Vanda with mushy roots

[pickachu_mcm]

Hello,

I received a Vanda orchid about 4 months ago as a gift from my parents. I don't know how they bought it, but they gave it to me in a glass vase with very little bark.
When I moved the orchid at my home, all the blooms fell.


That vase had no draining holes, so I moved it into a transparent pot that has holes. I filled the pot with bark.

At first the flower was ok, a new leaf begun to grow, but recently I noticed the leaf wouldn't grow anymore so i decided to get it out of the pot to see if the roots are healthy. Also, come leaves had fallen recently. (in the pictures you can see a black spot, but it was there when i received the plant, it didn't grow since then)

As you can see in the pictures, there are some new roots that are thick and look healthy, but the old ones are musty and very wet, even if I soaked it a week ago. I usually soak the pots in water for about 15 minutes and then let them dry. Today when i got the orchid out of the pot the bark was very wet. I didn't put the flower back in its pot, i left it dry out.

I don't know what to do, should I repot it back, or should I put it back in the glass vase? Maybe it would be a better idea to buy a basket and let the roots in the air? I don't like very much that glass vase because it gives me the sensation that the leaves are not comfortable in it.

Any help will be appreciated. Thank you in advance,
Ioana

PS: I attached several pictures: in some of them is my vanda, in one of them is a pot with a phalaenopsis( the pot is identical with the one holding the vanda orchid), and the glass vase

[rosemadder]

Dropping flowers is fairly common when an orchid is moved to a new environment, that's not much to worry about.

Main problem is, Vandas often really hate to have their roots covered. In an empty vase, soaking for 15min and then draining it, as needed, is a great way to water. In bark, that treatment too often-- especially in a solid pot with no side holes-- is most likely keeping it too soggy, so the roots are rotting.

A basket would be fine, vandas like baskets-- but it will need somewhat more frequent watering than it would in the vase, which holds a little more humidity. Hanging vandas usually need daily spraying. Soaking them can be tricky, what with the dangling roots you don't want to bump into things.

You could also use a small basket to hold the plant in the mouth of a vase, if you don't want the weight hanging on the leaves. Or you could make a wire support to hold it there.

Vase or basket, either will work, just depends on your preferences.

Some of the roots that look bad might still be able to produce new growth. If it's actually mushy and getting hollow, it's dead, but if it's firm, don't cut it off just yet.

I see green and white in some of those roots. My own vandas had even less left in the way of roots-- one rotted in bark much like this, even though I was only watering it around once every two weeks. The other lost most of its roots to damage in transit. They are both growing fast now, wired onto small trellises with a light wrapping of moss and sprayed with water every day, sometimes more than once. Lots of fat new root tips.

Keep this one out of the bark, be careful with watering, and it should recover.

[Vanda lover]

It looks like it will likely take a long time to recover, if it does. I have some in vase culture and they do just fine this way. Mature plants only need soaking once a week or so. Most of mine are in slatted baskets with sphagnum moss and large lumps of charcoal. This works well because you can tell when the moss is dry. You need good air movement so that the moss dries quickly. Mine get watered and fed weakly about twice a week in summer and once a week during winter.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I have successfully grown several Vandas in transparent pots for years! There is really no huge secret to properly growing a Vanda potted.

Yes, the pot needs lots of drainage holes and/or slots.

The bark should be medium to large grade bark. The larger the bark pieces, the better.

They need to dry out between waterings. Do not keep watering them unless you see that the roots that are buried in the medium themselves are dry.

The only reason I can water my potted Vandas everyday at times is because they dry out just that fast during the warmer months! I have to also explain that because I'm busy, sometimes, I do not water them for days and they will be ok. But no matter how often I water them, I always wait to see if the roots inside the potting media have turned white before watering them again.

You also don't mention how bright the Vanda is being grown. Vandas most often times grow in bright indirect light. A few Vandas will grow in moderately bright indirect light. You gotta know your Vanda to know what kind of lighting will do.

With that said, your plant can still recover. It has one living root left. Do not bury this root. What I'd do is, if you really want to grow it potted, do not cut the dead roots off. Bury the dead roots in the potting media, (medium to large grade bark), but keep the living root on top of the media without burying it. Let the root grow into the media. There will be new roots that come out along the length of the stem, let these grow into the pot if they want.

It will probably take 3 -5 years to make a full recovery.

Hope this helps.

[pickachu_mcm]

Thank you a lot for your responses and your help. I will buy a basket and hang it.

@King_of_orchid_growing: I live in an apartment that has all the windows facing the same direction, and a very large tree is in front of them, so there is not much light. I keep all my orchids on the balcony, but there isn't any direct sunlight. I also have some phalaenopsis, a miltonia and a cymbidium and they all seem to be fine there.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I probably wouldn't start growing this orchid in a basket. It could desiccate the last remaining root on your plant. If you feel you can keep up with the watering, then by all means go for it.

In regards to the lighting, depending on your Vanda, it would most likely grow in bright indirect light. Without bright light, it will start dropping leaves.

---------- Post added at 12:16 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:10 AM ----------

It's too bad I can no longer post photos directly onto the OB without my SLR camera. My camera ran out of batteries a while ago, and I still cannot find the battery charger. If I could find my camera's battery charger, I'd post recent photos of my Vandas to show how I grow my Vandas.

Currently I have Vanda coerulescens and Vanda pumila in bloom.

The Vanda coerulescens has 3 spikes!

The Vanda pumila has 2 spikes.

I might post photos from my cellphone camera onto my Flickr account and post a link tomorrow.

[pickachu_mcm]

I searched my vanda on web and i found out it is a vanda coerulea. I was very happy when the new leaf started to grow, i believe it's a sign that it was in good shape. I really hope it will recover

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Are you sure it's Vanda coerulea?

There are a lot of hybrids that carry the genes of Vanda coerulea, and therefore look a lot like Vanda coerulea when they're really not.

Vanda coerulea is a very hardy Vanda! It can handle temperatures down into the 40's F, and can tolerate temperatures up to over 100 F. This species does grow bright - so grow it in bright indirect light.

I have grown Vanda coerulea potted for 5 yrs or so before it died probably from heavy neglect, (I had a full-time job working graveyard shift, was going to school in an accelerated program full-time, and had a weekend job at the time). I grew this one outdoors all year round here in the east side of the Los Angeles County area.

This should be one of the easier Vandas to grow.

[pickachu_mcm]

Well, I found some images with it, i'll attach one of them.

I live in Romania, so we (should) have 4 seasons (I say should because this year it snowed even in April, and all outdoor plants died). I believe it would be a right temperature here for it only in spring, because in summer the temperature is very high (it can reach 40 degrees C). For example, my cousin kept her orchids in a window facing south, and all that sun burned their leaves, so she moved them in the same position that i keep them, because it is shadowy(I have no other option, maybe just to move it back to my parents because they live in a house).

[Vanda lover]

It looks like it is a hybrid that has vanda coerulea in it. I wouldn't worry about the heat, they can take it pretty warm as long as you have good air movement. They are pretty tough.