Vanda/Ascon. roots, roots, roots
 

Okay all U vandaceous experts, here one for you. Is there ever a time when you cut the roots back? I have several Ascon., Mokara, Vanda where the roots are 3 feet long and the plant is only 15-18" tall. I have them in wooden baskets with roots dangling below. I have a very small greenhouse and can't hang high enough with out touching plants below. During the summer they hang outside and are okay. Any suggestions or advice?

Hi Don, it's okay to trim the bottom of the plant as long as there are healthy roots and tips staying on the plant.
I've read in a number of places that the very big growers in some countries (don't remember which ones) just use a machete to whack the bottoms off the plants when they're too long.

:yikes: Good grief, machetes in the greenhouse? It's a jungle in here too?

Kim

Susanne is correct ... I first saw the machete technique at Kodama Nurseries in Hawaii and gasped when I saw what Benjamin, Sr., was doing.

As long as the roots are healthy to begin with, cutting them back actually promotes branching and bifurcation (doubling up) of the roots and is good for the plant.

I let the roots grow out and never trim them. They do overlap into some other rows of plants but it doesn't bother me and sounds worse than as described... IMO

Brian

I can tell you from first hand experience that as long as the plant is healthy, it should be fine. I've root pruned for the same reasons -mad roots getting to long- I tend to do it an a couple of goes, half one time and then the rest when the original one are starting to "nub up" the last fellow I pruned I realised afterwards was just throwing up a couple of spikes, that caused a panic:drool: , but it did not upset the spikes at all.

turbotoes

It seems kinda extreme to cut them off with a machete... :shock:

I've never thought about trimming the roots on my Vandaceous plants, in part because I hear they don't like root disturbance.

I have certainly found that vandas in a pot -for me that means youngsters-, do seem to resent getting repotted and sulk for a bit - one reason I stick mine in baskets as soon as poss- but all my basketed vandas, ascocendas and mokaras get moved every day in the summer and every other day in the winter, so that I can dunk them in my watering bins, this by its very nature causes "root disturbance" and yet it does not seem to worry them in the slightest. Go figure:scratchhead:

The roots are sooo much the beauty of the vanda, trimming should be a crime!

3ft long roots on an 18" tall plant does not sound to long.

I is actually good for them but I don't cut mine either. I love long roots on my vandas. I sure do miss you Don:(

I need some roots because I want to try germinating some seeds the symbiotic way.

Can someone help me?

To me, I have always interpreted "root disturbance" in the context of moving Vandas between mounts or pots, OR with regard to the notion of causing true abuse to healthy aerial roots. OK, I admit, the machete business does, to me, sound like abuse... I also admit to having had, early on, a period of taking near-fetishistic pains to avoid "disturbing" aerial roots.

On the other hand: These days, I frequently dunk vandas into buckets a fraction of the depth of the root length... and have on occasion pulled the plants loose from some entanglement, resulting in aerial roots breaking off. None of this kind of activity seems to cause any impediment to growth or flowering.

On the other other hand, I've taken to heart the idea that, those roots which are affixing the plant onto something should NOT be disturbed - soaked or pried loose, re-arranged, cut, braided, or otherwise injured. So when I re-pot or re-mount a Vanda, I just find a bigger pot or mounting object than the previous one, and tie the whole thing, old mount/pot and all, right onto or into the new mount/pot. This gives the plant more substrate to grow onto, without disturbing any of those roots which were already supporting the plant directly on the old substrate.

Works for me.

Machete or sterilized blade, cutting vanda roots actually stimulates their branching, thereby increasing root mass. Sounds awful, but since I can't raise the roof on my greenhouse that's 11 ft tall at its highest. I either have to dig a hole or trim the roots on one plant whose stem is 4 1/2 ft tall with 6 ft + roots.

Don't know what I'll do when the roots branch so densely that I can't get the plant out the door :)

Cneos "dig a hole or raise the roof" LOL. I love those big monsters though. I wish I had acres and acres of land to fill with trees and put vandas all over them. Well some others too.

Ditto Swamper!

Don,
There are two rules of thumb that go with regarding long roots on my vandaceous plants.

One is to loop the roots up so that they don't hang too low. I've included a few pis. The first two are my V. sanderiana currently in bloom, roots and bloom spike. The second two are my V. lamellata, roots and spiking top with 17 spikes. :D

The other is to actually trim them; however the trimming needs to be done near the beginning of the more active growing season, which for me is mid to late spring. At this time, you can (I do without problems) take off as much as 1/2 to 2/3 of the root length, being sure to spray afterward with a fungicide. As pointed out by others, this can be beneficial to the plant, causing branching and additional new root growth to occur. There are a couple of commercial interests in Homestead that do this every year as a basic practice in their shade houses.

I hope this helps, David