Coconut mount for Vandas

[Rothie]

Has anyone tried this type of mount? I'm in Central Florida and I have to bring all my orchids inside for the Winter. Trying to keep the Vandas hydrated gets pretty messy. I was thinking the coconut mount would retain water for a little longer.[IMG]

[Toadwally]

Not sure I know what that is.

[Ray]

Are you referring to the pithy husk?

I would think that would be pretty absorbent.

[estación seca]

I don't see any photos.

[Ben_in_North_FLA]

coconut mounts are usually used for cattleya, dendrobiums, oncidium, phals etc. vandas can be set on a half coconut dried shell with husk still in it. I can see vandas attaching to the it and I believe its a short term hold. as vandas grown the roots will be away from the shell.
I would recommend using a small wood basket to start and then place the small (4 inch) basket into a 6 inch basket. The two baskets when soaked will provide the vanda plenty of moisture to gravitate towards and attach to. Eventually even moving the 6 into an 8 inch. With todays basket prices that could get very expensive. Soaking the baskets with plant for about an hour will let the basket saturate with water and provide continuous moisture for several hours.
A friend used that exact method and she grew excellent vandas and confirmed she only watered them every other day.

[Rothie]

I had no idea that I was receiving answers. I never received an email that there were responses. I checked after I originally posted, and my account was set to be notified by email.I will check again. The other thing I noticed today, is that I keep getting logged out.

[estación seca]

Be sure you check the little box next to your login to stay logged in, and be sure your browser accepts Orchid Board cookies.

Don't know what the problem is with the notification E-mails. I get them. Did you check your spam folder? Many autogenerated reply E-mails go to spam in most setups.

[Rothie]

Hi,Ben. What do I do with all the roots in the smaller basket? Aren't they all going to break off when I insert the smaller basket into the larger one? I only have one Vanda in a basket-I got it at home depot Winter before lastand put it in a basket and nursed it. The only other Vandas I have are all from 1 Renthara that I bought at Kanaphaw Gardens in Gainsville back in 2015.I now have 3 in pots (the original died 2 years ago) and this Spring I topped those three and now have 4 more that are each about 3' tall plus roots so I decided to velcro them to 6' stakes-they are doing fine outside for the Summer. They are growing new roots, and I saw a couple of kekies. This is the first time I have had a kekie on any of my orchids.They don't have roots, so I figured I would just leave them where they are. The stakes make the Vandas very portable, so I guess I could just put them in the shower when I move them back in the house for the Winter. When I bought the original Renthara it was just tied to a wire hanger and had one tiny root. The vendor (and she had beautiful orchids) told me to either pot it in potting soil,or plant it in the ground and give it full sun and lots and lots of water. I couldn't plant it in the ground because we get Winter freezes. I usually bring all my orchids inside for Winter. I have a chart I made up of which orchids come in at which temps.I was a little late with the Rentharas and they started dropping leaves after a few nights that went down to between 50 and 55°,but they grew a couple of feet over Winter.