Watering outdoor vandals

[Papillon24601]

I'm not sure what alliances my vandas are... but they are all outdoor! I'm sorry that I ask a lot of questions, but I'm still a noob.

Do you dunk/soak your vandas? Do you put in any part of the crown? Will soaking your vandas cause bloom spikes to rot?

Here in central western florida, I've been watering my outdoor vandas twice daily. They get afternoon/evening sun, and so far no issue of water getting stuck in the crowns. They seem happy, I have plenty of root growth. I found a rotten bloom spike on my bangkok sunset, It was about two inches long. I just got it about two weeks ago, so I think it was much too tall to be new but I don't remember seeing it before.

I have done both dunking and spraying and feel like they seem better when I dunk. However, I don't want to kill my bloom spikes. Thoughts?

[estación seca]

People dunk or spray. Dunking takes more time if you have more than a few, and may spread disease from one plant to the next.

Standard advice is to be sure Vanda leaves are dry before sunset to minimize chances of fungus.

I have read in books that Florida growers water early in the morning if the plants haven't been rained on the night before. If it's really hot and dry, they water again in early afternoon.

It's OK water a Vanda again as soon as the roots turn from wet and green / brown / gray to white and dry. But you should not keep the roots wet for more than maybe 12-24 hours. I would soak for a much shorter length of time in high humidity. I don't have high humidity so 24 hour soaks are OK sometimes.

Don't forget fertilizer. I have heard speak, or read the book of, 2 south Florida growers, who fertilize all their Vandas, every 5th watering, with commercial 20-20-20, at the rate of 1 tablespoon per gallon. Including seedlings.

[AndreaK]

Lol! I read the title and immediately I envisioned vandals being sprayed with a fire hose.

Sorry to hear you lost a spike. With my Angraecum, when I water, if water gets into the leaf axis I tilt the plant to drain it. I lost a spike last year due to frequent rains and cooling temperatures.

[Tindomul]

Originally Posted by estación seca

People dunk or spray. Dunking takes more time if you have more than a few, and may spread disease from one plant to the next.

Standard advice is to be sure Vanda leaves are dry before sunset to minimize chances of fungus.

So what happens if it rains a lot at night?

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by Tindomul

So what happens if it rains a lot at night?

From what I've read, fungus is a problem in rainy areas like south Florida. I don't have that issue.

[Tindomul]

Originally Posted by estación seca

From what I've read, fungus is a problem in rainy areas like south Florida. I don't have that issue.

I can see how that would be true.

Question, how dry is it normally in January in Arizona? Last January I went birding in Tucson and Southwards for 1 week. Boy did it rain. Just my luck, I go to the desert and it rains on me. There was snow on the mountain tops so I couldn't bird there due to the closed roads. I got rained out of the places I was able to get to cutting my birding in half. 2 hours of driving and I had to turn back due to rain . Oh well. I should be hired as a drought breaker.

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by Tindomul

I can see how that would be true.

Question, how dry is it normally in January in Arizona? Last January I went birding in Tucson and Southwards for 1 week. Boy did it rain. Just my luck, I go to the desert and it rains on me. There was snow on the mountain tops so I couldn't bird there due to the closed roads. I got rained out of the places I was able to get to cutting my birding in half. 2 hours of driving and I had to turn back due to rain . Oh well. I should be hired as a drought breaker.

It's dry unless a winter storm comes from the Pacific. That happens irregularly, any time from late November to maybe April. If you watch the weather news and see a big storm hitting southern California, it will hit Arizona the next day. But even if California gets a lot of rain, we might only have cloudy weather, so it's unpredictable.

I hope you saw the hummingbird aviary at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson.

[Tindomul]

Originally Posted by estación seca

I hope you saw the hummingbird aviary at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson.

No!!!

I did not know about that one. I went to the Tucson Audubon Society’s Paton Center for Hummingbirds
Patagonia, Santa Cruz County Arizona. Not much going on that day though.

[Tindomul]

Originally Posted by jkofferdahl

I was going to suggest having Visigoths spray them.

Nice one. lol