What shall I do with a baby Vanda?

[ollypolly]

I've just bought my first Vanda (Pat's Delight x Katsuulea) It's in a small pot with sphagnum and I don't know whether to leave it, pot it into the same coarse bark I have my Phals in (the pieces are probably bigger than the plant) or to just put it on a wire. The humidity never falls below 40% here and at the moment it's around 70%. I would be grateful for any advice.

[campchi]

I think u can just pot it into bark...many mounted or just hang it bared root

[MattWoelfsen]

Or leave it alone and see how it acclimates to its new home?

[WhiteRabbit]

How big is the plant? The pot?

[ollypolly]

Thanks campchi and Matt, I'm thinking I might just wire it as it's going to live outside and the rains are coming (heralded by the amount of ants in the house). I can always drop it into some bark or sphag. if it begins to suffer.

WhiteRabbit: Tiny. The plant is 2cm tall (.78inch) and the pot is 5cm wide (2inch)

[Bud]

pictures would be nice....at 2cm tall it must be newly de-flasked....its a seedling alright....don't repot it yet ; let it acclimatize to your environment those little plants still need care since they are adapting to the atmosphere as opposed to the pristine environment it newly came out from....if one of the parent is a Pachara Delight=then it will become a large hybrid Vanda.

[Fairorchids]

With a seedling that small, you do not want it to dry out, so leave it in the pot.

[Cntry]

Do not repot it yet as its sounds to small. Leave it in the sphagnum moss for now till it is a bit larger and have a good healthy root system.

Remember Vanda's like bright light. You can set it in a south facing window. With these Vanda's I would use a sheer curtain in your window until the orchids get accustom to the light.

Humidity level should be atleast 50% or higher. Make sure there is air movement. Either a ceiling fan or regular fan in the room. They like a gentle breeze.

Watering your seedlings as they dry out depending on what kind of medium you use 1 to 2 times a week is fine. Place a skewer in your pot and check it to see if its still damp. I would not use fertilizer on them yet until they have at least 3 leaves or more and a nice root system as fertilizers tend to burn the roots on seedlings when they are just deflasked. When watering your orchids also only water in the mornings.

Temperature for your seedlings should be 55 F to 65F or higher. They are intermediate to warm growers.

Make sure your pot has holes for water to drain out of and never let your orchids sit in water for long periods of time.

[ollypolly]

So much advice. Thanks guys, I'll leave it in it's pot. It's been sitting with my Phals for two weeks now and I wanted to move it out into the shade house with my cymdidiums but I didn't want the sphagnum to get too wet in the rains. I'll just have to put a tiny plastic roof over it to keep it dry.

That's it in my avatar.