Vanda Roots and Leave

[estación seca]

Yes, that is heat damage, and not enough watering. If you keep it against that metal wall, it will be even hotter. Even with daily soaks there isn't enough time to take up enough water.

Full sun in Florida is too much for Vandas. Hybrids with a lot of the big Renanthera species in them, and plants with a lot of Papilionanthe ancestry (called terete Vandas or quarter-teretes) can take full sun, but not genus Vanda.

Have a look at the Motes Orchids Web site. They are in Homestead. If you sign up for the E-mail newsletter you will get a monthly article on what to do then in Florida. And watch Motes' YouTube videos about growing in Florida. He grows under shade cloth, but I don't recall the density. From my recollection he waters each hanging plant every morning with a water wand, twice for each row. Then he waters again in the afternoon on hot, dry days.

He also fertilizes a lot more than you are.

[gjanick2]

Hi. I live in Chaiyaphum Thailand, and I have the same "too hot" conditions as you. I just lost 3 vandas (true vandas) that couldn't take the intensity of the heat and light. I had a 50% sun cloth above them but they were sitting on the outside edge of the straw hut and the intense afternoon sun burnt them up and dried them up in one day.

We were above 40C to 45C (100F to 113F) every day for the last 45 days or so with no rain. Our lake/reservoir dried up and we had no running water in any house in our village.

So, I guess worrying about three lost plants is very unimportant.

Now we are starting to get a little rain and with that, lower temps too.

It is strange, many of my vandas look very healthy growing in the same area under the same conditions. Good luck!

[Becki687130]

Originally Posted by estación seca

Yes, that is heat damage, and not enough watering. If you keep it against that metal wall, it will be even hotter. Even with daily soaks there isn't enough time to take up enough water.

Full sun in Florida is too much for Vandas. Hybrids with a lot of the big Renanthera species in them, and plants with a lot of Papilionanthe ancestry (called terete Vandas or quarter-teretes) can take full sun, but not genus Vanda.

Have a look at the Motes Orchids Web site. They are in Homestead. If you sign up for the E-mail newsletter you will get a monthly article on what to do then in Florida. And watch Motes' YouTube videos about growing in Florida. He grows under shade cloth, but I don't recall the density. From my recollection he waters each hanging plant every morning with a water wand, twice for each row. Then he waters again in the afternoon on hot, dry days.

He also fertilizes a lot more than you are.

Thanks so much! I’ve subscribed for the monthly newsletter. Very helpful.

---------- Post added at 03:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:14 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Roberta

First, Welcome!
The damage in the 3rd picture looks a lot like sunburn. While Vandas are high-light plants, if it was kept in a greenhose by the vendor, and then got a blast of strong light and heat outside without being acclimated, that can happen. Moving it gradually to higher light can avoind that. Also, if you spread it with Neem (or any other oil) in the heat of the day, that can also cause burns on the leaves. (Sort of like a magnifying glass). Use oils only in the early morning, or near evening. And keep it off the roots. The roots look very good to me.

Thank you! I’ve moved to a shadier spot and increased to watering 2x daily.

I read that some recommend removing the damaged leaves as they say it can expose to infection/pests. Is that true? Don’t want to cut if not necessary.