Shrinking Vanda roots...

[buzzer]

Iv'e had four beautifull vanda plants for about 3 months now but the roots seem to be shrinking and looking rather dull,I spray them daily, is there anything more I could be doing, I would hate to loose them,I keep them in a conservatory.

[Paul Mc]

I'm new to Vanda's as well, but would love to know what others have to say about this. I too have just collected my first two Vanda's, but fortunately they both are producing roots like crazy. Albeit when they arrived they both had a lot of dead roots on them.

I'm wondering though if you could tell us more about your environment and culture methods. It might be helpful to the Vanda experts out there to know more about how you keep them.

Also, have you considered vase culture? It's quite the rage these days for Vanda's and most people are very successful with it. Try searching for "vase culture" here on the orchid board and you will find what I am talking about.

[Gage]

If by spraying you mean soaking with a hose, then that should be fine. If you are only misting the roots, that will not be enough water. Mine are grown outside with 60-80% humidity, and I soak the roots daily. You may also want to drape some Spanish moss around the roots to increase humidity after watering. High humidity is very important, no matter what your watering regimen is. That's all I got.

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[Bud]

If you are growing it in a basket, you need to water it twice a day soaking wet...not just spritzing it...it needs bright light, warmth and weekly fertilizer...I have four vandacious plants(2 mokaras, 1 ascocenda and 1 vanda pachara) in S/H ...I make sure that the roots do not touch water ...theres an electric warmer and its in a south window centered and brighly soaking the sun.
The roots are shrinking because of dehydration, cold and medium light...at least give it moisture and humidity and please feed it

[buzzer]

Thanks for the feedback folks I will keep you informed on the progress