Where are they coming from?

[voyager]

I've made several posts over the years concerning the feral Vanda's I find growing on the trees scattered around our property.
I call them feral because there are no native orchid epiphytes in Hawaii.
They are all escapees and their progeny.

I've found 2 types so far, a yellow with brown spots and patches [probable V. Trimerrill {V. tricolor X V. merrillii}], and a white with magenta/purplish spots and patches [probable V. luzonica hybrid, maybe even a species].
I have seen a few different other Vandas scattered around on other properties in the area.


There were many V. Trimerrills when we first moved in 7 years ago.
They were the only type I could find the first few years.
There were MANY young immature Vandas scattered around on our trees when we moved in, and there still are.

Little doubt they are being seeded from existing plants.
The last few years we've been getting a lot of the V. luzonica's maturing and flowering.
They seem to be replacing the V. Trimerrill's, at least in quantity.

There are still many young immature Vandas scattered around on our trees.
They are being sown and started regularly and in quantity.
Not all survive and reach maturity, as would be normal.

when we first moved in, I found a large older Vanda on a tree next to the roadway.
The tree was blown down by hurricane Iselle.
I cut the top of the tree with the Vanda off, tying it to another tree to save it.
It bloomed in its new location, AND FORMED SEED PODS.

Of all the mature Vandas on out property, that is the only one I've found that has produced seeds.
I have searched extensively for any signs of orchids seeding.
All inflorescence are spent and die after the flowers drop.
So, my question again.
Where are they coming from?

[estación seca]

How long have you been there?

In the wild orchids may grow very much slower than they do with us fertlizing them. Before I realized how much I need to fertilize Vanda seedlings, mine hardly grew at all.

Maybe there are a fair number of seedlings from that one episode, but they are growing VERY slowly? It would be hard to see things a few inches across up in the trees unless you knew exactly where to look.

[Fairorchids]

Orchid seeds are so minute, that they can be blown considerable distances - even on a light breeze. The parent plant setting seed could easily be on a neighboring property.

[isurus79]

When I lived on the Big Island, I remember reading a report of a feral Vanda tricolor on Maui that was so large it needed a helicopter to remove the whole thing. I think there's probably a wild population that has found an appropriate pollinator and an appropriate fungus to get a sustaining population.