Dendrobiums VS Vandas

[thakshila smith]

What are the difference between vandas and Dendrobiums.
I mean watering and giving fertilizer .

Here most of vandas are mounted and dens in pots.
Please answer !

[rogerman]

For me it's the value.....And beauty.....Vandas are the way to go!!
I won't mount my Vandas because they get too big, but mine are in pots with no medium anyway.

Theres not too much difference in watering for me for either, because they both love water.....Fertiliser wise, i'd say that the Vandas need more if anything

[dounoharm]

vandas need a daily soaking for me....and dens will wait 3-4 days between waterings....but i love the blooms on them both!

[RosieC]

It's difficult to say because the growing techniques tend to be quite different. Vanda's tend to be grown bare root so need watering every day, but Dens tend to be potted and so need watering less often.

[Suresh Kalyanpur]

Since you are based in Colombo where it can get very hot and humid, I'd think depending on where your plants are kept (meaning out in the open?) they would need to be watered every day. Only during your monsoon months you would need to reduce the watering.

[Masdyman]

I don't feed any differently between to two , my Dens are in pots so get watered when required .Vandas tend to be in baskets like mine so i spray them everyday ,all my orchids get fed at every watering .

[rogerman]

RosieC i also have about 200 Dendrobiums that are mounted on wood...... I just water everything the same when the sprinklers turn on automatically

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Dendrobiums are such a large genus of orchids with many species belonging to different sections, so it's hard to generalize without over generalizing.

Unless...

You're referring to Dendrobium hybrids that have been bred to be more uniform in culture.

Vandas can also be different from each other too. But I'm assuming you're referring to the hybrids that are bred to be more uniform in culture.

But even amongst one of the highest light demanding species of Dendrobiums within section Spathulata, I don't grow them in the same light intensity as the highest light demanding species of Vandas.

My Vandas are potted in large grade bark, as are the Dens in the section Spatulata. Although medium grade works just as well for both.

Otherwise the temperature range, watering regimen, fertilizing regimen, and humidity levels are roughly the same.

If you're asking whether it is okay to mount the Vandas, the answer depends on where you're living.

If the humidity of the area you live in is moderate to high, then mounted culture would not be overly difficult.

Then the next concern would be what kind of Vanda you own and what the plant's temperature tolerances are, in conjunction with what the temperatures are like where you're growing your plants.

[rogerman]

For me, Thecoutdoors climate is perfect......All my Orchids get the same light and air.... Light is high and humidity is high also....so is heat . This is about as close as we can get to the wild conditions they came from....In fact they get more regular watering in my nursery than they would get in the wild

[RosieC]

Originally Posted by rogerman

RosieC i also have about 200 Dendrobiums that are mounted on wood...... I just water everything the same when the sprinklers turn on automatically

Sure, but that's really part of my point, it's very difficult to say how they differ without knowing growing method, which may or may not differ. The watering/fertlilising probably depends more on how you are growing them (mounted or potted) than it does on the plant, so it's difficult to answer Thakshila's question without knowing if they are being grown the same way.