Growing Vandas where it is cold.

[snowflake311]

I would like to try a Vanda hybrid. I never see them for sale here and I think there is a reason why. I don't think they do well in my environment.

I live where it is cold and dry most of the year. In the summer it might get into the 80s or high 80s on rear days. the temp always drops at night normally in the 50s maybe low 60s.

It is dry here in the summer. We do get LOTS of sun it is always sunny. So I just don't think I can grow Vandas unless I have a green house year round.

Anyone grow Vandas in dry cold places?

[estación seca]

You're close to OK. Try to figure out how to keep nights 60 F / 15C or over all year, with as much sun as possible short of burning leaves.

They go dormant for a long time if they reach 50 F / 10C. This means winter and summer.

[wuness]

You could try Vanda coerulea or one of its hybrids. In its habitat, the temps drop into the upper 40's and it experiences relatively low rainfall in the winter. A popular hybrid of coerulea is Ascocenda (now Vanda) Princess Mikassa, a pretty blue (or pink) hybrid. Mine grows well and flowers several time a year in a greenhouse that gets down to 60 in the winter (and probably colder than that at times since it's next to glass). I spray it every day. That would be a good start.

wuness

[estación seca]

wuness mentions several important things. Among them: Vandas need a lot of water. They need to be watered every day, so you have to be willing to do that. You can spray the roots with a spray bottle, take them to the shower and soak them, or dunk them in a bucket of water. If they're outside you can hose them down every morning.

They also need much more fertilizer than almost any other kind of orchid.

[Bunch_Of_Roots]

you could combat low humidity by growing vandas in case culture indoor. There is a sticky thread with lots of info in the vanda section of this forum.

Most hybrids that have vanda coerulea genes in them should take cooler temperatures, north of 50 F, just fine.

Species such as v. coerulea, testacea, coerulecece, tessellata, tricolor can also be grown in cooler climates. The first 3 are quite compact compared to typical vanda hybrids.

[fishmom]

For what it is worth, Ascocenda Princess Mikasa will grow just fine in chunky bark, as long as it dries well between waterings. I have one that I've kept growing for 6 or 7 years now, grown in my house in winter and outdoors in summer, and it blooms regularly, usually 2 or 3 times a year.

ETA: mine is my avatar.

[tarev]

I grow Vanda coerulea outdoors year round, endures our mild winters quite well. We get winter temps usually in the mid 30F to 40F overnight, but during January sometimes we dip into 20F. This Vanda can handle that very well. But it is quite a struggle when the summer triple digit dry heat is here, so I have it hanging in a glass container with water outdoors, sometimes I just dunk it there, and spritz water as well often on the leaves, to help cool it down. It is windy enough here so it gets to dry fast. Just too dry here though. The leaves are tightly shut when it gets way too hot and dry here.

When my fountain was running before, I used to hang it near there, or let it enjoy floating on it during the very hot summer days. But have to turn off my fountain, in deference to our still ongoing drought here.

I am still hoping to get it to rebloom, so far for this year it has finally started making new roots.

[snowflake311]

Thanks guys all great info. I grow Tolumnia very well I let them dry out and water them everyday. One is in spike again. So maybe I could do Vandas since they kind of sound like my Tolumnia care.

I will look for the hybrids you guys suggest. Thanks.

[snowflake311]

So I got some Motes Vandas online.
I have 3 seedlings now a Vanda Blue Buttons x Vanda coerulescens , Vanda Stephen Scott Young (V. tessellata “T. Orchids” HCC/AOS x Vanda testacea "Mary Motes" JC/AOS) , and I got a surprise bonus plant that is a V. kasem's delight x tarab waxy.

They are all seedlings I have them planted in loose spagnum moss in plastic mesh pots. I am going to looks for clay pots with I get back from vacation. I know most people keep these plants bare root but in my home that would never work the Humidity in more home is too dry.

Any tips for growing seedlings?

[estación seca]

I would be very nervous about putting Vandas into any kind of sphagnum. They really do need to dry out within 24 hours of watering, and I don't think this will happen with any style of sphagnum.

When I was away for a week, I rigged one irrigation line in a front planter bed with micro sprayers, and aimed them at my orchids set on the walk in front of the house. I set the timer to spray everybody for 5 minutes twice a day, morning and early afternoon. It worked like a charm for the mounted orchids and bare-root Vandas I put there. The potted orchids stayed in the sunroom and didn't get watered for a week. They were fine. Some really tiny things and mounts I didn't want to put outdoors stayed in a 50-gallon / 200 liter tall aquarium with glass cover for the week. They were also almost all fine.

You don't get too hot in the day during summer where you live, and your summer nights cool down. You could easily rig an area on your patio with an irrigation line on a timer, and some micro sprayers.

I'm going to quote irrigation part sizes in inches because I don't know how irrigation parts are sold in other parts of the world.

I used a 1/2" elbow adapter that has a female thread that screws onto a standard sprinkler riser, and has a standard male sprinkler thread on the other end:
DURA 1/2 in. Schedule 40 PVC 90-Degree Elbow-C412-005 - The Home Depot

Then I screwed on an adaptor that has a female threading to screw onto the elbow adaptor, and male standard hose threading on the other end. I can't find this item on the Home Depot Web site, but it is visible in my photo.

Then onto this fitting I screwed a female hose threaded adaptor for the 1/2" PVC distribution tubing:
DIG 3/4 in. Female Hose Thread x 1/2 in. 0.700 O.D. Compression Swivel Adapter-C34 - The Home Depot

Then into this I slipped standard 1/2" / 1.25cm flexible black irrigation tubing.

I plugged into this tubing these for sprayers:
DIG 180-Degree Adjustable Spray Jet on Spike-308-1B - The Home Depot

The assembly where it attached to the sprinkler riser is in the photo. That's the best my phone is going to do at night, but you can tell where one fitting ends and the next starts.