Vanda dropping leaves, can this be saved?
 

So I've had my vanda since mid-August. It's from the grocery store and came in a glass vase. Initially I took it out and let it hang in the window. Now that winter is here I've taken it down and had just been letting it sit in the vase.

Initially I was soaking the roots 1-2x a week for 30-45 minutes and hanging it back up. Then when it went into the glass vase I started misting the roots. Big problem, water never evaporated and the roots just held water between the root and the glass even when I did dump excess out. There's a fan on, it sits in a windowsill, and still no evaporation. I noticed the other day that it really just looked.. bad.

It had already lost 3-4 leaves.

Further inspection showed me roots that weren't just dry, but many dark gray and black. Some roots had mold. I cut off all mold and black, soaked the roots, and then cut off any that didn't green up and get healthy whatsoever. I realize now I should have taken pics of this process, but oh well. The roots are about 6 inches long now, down from about 1.5 feet.

So, out of desparation I've gone ahead and planted it in a medium-coarse bark mix in a terracotta pot because the roots *cannot* seem to get enough water while hanging and want to turn nasty in the glass vase.

I don't know what I'm doing, if that wasn't clear enough, but I'm trying.

It wants to keep dropping leaves. They'll crack at that dark line near their base, starting at the edges and progressing to the center until it yellows and then ultimately blackens. Do I pull leaves until I see no more yellow? What do I do about the stem (which doesn't honestly look much better)?

The cut spike is black. I do much better with phals and I'm used to the spike drying out to a light brown and never posing another problem. Is it supposed to still be black?

I live in Texas hill country, zone 9. The vanda is kept inside. Temp varies from 74-76F. It receives light through the window and from a grow light.

I'm just rambling at this point. If you have specific questions I can answer I'd be happy to!

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Actually, to me it still looks pretty healthy. I would suggest not removing leaves... let them drop if they will, but as long as there is any green it's photosynthesizing. Lack of sufficient water can make these shed leaves... probably a defense mechanism to cut moisture loss. The stem looks OK to me. Putting it in bark was probably a good idea - it's hard (probably impossible) to maintain adequate hydration bare root in the house. Now, I think just patience. Don't be in a hurry to cut or remove anything further. With luck, it is likely to produce some new roots, and when it does, you're on your way.

Growing vandas inside house with ac and heating can be a substantial challenge due to low humidity, weak sunlight and low temps.
Your plant is loosing leaves as it is trying to balance moisture intake with number of leaves that the reduced moisture intake can support through a failing root system. Your root system is failing as it is in a medium that has minimal to no air in it. It is the wrong kind of medium for vandas. A better medium would be coarse chunks of barks where plenty of open space for air. Vandas need frequent watering and or misting, a high humidity environment and DRY ROOTS in between these water events. I would remove plant from pot, rinse off all from roots, remove any dead/mushy.dried roots and place back inside vase, place some pebbles at bottom of vase about an inch layer. Roots should not be sitting in water full time, your original regimen of soaking roots was correct. I would do that at least daily and once a week, use 1 tsp of water soluble fertilizer in your water soak. Roots can stay wet for a while as long as they openly exposed to air. You will know your plant iis doing better when you see green root tips indicating they are growing. Am a bg fan of vandas, but my growing environment was much easier that inside the house.
BTW there are other orchids much easier to grow indoors.

Normally when a plant is not doing well constant repotting is not a good thing, but in this case I agree with Ben (it was my initial thought when I saw the photos) that the potting mix is way to fine for a Vanda.
Something much chunkier is in order, probably straight bark. I hate to disparage a particular brand, but this mix looks like Shultz, a brand commonly found in big-box stores.

It's actually MiracleGro. Unfortunately it's all I've got around me in any of the stores that are close.

I will go ahead and order some of the rock and bark suggested and see if I can get things looking up again.

What would y'all's consensus be on leaving the vanda bare root inside the clay pot?

Has anyone had luck suspending a bare-root vanda upside down to induce new roots? Would it be okay to heavily water an upside down vanda and let the water run down the leaves?

you could try bare root with a plastic bag or plastic wrap over the top to help preserve moisture until you get your good media. I don't think upside-down would help. While water sitting in the crown when it's cold is an invitation to rot, the "V" shape of the leaves serves a purpose - funneling water to the roots. Think of how these grow in nature... a lot more humid than inside your house, but roots exposed to the breezes - wet (rained upon) and then dry. That "funnel" effect of the leaf configuration helps to capture rain to get it though the drier periods. So "upside down" would work against what you're trying to accomplish.

From the look of the roots, I suspect your plant has fusarium. This plant may be a goner since it doesn't seem to have any healthy root. If it does have fusarium, the only way to prevent it from spreading is to cut off the stem until you do not see a purple ring any more. I'd recommend looking up Vanda fusarium on YouTube.

The medium mix you used is not airy enough for Vandas. Vase culture is a good way to grow Vandas indoors. There is a sticky on this forum. When grown in vase, you don't need to mist. Just fill the water level to the base of the plant, and let it soak for a few hours, then dump all the water. Repeat this only when the roots are all white. Vandas do not like their roots to be wet all the time. In fact, it is beneficial to give the roots a "hard dry", i.e. withhold watering for an extended time.

Has anybody except Miss Orchid Girl ever seen a real case of fusarium? A Vanda does need air around the roots. But please, no surgery and no peroxide... it needs any roots that it still has. Give the plant some humidity, and tincture of time to grow some new ones.

