Nakamotoara Newberry Apricot in a vase?

[Rothrock42]

I have a Nakamotoara Newberry Apricot (vandofinetia virgil x asco. curvifolium) which isn't doing all that well. It is potted in small bark and some perlite -- the way it came from the nursery.

I have a Neostylis Lou Sneary 'Bluebird' which is in a glass vase -- with no media and it is doing quite well. I also have a Neofinetia falcata mounted on a plank with a little moss that is also thriving.

I'm thinking of moving the Nakamotoara either onto a mount or removing the media completely and putting it in a vase.

Any suggestions?

[estación seca]

I don't grow Newberry Apricot, but I do grow two of its three ancestors.

All of its ancestors need a lot of water during the warm season, and struggle if kept too dry. If your leaves have fine linear folds or wrinkles, or if root tips aren't green and growing, you aren't watering enough.

It is also a high-light plant, higher light than Cattleyas. This adds to the water requirement.

And Vandas like very large amounts of fertilizer. Martin Motes writes Vandas should have a paler green section of developing leaf, right where it emerges from the crown, that is 1 centimeter long, before it turns the usual darker green. If the pale green zone isn't that long, the plant isn't getting enough fertilizer. Vandas won't grow roots vigorously, either, unless well-fertilized.

Check the root system. If roots are OK, I would try watering more often, especially if it's in a mixture of large bark and large perlite. If there are large air spaces between the chunks, you can water every day, or more. My experience with Vandas I underwater is that it takes several days to a week of correct watering to plump them up after I dessicate them.

If your roots aren't OK, does it have any roots at all? Don't cut off questionable Vanda roots. They do very poorly if you cut off all the roots, and some roots you think dead are viable, capable of sprouting new roots quickly when conditions are correct. Soak the root system overnight in a kelp solution. I like KelpMax for this. Repeat weekly until root formation occurs.

If you have few roots, the plant won't be able to rehydrate completely until it grows more roots. Keep it in the highest humidity possible while this happens, to minimize water loss through the leaves. Water it regularly.

By the way, all its ancestors are now considered Vandas, so it is Vanda Newberry Apricot. I don't like it, I just report it. Virgil = Vanda (formerly Neofinetia) falcata x Vanda cristata. Ascocentrum curvifolium = Vanda curvifolia.

[PaphMadMan]

If the Neostylis (Vandochostylis now) is doing well in vase culture for you that's the way I would go with the Newberry Apricot, though it should do fine mounted also. Both are more like a classic Vanda in culture than they are similar to the more northern Neo ancestor. Your preference based on convenience or esthetics is the factor here, as it should do fine culturally either way.

[Rothrock42]

Thanks for the advice. The Bluebird and my other vandas have been doing pretty well. So I decided to give it a go and removed from the Newberry Apricot from the media and put it in a small vase.

Here is a recent (August 28, 2016) photo of how I've been growing the Neostylis and its blooms.



It took it about two months for the Neo to really take off and start growing roots, so i'll report back in a couple of months.