No clue how to care for vanda seedlings.. Help!!
 

Hey all. I'm new to orchids but just got some vanda seedlings on a whim over the weekend. What am I supposed to do with them?! Help! Mount on a tree, get those 3" black plastic baskets, just let them sit freely? No clue!!

... Also, I had no clue what to look for when picking the seedlings out. I used my limited knowledge & picked ones with what I think are healthy roots (green, more roots than others I could have chosen). What should I look for when choosing?

:bump: Just bumping your post for you so more people see it. I don't grow Vandas, so can't really help you with your question. Though my hunch would be to grow them bareroot in baskets like adult plants. And what kind of growing conditions/climate do you have?

I have several seedling hybrids from Motes here in Florida plus a few bag babies from HD. I just wire them down into baskets with soft wire after soaking them in kelp, making sure they don't wiggle. They seem to like to attach their roots to teak or mahogany baskets better than cedar, so I put a chunk of lava in the cedar ones for the roots to crawl on. Give them AM sunlight, and shelter from our intense Noons here. Water the heck out of them by 8 AM at the latest so the leaves don't burn - I have a few sunburnt leaves due to my inexperience.

They're all growing like weeds for me right now, in part I suspect to the unseasonably early high humidity.

Here's a little HD bag baby that's been in its basket for a few months - V. Khao lak x V. Thailand gold

I have vanda seedlings and I keep mine in chunky bark in clay pots and once every morning I spray the root area only.(not the whole pot) I fertilize weekly/weakly. They are doing great. Here are pictures over time from when I first got them.

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x...%2011-2014.jpg

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x...%2012-9-14.jpg

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x...Photo-0133.jpg

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x...Photo-0134.jpg

If you can't water daily, consider using spaghnum moss with 20-25% bark.

I agree with Kim. When they are young, I even go so far as to use loose moss only, in baskets. The roots grow well, then I move them into larger baskets of bark.


Ray Barkalow
firstrays.com