Vanda & Family in basket help??

[littlefrog]

Originally Posted by Phantasm

Littlefrog- that was about as off the wall as you can get!

Naw, I can get more off the wall...

[caroline]

Hi Scott,
There is only little bit of sun in summer here. Sometimes, summer is just a rainy season. So what should I do?

[Sandra Billeter]

Tikva, we have 7 vandaceous plants and 2 are blooming now. Two others are spiking. All of them are in baskets or mounted on cork bark except one. None of the baskets have ANY medium in them. The plants are wired in to keep them stable. We have a GH and they are hung near the ceiling and get watered 4 to 5 times a week. They get fertilized after the watering. Our newest came to us potted in a plastic pot with nothing but expanded clay balls as the medium. If you think about that, it isn't much different from hanging it bare root in a basket. All are doing well. I'm not sure you really need to put any medium in the baskets unless you can't water frequently enough. Good luck.

Sandra in South Carolina

[Sandra Billeter]

Caroline, in the summer we water the vandaceous with a garden hose and the nozzle set on "shower" for a soft spray. We hit the roots primarily but some does splash onto the leaves. We use a watering can with a fine spray to fertilize and again we hit the roots primarily. In the winter when the humidity in the GH is high, we use the same watering can to water them - instead of the hose. This reduces the amount of water/humidity we introduce into the GH when normal levels are high. We use Dyna-Gro Growth or Jack's Bloom Booster mixed at label strength because both contain micronutrients. We fertilize whenever we water so they get it 4 to 5 times a week. They are "heavy feeders" so ours have responded very well to this regimen. Good luck.

Sandra in South Carolina

[caroline]

Thanks, Sandra! I will try my best.

caroline

[Vanadis]

Originally Posted by Ray

I even have a vanda hung from a wire, with no medium or basket at all (please excuse the lousy photo):

If you're growing indoors, you might consider CHC, but keep in mind that vandaceous roots like to drink often and dry quickly, especially if it gets cool at night, and like lots of air, so don't go with a particularly fine mix.

OMG. that looks soooo cool. How did you hang it like that? Is it just a straight piece of wire, or is there a hook or something at the bottom. And how is it staying attached to the wire?

And can you put a pic that is closer-up so I can get a better idea of what exactly is going on there?

Where did you even get the idea for this? I love it It looks awesome