Vanda Help!

[wintergirl]

Originally Posted by bil

I suppose you could also hang cotton cords around the roots too.

Wet cotton cords? I guess but my vandas are in my home so the bags and pots are neater. My humidity drops in winter and it was getting too dry, even with humidifiers.

[bil]

Originally Posted by wintergirl

Wet cotton cords? I guess but my vandas are in my home so the bags and pots are neater. My humidity drops in winter and it was getting too dry, even with humidifiers.

Yeah, Before I came up with the tiandesia, I was thinking of getting a shedload of 1cm soft cotton rope, cutting in into lengths so that it hunng down between and around the roots. That way when I sprayed the roots, the cord would keep the roots wet for that bit longer.

[charlesf6]

I have been nursing this plant along as much as possible while of course keeping it isolated from the others, needed a lot of trimming and tried to water (misting) it's roots (almost) daily after removing the extra media from pot.



Tonight I decided to submerge and soak the root base in a tub of water to try something different to maybe help, when I checked on after letting the plant dry down noticed all of these white spots on planter, roots & leaves. Just debris, aphids or some other detrimental element that has been dooming this poor little orchid?

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[Roberta]

The third photo is the closest view, that looks to me just like some loose sphagnum moss (that turns light tan when it dries) The moss in the basket looks pretty broken down But with the good roots outside the basket probably not harming much... You could just wash most of that old, flaky stuff out of the basket under the faucet. Then if you want to have some media around to provide a bit of humidity, replace it with large bark. If you wash away that old media, you'll also wash away any bugs or other bad things that could be hiding in it.

[estación seca]

Agree, sphagnum moss bits. I would get the old broken-down sphagnum out ASAP. Those parts of the roots seldom dry out, which invites rot right at the stem. Vanda roots swinging in the air can be soaked, then dry out, then soaked again in a rapid cycle.

You could leave it bare-root in the same basket. You could also add bark or lava chunks.

The plant overall is very dessicated. That's enough reason to have dropped leaves. It takes Vandas quite a while - days to weeks - to recover from this kind of wrinkling, but usually the fine wrinkling of the leaves goes away and they become smooth and stiff again. Happy Vandas should be extruding new leaf growth continually. When they're stunned they stop growing.

Misting Vanda roots isn't effective. They need to be completely soaked, turning from white to completely dark green. It usually takes two good soaks with water, spaced a few minutes apart, or a long soak in a bucket to do this. Growers in Florida walk down the aisle with a water wand, soaking each bare-root plant with long roots dangling to the ground. Then they repeat. A spritz with a spray bottle isn't normally enough. You can water again as soon as the roots turn from green to white, even if it's less than an hour since the last watering.

A good way to water - once the moss is gone and it is bare-root - would be in your shower. Every time you shower, put the plant under the spray before you go in and again after you get out. Don't let the water be too cold nor too warm. It should be a little too cool for a comfortable winter human shower.

For a plant as dessicated as this - once the moss is gone and it is bare-root - I would also soak the roots for 6-12 hours in a bucket of water every 2-4 days until the leaves fill out. Do this in the morning / day and try to keep the plant warm.

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[charlesf6]

So basically what you are teaching me here is that this plant is a totally different creature from my Phals. which I let get very, very thirsty?

[Roberta]

Vandas get thirsty too... but they also need that wet-dry cycle. So, as estación seca suggested, the
Vanda should be really soaked, then permitted to dry out. The next morning, repeat. Phals actually can grow that way too (and species prefer it) but hybrid Phals can tolerate (not necessarily like) more moisture - they still need to dry out a bit, with air around the roots. But you might say they tend to be a bit more "domesticated" than most Vandas, that really need that fresh air after their shower.

[estación seca]

Bare-root Vandas need to be watered every day, then allowed to dry quickly.

The roots never, ever rot when bare-root and allowed to dry after each watering. But the plants dessicate if not watered every day. From time to time, I can get away with maybe 4 days without watering in the summer, when my house is pretty warm, if I keep the room really humid. But that's only after weeks of daily water, and the plants are clearly unhappy after 4 days without water.

In the winter, when it's cooler in the house, I can stretch it a little longer. But they're always happier with daily watering.

Some people here report growing them in pots, and watering once a week. These are people who don't have the time to water every day.

I am one of many here who can't keep them alive in a pot with medium under any circumstances. I can't even imagine one staying alive with wet sphagnum moss around the base of the plant. Your plant has the worst of both worlds: The dangling bare roots dry out very quickly; the mossy part stays wet too long and invites rot.

So, choose one or the other. You're not going to get those long roots into a pot without seriously damaging them. Get rid of the moss and grow that plant bare-root. Then you will be able to water it a lot more and it will most likely recover.

[Roberta]

This is a new twist on "Save water, shower with a friend..." It can also do its dripping in the shower for a few moments, then move it out of the way, turn up the hot water, and enjoy.

[Dollythehun]

Originally Posted by bil

Yeah, Before I came up with the tiandesia, I was thinking of getting a shedload of 1cm soft cotton rope, cutting in into lengths so that it hunng down between and around the roots. That way when I sprayed the roots, the cord would keep the roots wet for that bit longer.

Primative synthic strings? There's an idea, Charles. Synthic.