Operation Vanda Rescue

[cneos]

Originally Posted by Ocelaris

The two books that I own on Vandas; Vandas, by Martin Motes, and Vandas and Ascocendas by David L. Grove, both share the philosophy that you need to thourghly wet the roots beyond simple misting. i.e. a soaking bath, or a good 5-10 minute wash down with a sprayer. The phrase is "until the green shows through" Like pebble trays in a home, misting with a hand mister doesn't do much if anything.

I don't know florida's water hardness, but if it is hard, then you might consider getting some RO or Distilled, and using that for part of your mix.

Vandas are heavy feeders, but they dont' like hard water, so you have to temper your fertilizer depending on whether they are in an active growth phase or relatively dormant. If you just mist your plants daily, then maybe supplement that with every few days a soak for an hour in RO/Distilled + weak NPK. It's not the army, and I don't want to sound forceful, although regrettably I am sure it comes out that way. Soft water + weak fertilizer soaks make a remarkable difference. I have found that 1 gallon of RO and 1 tsp of MSU (a generic 13/3/15 (NPK ratio) + trace elements) fertilizer is the maximum which my plants like, that comes out to about 250ppm EC (Electrical conductivity), PPM, whatever, something fairly soft and weak. under 300ppm IMO has done better with my plants, which aren't under strong light, maybe more light means they need more fertilizer, but I have had best luck with ~200-300ppm after adding this fert.



Yes, use a 5 gallon bucket if need be, toss it in there for a half an hour a day and pull it out and put it back up in some mottled sunlight. You can reuse the water for a week or two if you are mixing your tap with RO/Distilled to bring the hardness levels down. In Thailand/Vietnam, where they have very soft water, they do very well. Here in New York, the water comes from the mountains, which are so old all of the sedimentary rocks which usually contribute to the hardness have more or less dissolved. So you have a very soft water coming into NYC, ironically in such a big city, the water coming from the tap is astoundingly good (and by good I only mean low in dissolved minerals).

Check out the "Glass Vase" thread in this forum, although it seems a bit insane, the method works very well, keeping the humidity throughout the day up, and makes it easy to soak the plants. These aren't my ideas, just reiterating what I have read on here and have had success with. It's different obviously if you're outside, but indoors, we do quite well this way.

MUST READING for any vanda grower are David Grove's and Martin Motes' books. Their guidance has been very helpful in keeping our 150 vandae in top growing condition.

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[Junebug]

Originally Posted by Ocelaris

The two books that I own on Vandas; Vandas, by Martin Motes, and Vandas and Ascocendas by David L. Grove, both share the philosophy that you need to thourghly wet the roots beyond simple misting. i.e. a soaking bath, or a good 5-10 minute wash down with a sprayer. The phrase is "until the green shows through" Like pebble trays in a home, misting with a hand mister doesn't do much if anything.

I don't know florida's water hardness, but if it is hard, then you might consider getting some RO or Distilled, and using that for part of your mix.

Vandas are heavy feeders, but they dont' like hard water, so you have to temper your fertilizer depending on whether they are in an active growth phase or relatively dormant. If you just mist your plants daily, then maybe supplement that with every few days a soak for an hour in RO/Distilled + weak NPK. It's not the army, and I don't want to sound forceful, although regrettably I am sure it comes out that way. Soft water + weak fertilizer soaks make a remarkable difference. I have found that 1 gallon of RO and 1 tsp of MSU (a generic 13/3/15 (NPK ratio) + trace elements) fertilizer is the maximum which my plants like, that comes out to about 250ppm EC (Electrical conductivity), PPM, whatever, something fairly soft and weak. under 300ppm IMO has done better with my plants, which aren't under strong light, maybe more light means they need more fertilizer, but I have had best luck with ~200-300ppm after adding this fert.



Yes, use a 5 gallon bucket if need be, toss it in there for a half an hour a day and pull it out and put it back up in some mottled sunlight. You can reuse the water for a week or two if you are mixing your tap with RO/Distilled to bring the hardness levels down. In Thailand/Vietnam, where they have very soft water, they do very well. Here in New York, the water comes from the mountains, which are so old all of the sedimentary rocks which usually contribute to the hardness have more or less dissolved. So you have a very soft water coming into NYC, ironically in such a big city, the water coming from the tap is astoundingly good (and by good I only mean low in dissolved minerals).

