high light they won't bloom.
I'm a newbie. I don't even own an orchid yet. So if this plant is in a basket or just roots, do you mist the roots to water them or how do you do this?
I spray almost daily, then give it a good drenching when I fertilize once a week.
Hi, Darla. The Vanda orchids are among those orchids that seem to prefer no bark, charcoal, or other growing medium around their roots. I have a Vanda in my greenhouse that is just roots attached to a slotted basket made of cypress (you will see these baskets in the orchid supplies at big box stores and elsewhere). I hose the Vanda down along with my other orchids in the greenhouse about 3 times a week in hot weather and once or twice a week in our winter months. I typically add a hose end sprayer with about half-strength fertilizer so that I can fertilize while watering. The Vanda has grown and bloomed dependably for me every year.
Most other orchids will grow in a mixture of bark, charcoal, coir, sphagnum moss, lava rocks -- the orchid mixes available in stores that sell orchids are fine for most orchids.
Other orchids are terrestrials (grow in soil) and can receive about the same care that other potted ornamental plants get (just don't over-water as that is the probably the main cause of death in orchids grown by gardeners that are new to orchids)..
And now, you can't claim to be orchid-less because I sent you home with an Epidendrum soon after you made your post above. LOL
Jeremy
That is very true Jeremy. I was in Lowe's today and they must have gotten in a new shipment of orchids. I was sorely tempted but I was there to buy stuff for the contractors to finish my bathroom!
Yes, bathrooms are good. I'm trying to get one finished myself. Actually, it's more accurate to say "finish a bathroom myself". Almost there.
I can not wait for them to finish. My house is coated in a not so fine layer of dust!
Don't know if you have seen our tree on the chimney/roof saga that started last Mother's Day night and ended four weeks ago. Masons were cutting stone and mixing mortar in the living room the week before Thanksgiving. We are still cleaning and sneezing as the dust settles. It halted a guest bathroom redo that was in progress. DH laminated pine boards for a counter top and I stained and finished. We have exposed the rafters, used tongue and groove on the ceiling and I tiled the tub surround and floor. I was waiting for less dust to paint the redo of the old vanity, a plywood cabinet that now has legs and looks like a washstand. We have always remodeled and been coated in dust. Show photos, okay?
Laurel
Just bought a Vanda-in-a-bag from HD for $15. It does have an ID, but I believe you can get different cultivars depending on what they packaged. They sell these by color, so it's a broad category. The plant was very healthy. Taking the lead from above, I used a clay orchid pot (6"). I lined the bottom to the top of the side holes with sphagnum moss and then filled around the plant roots dangling with lava rocks. The sphagnum is to help a little with moisture retention as this will be hanging outside with the others. Will let you know how it works and thanks for the info.
I vote for the slotted basket with no medium at all. Just secure the plant to the basket and let the roots dangle. I mist the roots every day with a weak fertilizer solution and hose it down good once a week. I grow mine in a screened enclosure in full sun. The screen cuts the sun's rays by 50 percent. I have five vandas and they bloom two to three times a year.
Jim
I only have two vandas on the front porch. They have nothing but the roots exposed in a basket . Thanks for reminding me to go water and spray right now.
I took it out of it's basket as I don't have the ability timewise to water daily. Hoping that the pourous Lava rocks will help with enough moisture retention that I won't have to. This will help it during windy days as well. Wish I had a greenhouse.
I am in zone 9a also. We have high humidity and I would think that Florida would also?
I cut back on watering my orchids in the greenhouse in winter, usually once or twice a week depending on how hot and sunny the weather turns out to be. In the spring/summer/fall, my Vanda hangs in the patio with fairly bright light in a slotted basket and no planting medium. I hose it down during the driest weather, but the water provided by the rainy summers are generally all it needs. I don't know for sure the reason why Vanda orchids are grown with roots exposed and no medium, but my guess is that they are even more intolerant of constantly wet roots than other orchids. I've never grown orchids on lava rock, but they should drain quickly and dry out fast, so they should be great for a Vanda.
Jeremy
Jeremy, I use aliflor as opposed to lava rock but imagine it would be quite similar. I am deathly afraid of root rot and would much rather mist and water infrequently than allow my plants to sit in a bog.
Jim
Thinking of buying another and keeping it in the plastic basket and put them both out in the same area to run kind of an experiment to see the difference, if any, in growth habits. For the money, it would be fine to have two (one in bloom for my office and one for home) as I love the blue/ purple veining on the bloom and am tempted at shows and shops/greenhouses, but put off by the prices a bit. Will do this weekend and let you know what happens.
PS.. I used the smaller lava rock pieces in the bag (from HD) and found that the sphagnum does allow immediate water passage and particulate matterthrough. When I 'watered' to rinse the rock once planted, the runnoff of the silt came nicely through the sphagnum on the bottom. My hopes or expectations with the botom layer of the moss is tohelp keep the pot moist for a little longer to allow the plant to absorb from the clay as I expect that the roots will cling to the outside of the pot much as they would a tree. Anyway, it will be a fun trial.
Sounds like a good experiment. I saved some lava rock from an old gas grill I had years ago. I hadn't thought about using lava rock for orchids, but will give it a try to see how it does.
Jeremy
Slabbing on luffa works well. I tried it years ago with smaller orchids. The slabs last three or four years. If you try it, be warned that it turns a weird color from the tracers in the fertilizer. I'm going to grow luffas in my garden this summer to resume this experiment. I think it might be good for chunks too.
L
I would certainly not add anything to the pot and I would surely please please not add Sphagnum Moss.
