Medium or no medium????
 

I will be receiving my first vanda here in a few weeks and I want to care for it properly.
So I am guessing that wood slatted baskets are the preferred? Is this correct?:hmm
Then do you prefer any medium in the basket?:scratchhead:
Just the Vanda?:hmm
A lil bark/charcoal....sphag moss?:scratchhead:
Does anyone have :photo: to give me an idea also???:blushing:
I know lots of light...and LOTS OF H2O! I have that pasrt down. And to dunk the basket with the Vanda into a bucket of H2O, rainwater preferred, once a day when dry.
I tried going through the threads and reading in different books and websites, to include AOS, but nothing really about the preferred medium.

Thanks in advance for the advice:blushing: I HEAR I'M GONNA NEED IT FOR A VANDA!!!!:shock:

:_( Does anyone like me:_(

No one wants to post their opinion on these questions for me so I can get an idea????:_(

PLEASE HELP:blushing:

somebody....anybody????

Maybe its not clear:

I NEED HELP. 1ST VANDA. ME DUMB.
:blushing: :blushing: :blushing: :blushing: :blushing:

I will help you, not well versed on these guys but can give you a hint of what I do...

Dunking is good:biggrin: I have 2 in wooden baskets and grow indoors being in a condo, but I do have sphag within the basket to help prolong the moisture because watering is always a challenge. Once a day, twice if I can work it in.

Hope this helps a bit, maybe other vanda lovers cna chime in on there experiences....:bananaslide:

Hi Candice, I'm very new to orchids but I do have 2 vandas and 1 is in a basket with coconut liner and bark mix and the other 1 is a clay pot with bark mix, and are doing great new roots and new leafs, I understand that vanda's like water so I water mine everyday (they are outside) except when it rains and fertilize every 2 weeks with half strength of First Rays liquid orchid. I hope this helps and someone with more experience chimes in

some use large pieces of charcoal and the plants stay in the pots indefinitely. some use a bit of moss very loose on the roots. The usual way is bare root. As you know this plant demands a lot of water to thrive.

Any alternative will work. So it's really up to you and your watering habits and where the plant is going to be located. My vandas are outdoors bareroot but in winter it is problematic to water them when they're in the house.

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR THE SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS!!!:biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin:
FLHICKER~ Thanks for the pictures! They are great and really appreciated!
I am sure once I get started with it, when it comes home in a few weeks, I will have more questions....now I have to buy its container.....
THANKS AGAIN AND STILL WELCOMING OTHER COMMENTS!!!:biggrin:

Gin, Thanks for answering...Dennis referred you and recommends that I follow you since you grow Vandas well. It is a Mokara Chark Kuan Orange.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ayphotohosting
That's a similiar one. Any kind of bark you are saying? Not necessarily orchid bark, right? What feed do you use, does it matter as long as it is ok for orchids? So you don't feed every time you water?
My level of humidity here can get to 80%, which is the current status, and as low as 50%.
:shock:

Oh and Gin, for soaking them once a day, you just take the entire basket and soak it in the bucket, but for how long? Just the roots right?
Thanks!!!

HELLO I'M NEW TO ORCHID BOARD . I HAVE A BUNCH OF VANDA'S SOME JUST ATTACHED TO A WIRE ,SOME IN SLAT BASKET WITH NOTHING, SOME IN SLAT BASKET WITH COCONUT HUSK FIBER , SOME IN SLAT BASKET LINED WITH COCONUT HUSK WITH BARK MIX ,SOME IN SLAT WITH LARGE CHARCOAL CHUNKS AND OTHERS IN SLAT WITH HYDROPONIC MEDIA . THEY ALL WORK IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE CONDITIONS ,IF YOU HAVE ENOUGH HUMIDITY THEN YOU DON'T NEED MEDIA . I MOSTLY LIKE TO USE COCONUT HUSK IN A SLAT BASKET .

HOPE THIS GIVES YOU SOME HELP , IF YOU WANT MORE INFO LET ME KNOW.

ROCCO

I just grow mine on a wire, but I grow mine in a greenhouse. I have a misting system that keeps up the humidity. I spray the roots with a fertilizer mix.

I read somewhere that you can give your vanda a good soak once or twice a month for about 5 hrs. It loves water.
It loves high humidity. You should not have a problem since your humidity level is high. I mist the aireal roots once or twice a day ( I live in dry high Colorado)
I have mine in a pot with some sphag. I make sure that the roots in the pot is aired well so I leave an empty spot in the middle of the pot. The sphag is on the side of the pot. I Wet the root to easily maneauver it if I want to move it. It is in direct morning east sunshine. It developed black spots(sunburn?) on the leaves when I placed it under the west afternoon sun.

Hi Candace! You really need to talk to Sue! She's like the vanda queen! I don't have any medium in my baskets, just a little wire helping to prop up my plant safely until all the roots get comfy in their basket. Either way, lots of water is a good thing!

You want to make sure they roots turn white to green when you water...that means they're getting it. I also use fertilizer/rooting hormones to help them adjust.

Ok so it took a post where I had to admit that I was dumb to get all this attention...shhiiishshhhhhh

JUST KIDDING!!! I LOVE ALL THE RESPONSES

Ok so I have to hear from Sue...aka "VANDA QUEEN"

Can there be 2 VANDA QUEENS? I was told that Gin was one, and now Sue, but the more the merrier, to me !!!:biggrin:

Ok...I know I need to get a basket with a wire hanger for now at least...

GIN~I do have some MSU fertilizer for tap H2O from Ray's site. So your really live by that stuff?
I can't remember what the brand of stuff I use, but its endorsed by AOS...I am at work right now...hehe:blushing: so I can't look at the bags:blushing:
Again thanks for everyone's help....can't wait to get the 'chid!!! I still have a week or two before she gets here! But want to have her home ready!:nod:

It comes down to your growing conditions. If you grow outside or in a greenhouse all you need is a basket or wire with little or no media. Just hose the roots......In the house, it's a bit more difficult but some media to hold moisture and a good dunking works.

Carolyn...you're too funny!

Hi Candice :D

I just sent you a PM...I have about 30 vandas.
PLEASE also take Gin's advice...she has some of the most beautiful orchids around! The lady knows what she's doin' ;)

It is!!! Did you not see this?

PLEASE also take Gin's advice...she has some of the most beautiful orchids around! The lady knows what she's doin'

Come on...let's not make this a place where we have to watch every word we say so as not to offend anybody. It wasn't meant as a personal attack on you or anybody else.

We're all here for the same reason...to learn and enjoy each other's company in the process.

I agree! I love this forum & learn LOADS from everyone's comments/practices etc..
I got interested in this very interesting thread because I had a vanda given to me in a glass vase (nothing else; just roots ..in the vase) a few years ago(It was a 'blue' one.... more purple/violet coloured to me ...:)
Anyways I ended up killing it about a year & a half later as I incessantly "kept on forgetting it" during its watering sessions .... I basically drowned it.... & have not yet had the 'guts' to buy one since after this experience, also because I now live in a much 'cooler' region..At the time I was living on the south coast of France (med sea) and am now living 'up north' on the Atlantic coast, near Nantes..
Well, that's my story!!!
I look forward to reading alot more on the growing of vandas and everyone's different 'methods' !!!
Merci !
Nenella