Good potting medium for vanda in West Virginia

[kanikedude03]

ok, sounds good. Everyone, thanks for your input!

[JennS]

Glad we could help!

[kanikedude03]

Ok, so i recieved my 2 vandas today in the mail. I watered them by putting them in my sink, because that is the only place i could think of where the roots could soak. I'm still waiting on my wooden baskets. One of them actually came with a plastic basket and it looks pretty wrapped around it, so i think i might leave that one alone. I'm having a problem keeping the long roots moist though. I watered them and went to class and when i came back, (about 5 hours later) the roots were already really dry looking and feeling again. By the way, here are some pics. Any better ideas for how to water the vanda?

[kanikedude03]

OK, it's been a few weeks now and my one vanda is really struggling (the one in the picture on the left in the above post). I tried growing it using the vase method and the one on the right using a wooden basket. The one in the wooden basket is doing OK i guess. It looks a little dehydrated, but i only water it every 2-3 days and try to mist it at least once a day. But the one growing in the vase has already lost 3 leaves and it's roots near the end are like falling apart. I think it's roots may be too long to grow in the vase. It's roots are about 4-5 feet in length so they are curled around the bottom of the vase. I think part of the problem is that there can be absolutely no water in the bottom of the vase or any parts of the roots touching the bottom rot. Does anyone have any help, suggestions, or comments that could help me out. Keep in mind please that i'm growing these inside which i've heard can be difficult with vandas.

[kavanaru]

Hi, I had a Vanda Blue Magic, which was giving me some troubles in the past. First I had it with no medium and the plant was dehydrated no matter how often I watered (even using vase culture!), Then I decided to try S/H (even if nor recommended, but "who cares?" I just decided to try it), many roots were rotted, but some new roots grew and the plant was not dehydrated anymore. However, it was not doing its best performance and the new roots used to push the whole plant out of the pot.

Then I decided to change my approache and combine no medium with S/H... in other words, I took the large S/H pot I had, covered the bottom with LECA and EpiWeb chunks (until about 1 inch above the drainage holes), I placed my plant in the pot, and filled the space between roots with EpiWeb chunks. The plant loved it! I watered it like S/H once a week, leaving some water in the reservoir. It started to grow roots, leave, and flower spikes. Before it bloomed I gave it to my cleaning lady, who kept it this way. I saw the plant last weekend and it had two spikes and approx. 16 flowers

[cirillonb]

I'm reluctant to make a comment since you requested help from experts of which I am not However, I live in northern Virginia and got a Vanda to experiment with several months ago. I live in an apartment condo so things like out of doors or baskets were out of the question. I got a large clay pot with holes up the sides. I used a mixture of epiweb, a plastic recycle product that does not hold water, and some PrimeAgra, LECA balls that do hold moisture. The roots were outrageously long and I knew, if I forced them into the pot they would die anyhow, so I cut them to reasonable lengths and worked them into the pot.
I soak the plant pot in a bucket every Mon, Wed and Fri.
It could probably go longer. It has developed a large collection of "air roots" and is happy enough to have a flower spike working. If I do it right the pictures will be of the pot and a close up of the medium. EpiWeb cubes are available from Rays Orchids but some other inert material might work just as well.

[kanikedude03]

OK, i would be willing to try epiweb and leca balls but where do i find that stuff around here? Lowes is the only place i know of that might have anything of the sort, but don't know if they would have it. I'm not afraid to order offline, as that's where the majority of my orchids have come from, but where is a good place to order from? And what do I do with the 5 feet of roots if i put it in a clay pot like that? haha

[cirillonb]

both are available at Welcome to First Rays Orchids. The PrimeAgra is used for semi-hydroponic culture. The EpiWeb is a separate item.
Ray is very fair on the shipping.
Nick

[cloudswinger]

You do realize that the guy growing in glass vases does not keep water in them all the time. He just lets them soak for half an hour and then drains it. The vase just helps keep the humidity up for the roots. I've also heard that vandas resent root disturbance, which is why they are grown bare root so much(so they don't have to be repotted)

[kanikedude03]

@cloudswinger: yeah, i realize that he doesn't keep water in the vase all the time. Since my orchid's roots are so long, the ones touching the bottom always seem to rot because there is a tiny amount of standing water left in the bottom after i water. The problem i'm having is keeping the longer roots from rotting or drying too much. They can never find a happy medium. I think the bottom line is that i need to give up on the vase growing because it's obviously not working out well. I'll try the epiweb and primeagra and see if i can at least get some healthy looking roots growing. The plant may just have to sacrifice it's very long roots for a bunch of shorter ones.

@cirillonb: do i want fine or coarse PrimeAgra

thanks for the replies everyone