Check out the "Glass Vase" thread in this forum, although it seems a bit insane, the method works very well, keeping the humidity throughout the day up, and makes it easy to soak the plants. These aren't my ideas, just reiterating what I have read on here and have had success with. It's different obviously if you're outside, but indoors, we do quite well this way.

Thank for sharing this information. I have an Ascocenda that's been on the decline for the past 2 years. I once knew someone who had plunked a Vanda in a 5 gal. bucket with just a bit of charcoal in the bottom. She sat it outside on her concrete porch. The bucket collected about 4" of rain water. Some of the roots were actually submerged and it was in robust health, climbing all around the bucket and all over her porch. The vanda had an amazing root system and had produced numerous kikis which had grown to adulthood while still attached to the mother plant and was a prolific bloomer.

I've included a few photos of my sick baby. I've pretty much followed your suggestions, but have decided to leave charcoal in the bottom of the bowl with the hope that this will increase the humidity surrounding the roots and because some of the barely viable roots were firmly attached.

Thank you again for the valuable information. You've given me hope and my ascocenda a chance for life.

	Mistking Looking for a misting system? Look no further. Automated misting systems from MistKing are used by multitude of plant enthusiasts and are perfect for Orchids. Systems feature run dry pumps, ZipDrip valve, adjustable black nozzles, per second control! Automatically mist one growing shelf or a greenhouse full of Orchids. See MistKing testimonials

[Ocelaris]

Thank the forum, I'm just a zealous reiterator, sometimes too much so! I'm not going to pretend I have as much experience as others, but if we all report our results, we should be able to collect and share, come up with working methods.

The Sphagnum moss, bark, and rockwool all did not do well with my vandas... any roots I did have on the seedlings that i put in bark with sphagnum just ended up disintegrating, only after doing the glass vase method have I had any success.

[Grandma M]

Junebug

How long has the vanda been in that vase? It looks fantastic. I LOVE the vase, is it an antique? Is the top ring raised so you can thread the wire up and under the rim?

All is glass vase info has inspired me to try it. I just placed one into a glass container. I'll take a pic and post it.

I also want to thank cnoes, Ocelaris, and others, for all their vanda knowledge which they pass on to us. I have learned so much from this forum. Thanks, thanks, thanks.

Marilyn

[Grandma M]

After all this talk, I decided to try a vanda in glass. Here is my try.

[Junebug]

Originally Posted by Grandma M

Junebug

How long has the vanda been in that vase? It looks fantastic. I LOVE the vase, is it an antique? Is the top ring raised so you can thread the wire up and under the rim?

All is glass vase info has inspired me to try it. I just placed one into a glass container. I'll take a pic and post it.

I also want to thank cnoes, Ocelaris, and others, for all their vanda knowledge which they pass on to us. I have learned so much from this forum. Thanks, thanks, thanks.

Marilyn

Marilyn,

Thank you. As soon as I read the helpful information provided by Ocelaris yesterday, I jumped up and and started looking for something to put my ailing Ascocenda in. This container is a bowl that I found at a thrift shop a few weeks ago (lucky find) paired with a plastic faux painted ring that used to be on top of a fish bowl. The fish died and the original fish bowl broke, but the ring fits the bowl like it was made for it.

[AaronM]

I would like another of the vanda in question, eventually. So please, everyone, keep an eye out for a pink flowering vanda with spindly leaves and a slightly mothball-like scent.
Thanks for all the advice. I hope this info. comes in handy for someone else out there as it has for me.

[bitis78]

I'm so terribly sorry to hear that! I sincerely hope you find the replacement you're after...

You did all you could!
Andrew.

[Ocelaris]

Yes, it's difficult to lose our precious, but we must be strong! The wonderful thing about the internet is the ability to bring back things we thought were lost, from other's experience. I bet over time you will be able to find your lost friend.

On the other hand, I can't tell you how many orchids I've unfortunately killed But if you are encouraged to try again, and it brings you happiness, it's all worth it in the end. It's an ongoing life long hobby. We're sure you'll be here for the long run. Cheers

[AaronM]

Thank-you all again (especially Ocelaris) for all the help and best wishes. I wish the Oncidium alliance people were as helpful as all of you. I have a posting there that has been viewed 31 times and has not yet received a single response after five days.