Watering outdoor vandals
 

I'm not sure what alliances my vandas are... but they are all outdoor! I'm sorry that I ask a lot of questions, but I'm still a noob.

Do you dunk/soak your vandas? Do you put in any part of the crown? Will soaking your vandas cause bloom spikes to rot?

Here in central western florida, I've been watering my outdoor vandas twice daily. They get afternoon/evening sun, and so far no issue of water getting stuck in the crowns. They seem happy, I have plenty of root growth. I found a rotten bloom spike on my bangkok sunset, It was about two inches long. I just got it about two weeks ago, so I think it was much too tall to be new but I don't remember seeing it before.

I have done both dunking and spraying and feel like they seem better when I dunk. However, I don't want to kill my bloom spikes. Thoughts?

People dunk or spray. Dunking takes more time if you have more than a few, and may spread disease from one plant to the next.

Standard advice is to be sure Vanda leaves are dry before sunset to minimize chances of fungus.

I have read in books that Florida growers water early in the morning if the plants haven't been rained on the night before. If it's really hot and dry, they water again in early afternoon.

It's OK water a Vanda again as soon as the roots turn from wet and green / brown / gray to white and dry. But you should not keep the roots wet for more than maybe 12-24 hours. I would soak for a much shorter length of time in high humidity. I don't have high humidity so 24 hour soaks are OK sometimes.

Don't forget fertilizer. I have heard speak, or read the book of, 2 south Florida growers, who fertilize all their Vandas, every 5th watering, with commercial 20-20-20, at the rate of 1 tablespoon per gallon. Including seedlings.

Lol! I read the title and immediately I envisioned vandals being sprayed with a fire hose.

Sorry to hear you lost a spike. With my Angraecum, when I water, if water gets into the leaf axis I tilt the plant to drain it. I lost a spike last year due to frequent rains and cooling temperatures.

From what I've read, fungus is a problem in rainy areas like south Florida. I don't have that issue.

It's dry unless a winter storm comes from the Pacific. That happens irregularly, any time from late November to maybe April. If you watch the weather news and see a big storm hitting southern California, it will hit Arizona the next day. But even if California gets a lot of rain, we might only have cloudy weather, so it's unpredictable.

I hope you saw the hummingbird aviary at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson.

Nice one. lol