Vanda surgery and after-care

[piping plover]

My vanda was getting way too leggy and I cut it today. Anyone know if I should keep it in its same sunny spot while recovering? Or should I keep in a shady less desiccating area and for how long?

It was in a 4” basket so prior to surgery I placed into an 8” basket.

I chose a top cutting with 5 roots. After cutting with sterile clippers I put cinnamon on the cut areas. I then wired the top cutting to the bottom stem and wove the roots down into the basket to stabilize the top cutting in the basket; hopefully I’ll have doubled my vandas in the same basket. Photos below progressing from before to after.

[estación seca]

I would keep it there and keep watering.

There's a small chance the stump will make a new growth, so I wouldn't throw it away.

[Ben_in_North_FLA]

Well, if you don't like the palm tree look, what I suggest is that you adjust the culture so the plant does not loose the older leaves and continues its growth without the occasional shock of loosing most of its root system. Vandas loose their older leaves mostly due to lack of needed moisture. It is the plant's survival method by shedding leaves that it cannot support due to not enough water.
Vandas can be challenging to grow to their best unless you can provide bright light, high humidity, good air movement and heavy fertilization commensurate with all growing requirements. The plant want to live and will adjust to given culture by modifying the amount of foliage the given culture can sustain.
Disconnecting the top of plants from mot of its roots will take quite a while to recover.

[Shadeflower]

Hope this works out ok, I've certainly had Vanda's with less than 5 roots but I would have done it slightly different.
What I see is one stump that has no growth to support so won't need much watering. The top half has little roots and lots of growth to support so will need a lot of watering.

You ask about the shade and that is a good idea - for the top half - but not the bottom half which needs to be encouraged to grow so wants plenty of light. Another reason to keep them seperate. That way you can water them seperately and maybe wrap some moss around the one with few roots to keep them hydrated a bit more.
It doesn't save on space but this in my opinion will cause a problem for one of the two orchids long term. One will want lots of water, the other won't and they share the same pot so that is not a good combination initially.

[piping plover]

Originally Posted by Ben_in_North_FLA

Well, if you don't like the palm tree look, what I suggest is that you adjust the culture so the plant does not loose the older leaves and continues its growth without the occasional shock of loosing most of its root system. Vandas loose their older leaves mostly due to lack of needed moisture. It is the plant's survival method by shedding leaves that it cannot support due to not enough water.
Vandas can be challenging to grow to their best unless you can provide bright light, high humidity, good air movement and heavy fertilization commensurate with all growing requirements. The plant want to live and will adjust to given culture by modifying the amount of foliage the given culture can sustain.
Disconnecting the top of plants from mot of its roots will take quite a while to recover.

I love palm trees but not the palm tree look for my vanda. Unfortunately the care of my orchids was challenging the past few years living and working in 2 different places. I relied on relatives to care for them for a time a then paid to board them in a commercial greenhouse. The commercial greenhouse was worse care than relatives. I actually raised this vanda as a seedling and it held leaves on most of its length up until my job moves. I think it will come back fine though, seeing large root nubs already forming.

---------- Post added at 05:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:32 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Shadeflower

Hope this works out ok, I've certainly had Vanda's with less than 5 roots but I would have done it slightly different.
What I see is one stump that has no growth to support so won't need much watering. The top half has little roots and lots of growth to support so will need a lot of watering.

You ask about the shade and that is a good idea - for the top half - but not the bottom half which needs to be encouraged to grow so wants plenty of light. Another reason to keep them seperate. That way you can water them seperately and maybe wrap some moss around the one with few roots to keep them hydrated a bit more.
It doesn't save on space but this in my opinion will cause a problem for one of the two orchids long term. One will want lots of water, the other won't and they share the same pot so that is not a good combination initially.

Thank you for the helpful response and advice! That information you provided makes complete sense. I noticed that the top piece is pushing large root nubs already and the bottom piece is swelling an area on top that looks like a growth shoot and not a root! If it progresses well I’ll keep em together and if they start reversing I will separate them. Will keep progress posted on here.

[Ben_in_North_FLA]

I hope you can turn your plant into a solid performer of the vanda world. The "palm tree syndrome " is a fairly regular occurrence even in South Florida orchid society meetings and when I saw your location I realized that if you didn't have a green house it would have been a tough challenge. Best of luck and pls post updates as the plant progresses. Am sure other vanda growers would also be interested in your progress.

[piping plover]

Originally Posted by Ben_in_North_FLA

I hope you can turn your plant into a solid performer of the vanda world. The "palm tree syndrome " is a fairly regular occurrence even in South Florida orchid society meetings and when I saw your location I realized that if you didn't have a green house it would have been a tough challenge. Best of luck and pls post updates as the plant progresses. Am sure other vanda growers would also be interested in your progress.

Thank you. Am taking full advantage of our summer months to get it as strong as possible for the dark months. When I picked this up from the boarding greenhouse this year I hardly recognized it. Looked like they hadn’t watered it months; I’m not sure if there watering staff thought it was a cactus. My cattleyas looked terrible, overwatering. Unlikely to pay for that winter greenhouse boarding service again. They are overall reputable growers but don’t know the nuances of orchids I guess.

[piping plover]

It’s been less than a month since the vanda surgery and I am seeing substantial root tips emerging on the top cut vanda. Also, what appears to be a vegetative growth tip on the top of the bottom cut vanda - In the photos below it’s that green nub. Curious to see what the green nub develops into.

[piping plover]

Six week update on the vanda surgery. The bottom cut piece has produced three vegetative growths. The bottom cut has also put out many branches to the existing roots. The top cut has produced vigorous new roots too AND has a flower bud emerging. Could not have asked for more, really glad I finally did this cut. Photos below.