Ascocenda is finally in spike! What happened?

[Zabeta]

Hi all,

Because I love vanda types, I have persisted in making myself miserable by trying to grow them. Never has one does very well, inside or outside. I live in arid heat, and put two vandaceous orchids outside this summer (leaving them in water for hours each day and attempting to keep them out of direct sunlight). After a series of heat waves that got into the 110s that left both plants looking like they were victimized by Daenarys's dragons, I capitulated, brought them inside into the A/C and low light (thinking, "what does it matter? they're not going to do anything anyway"), and brainstormed places to donate them to where someone else might do better for them.

But then I noticed a spike on one of them! So what happened? Did I inadvertently mimic winter by the contrast in temps and light? I need to figure it out so I can recreate this next year too!

[Roberta]

Sometimes a shock does start the bloom cycle ("What doesn't kill us makes us stronger"?) A one-time experience doesn't make a pattern, but it's a consideration.

[fooferdoggie]

have you heard about the vase growing method. this keeps the roots hydrated well. mine need watering only two times a week now.

[Zabeta]

I have heard about the vase growing method, but I couldn't find a vase that fit the roots (they're kind of spread out to the side). Also, that type of thing would take up a lot of space on my shelves, and high-light space is at a premium. That's why I was trying to grow them outside. Although the in-spike one has a couple leaves with bad sunburn, on second thought it doesn't look TOO bad - maybe next year I will modify the outside arrangement to keep it more sheltered and see what happens.

[fooferdoggie]

ya I had to work to find vase that would work and yep it takes up too much space. but they seem happy and I only have to soak them two times a week now.

[Ray]

In general, vandaceous plants tend to be high-light plants, but that does not mean that you can just stick 'em out into full, direct sun; if they have been grown more shaded, you have to transition them over a week or so, allowing them to adjust to the intensity, rather than frying the crap out of them....

[Zabeta]

Originally Posted by Ray

In general, vandaceous plants tend to be high-light plants, but that does not mean that you can just stick 'em out into full, direct sun; if they have been grown more shaded, you have to transition them over a week or so, allowing them to adjust to the intensity, rather than frying the crap out of them....

Oh, I know, and I did! Actually, what I did was acclimatize them at the end of winter, which they loved because there was reasonable light and tons of humidity and rain, but it wasn't too cold. So they got a natural and gradual transition to summer. When it started to get more intense, I shaded them under a screen of sorts, and after they burned there I put them under an overhang, where they were getting medium to bright shade. Their roots were immersed in water anywhere from several hours to up to ten hours a day.

I think I just underestimated the intensity of the heat, which caused them to totally shut down. It's also true that I had an infant I was watching full-time while trying to finish a chapter of my dissertation in the immediate aftermath of giving birth, so I wasn't able to check them every second to prevent burns. Perhaps in an ideal world I would have been more attentive. But it is what it is!