One of my Vandas had that, and I threw it away. I would suggest the OP to Google the disease and use YouTube as a resource. There are other YouTubers who had experience with fusarium in Vandas.

I mean, watching the few YouTube videos that really exist on the topic of Fusairum, it does "exhibit signs". The way the leaves yellow from the base and drop. The way the roots are choked and develop a bit of callous around the choke points.

But honestly, all of this coincides with having really unfortunate crappy care thanks to this being my very first Vanda. I don't think I'm willing to go chopping off any more roots, and certainly not stem, just to try and find out. I'm also not just going to "throw it away" until it's dead beyond dead.

So far I've removed it from any pot and media. It's hung on a wire once again and placed in my windowsill. The house is at 73F pretty consistently and it gets sun through the window well enough. I'm considering purchasing additional grow lights.

I'm fixing to order some fertilizer to start soaking it in weekly.

Water-wise, I've been showering with it daily for the last 6 or 7 days. Nice steamy warm shower, directly in the spray for about 10 minutes, then again before I get out for another 5 or so. Right now it's having a soak in the sink after it just had a shower. The roots aren't getting terribly plump, and only a few have any green to them. See the closeup pictures attached for a better description than I can give. One included of it still in the water after a good 45 minutes.

It's lost a couple more leaves, and I know it's going to lose at least one more. However, the next leaf up isn't showing any sign of death at the base.

Another little update--these are the roots dry. They sound and feel like thin paper. Crisp, some are woody feeling. Only a few really retain any moisture.

If roots are totally dry and dead they aren't hurting anything by staying on the plant. Since it is hard to tell for sure what is totally dead and what might still be useful, leave them all until you get some new ones. Then you can tidy up (By that time, the dead ones will be brittle and desiccated and therefore obvious) Patience, patience... orchids don't don anything fast.

I'm definitely not cutting any more off this poor thing. If they were black and necrotic looking that would bother me, but the little bits of even the lightest green give me some hope--even if they dry out to seemingly nothing.

How long do you think it might be before it starts putting out root growth? Where should I look for it? Right off the main stem, or would it come out of existing roots?

It could do either, or both. (Old roots that look pretty dead can sprout branches, and new roots can also emerge from the main stem) Could be several months. I wouldn't be concerned even if went six months with no action. I have a V. bicolor that sprouted some keikis, lost leaves, and after a couple of years grew enough new roots near the remaining leaves that look good enough that I may cut that section off to be a new plant, but not until spring, just to get the size back to something reasonable. Sloooowwwww.

Well. Now that I've pulled it out of the water I'm fairly certain it's a goner. Despite the fact that the next leaf up was looking pretty, the stem had rotted all the way up to the base of that leaf.

The top (with the upper most 5 leaves) flopped completely over. Top "crown" basically completely amputated its own base when it flopped. I guess that saves me the trouble of surgical intervention, hey?

The spot it amputated at was purple-black mush. I went ahead and made a single cut above it.

All that's left is 5 leaves. I don't know that it's possible for a stem/roots to grow from what is left and I have no idea what to do with it.

I think RIP... it is possible that the part with the leaves could grow a root, but doubtful. Sounds like it committed suicide.

That is exactly what it did. I don't think it's worth the effort even if it did grow a root after god knows how much babying.

Time to wash my hands and cuddle with my Phals, I guess. They love me.

Wish there were more orchid species to be found in my general vicinity. It's phals or vandas, and both are horribly overpriced.

Maybe I'll stop into Trader Joes sometime and browse their collection more extensively. They had some beautiful orchids the last time I was there.

Thank you guys for all your help. <3 Any advice on easier-to-care-for indoor species would be greatly appreciated.

Whether species or hybrids, "easy to grow" means "you have the conditions that it wants without going to a lot of trouble". Your "easy" and my "easy" may not be the same. But in general, it's easier to maintain a plant in a pot than mounted or bare root in a home environment. The selection at Trader Joe's varies from place to place, the ones near me have some really nice Paphs and Oncidium tribe hybrids that are also easy to grow indoors. And as you branch out, you're not limited to what you can find at stores locally. There are some excellent nurseries that sell online, and do an amazing job of shipping blooming plants. Keep reading this forum as people talk about their acquisitions - the Vendor Feedback forum is particularly good.

If you want to try another Vanda, I'd recommend trying Neofinetia (now Vanda) falcata. These plants are very sturdy and hardy. Can take temperatures in the range from 45-90 F, easy to grow, and can have very nice foliage depending on variety. And the plant is very compact. As a bonus, the flowers smell like vanilla jasmine at night. I think this one would do well in your environment.

There is an ebay seller named Japanese Orchids specializing in this species. I personally bought from them and their plants are great.

let me second the neofinetia falcata suggestion as the 'pretty much undestrucatible' vanda. mine was in a 4 inch basket hanging up high with cattleyas and getting wet once or twice a week and it was the little engine that could... excellent suggestion

I didn't read every message here... but you wrote your house is 73 degees F / 23C. Vandas tolerate that when healthy, but prefer to be much warmer.

Just a quick note here. Fusarium is definitely an issue with this Vanda coupled with the culture issues.

Remember that Fusarium is very contagious and can spread quickly and silently to your other orchids.

As I have personally disposed over 100 plants in the past due to a single order not segregated long enough, I cannot stress enough the importance of diligent checking and segregation. I will attach photos of examples.