Vanda roots want to be flooded daily, but need excellent air circulation around the roots - and lots of sun and warm temps! Essentially they do not need any pot, just a "vehicle" to attach to, so one can hang them up.
I agree with Ursula regarding the sphagnum. If ever there was an orchid not suited to this medium, it's the Vanda. When I said I used some medium with mine, it was just a "splash" and then a coconut mat liner in a basket. Still, they are best left bare. Obviously we should all consider (I do) whether we have the time and motivation to water/spray daily. I'm finding the Angarecum sesquipedale less demanding than others in this family. The perk is it was one of those cheapy bagged orchids from Lowes and hopefully will bloom within a year. It has almost doubled since late last winter.
L
Our Lowes carries beautiful orchids and they are not cheapy ones either. I paid 62.50 each for several of mine...........most of the phals run about 35.00 which is very reasonable.
The sphag is only on the bottom of the pot. I don't know what you call a 'splash', but to me, the moss is minimal and only to help at the bottom. The lava rocks have large spaces between them for the roots to lodge in and I expect that the top roots will envelope the pot. If we're talking luffa and coconut mat, I can't see this set-up being any worse. The humidity and warm whether comes with Florida. At any rate, it's not an expensive experiment.
The bottom third of the pot is usually the source of problems. I'm all for experiments though. Luffa is my experimental medium and it does not hold water, like sphag., nor does coconut mat. I know I mentioned using some medium, but nothing (as in the way Ursula and others are growing) is best. My Angraecum and a few others are doing well in some medium, but I used to leave these plants bare root. My growing conditions are a bit different now and I'm willing to experiment too.
L
OK.... feel like I'm getting beat up a little. Not as experienced as y'all, but trying some new things to find out what works and doesn't for my conditions, and what I can grow here and what I can't.
You are not beat up at all, Stu. We are here to learn from each other. Honest. In my opinion no one person is more experienced than any other. I get ruffled when one person shows up with all the answers to every orchid situation. It's all about what works best for you in your specific growing conditions. That's how we learn from each other and no one should ever feel less an expert or less willing to post. That's what makes this forum so much better than the others. No one has claimed to be an "expert", so that's as much you, Stu, as anyone else.
Laurel
Stu, please don't sweat it!
Yes, there will always be adjustments according to your environment. And being able to water freely (outside/greenhouse versus watering "controlled" inside in a sun-room/living room will surely influence how you pot or mount your plants.
Please forgive me - when I read Sphagnum, I shudder. Vendors like to wrap roots in Sphagnum so they don't dry out in transit. In my experience - if I didn't remove that stuff soon, it killed the roots. My watering practices are geared towards Orchids which are mounted or contain no medium at all, or potted into fast draining baskets, so I water daily. Anything in Sphagnum under those conditions is doomed. If one waters less, it will take a few more months, but then it surely will decline too.
I agree with Ursula. I remove all sphagnum from my orchids as soon as possible. However, orchids want to live and will adapt to reasonable conditions just like other plants. I mist my orchids every day with a weak fertilizer solution which is really foliage feeding. I flush the pots once a week with well water to get rid of the salt buildup. I haven't read anywhere that this is the best method or even a recommended method but the plants seem happy and it fits my lifestyle. Most of my orchid woes come from root rot problems so I shy away from anything that will retain water in the pots. About six months ago I took a sickly phal out of a soggy pot and mounted it on a piece of wood. Almost immediately the leaves firmed up and it now has two spikes. My experience tells me that good drainage and air movement are key to happy orchids. People in different climates and under different conditions need to find their own way to please the plants as well as themselves.
If your lifestyle is different and you cannot mist every day, then try something else and the orchids will probably adapt. I've learned a lot from the nice folks on this thread and I enjoy the sharing of ideas. There is no right or wrong, just happy gardeners sharing their experiences.
Jim
Jim, I do agree!!
Would you plant Phaleonopsis in the spagnum?
In a word, no.
Jim
I've potted Phals. in sphagnum and in clear pots for the first time starting this Spring/ Summer. Sphagnum was not available twenty years ago when I last grew orchids. It's working well for Phals., if it's very loose, and the bottom third of the pot has a medium that does not absorb water at all (like styrofoam pellets). Watering is greatly reduced, but I've not figured out how and when to fertilize. I tag plants for potting, so I can tell you when that happened. It's an experiment in progress for me. I'll be glad to photo some clear pot roots in various media if anyone is interested. I'm using several media and have no absolute opinions on any one.
Laurel
I just bought 2 vandas on clearance. Here I thought they were on clearance because they had no growing medium in thier pots!!! LOL ! Guess its a good thing I read this thread because I was fixing to put them in a new wood slatted basket in orchid bark mix....so I should just put them in the basket with nothing?
Yup.
Phalenopsis in fairly loose sphagnum moss would probably do well if watered sparingly and placed in bright, diffused light (my unhumble but non-expert opinion, LOL). The problem with the orchids potted in sphagnum by the growers/distributors is that the sphagnum is packed in extremely tight and is not likely to dry out between watering, especially toward the center of the sphagnum mass. These orchids are also often placed in non-draining decorative containers (like clear glass square vases or ceramic planters with trays attached that tend to constantly hold water) and there is no way for the water to drain. Even a brief time spent with roots standing in stagnant water is almost a certain death sentence for most orchids (some terrestrial bog orchids being the exceptions). I had never quite figured out why orchids are sometimes grown in clear plastic pots, but it now occurs to me that the sunlight (radiant heat) passing through the clear plastic may help speed drying of the planting medium that would not occur with an opaque plastic pot (my supposition, anyone else have another theory??)
Jeremy