Suggestions needed for my Vanda

[caseydoll]

I have a Princess Mikasa Blue Vanda that my boyfriend got me at Lowes. It is in a 4 inch basket with nothing else. It has a bunch of dried up dead looking roots with only 2 that look semi alive. Meaning, they turn a little green when watered. I have been reading all the posts on here about reviving Vandas and have been following everyones advice. I have been soaking it for about a half hour or so everyday with distilled water in a bucket. I added some KLN and a little MSU fertilizer. Then it goes in a vase the rest of the time. I don't have it directly under my lights yet because it seemed to dry really quick under them and started to decline quickly. So now I have it on the floor right next to my lights.

The problem I'm having is that it has been about 6 weeks and there is no new root growth and now it's starting to drop it's lower leaves at a rapid rate. Any thoughts or suggestions on what I'm doing wrong? Or is it still to soon to tell? Do you just think that sometimes there is no bring them back? But I would think that with 2 okayish roots it still would have a chance. Sorry about the long post but I guess I'm just worried. Any help would be very greatly appreciated!!!

[Roy]

Sarah, if the roots turn green when you water sounds as if they are still capable of growing again. What temp' are you growing at ?? Is there good humidity?? The light is just ok. I don't know what KLN & MSU fertilizers are but my thoughts and practice is to NEVER feed a sick plant unless it is with a hormone root stimulant. Once the roots start only then I fertilize with very weak fertilizer. Please add some info on temps & humidity & we can go further.

[caseydoll]

Thanks for the reply Roy! The temp has been averaging about 78F during the day and about 72F (give or take) at night. The humidity has been around 65% with a humidifier running. As the weather get warmer the humidity will go up too. It's always humid around here it seems. I know the lighting isn't that great but I wasn't sure if it could take stronger light in it's current condition. Please correct me if I'm wrong. The KLN is a hormone root stimulate. I only have a little bit of fertilizer in the water because I thought I read that it wasn't good either but i had some already in my watering can so I used that. Next time I'll just use water and the KLN. Oh, my lights that I have it next too are t-5 fluoresents. Under the lights is pretty bright but next to them is just moderate. Hope that helps answer any questions.

[Roy]

Thanks Sarah, everything seems to be ok including the light. Maybe, just maybe to help the plant, sit it in a pot. Plastic or clay with another pot upside down, inside to set the basket on, about half way down the pot. Use a 7 inch pot or larger. This sometimes help a lot. When the roots start, if they grow onto the pot ok leave them alone, it wont hurt. Keep up the KLN but maybe put it in a spray pack so a quick squirt a few times a day rather than one big soak.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I would stop soaking the plant in water. Orchids breathe with their roots. If you're soaking the roots of a healthy orchid you will notice air bubbles forming around the surface of the roots. By soaking for 1/2 an hour you're suffocating it.

As Roy suggested spray the roots instead.

I've found it easier to grow Vandas either mounted or in a clay pot with large chunks of diatomite.

If growing mounted, water frequently. If growing in diatomite water sparingly.

Vanda Princess Mikasa Blue is a cool to intermediate grower. It does poorly under warm conditions. Growing them warmer will not kill it, but they won't look nice either.

[Ocelaris]

I have to disagree, a lot of us have had success with soaking the plant for a short amount of time daily. You are not suffocating the plant for such short periods of time. If you would read either the Motes or Grove books on Vandas, you would learn that all Vandas need a thorough drenching daily during the growing season. Not just a spraying or misting. You need to really give the plant time to absorb the moisture through it's roots.

Think about in nature, do rain showers "mist"? No, they drench, for hours or days at a time. I'm not proposing anyone leave their vandas for more than an hour under water, but certainly half an hour is a safe bet.

Please check out some of the other threads explaining the glass vase method. It has worked well for me, and it has worked well for others. I think it's a valid method.

I would beg to differ that Princess Mikasa is a cool grower. It was my understanding that Princess Mikasa is a very complex hybrid which grows well in almost any condition. I can understand if you said that a coruelea or similar species was a "cool grower" but such a complex home depot hybrid does not to me qualify as "cool growing". I don't think temperature plays into this if it's in a home environment. You can see in my pictures below my Princess Mikasa which has bloomed twice in the past 3 months, and the temperatures are 70-80*F so I would argue it does fine at room temperature and slightly above temps.

Caseydoll, you said you have a lamp near the plant for light? What kind of light is it? Halogen, Incandescent, Flourescent, Metal Halide, HPS etc...? What kind of light is it getting? It is possible the lighting situation is not optimal... any clarity on that will help for sure, If the light is drying out the plant with too much heat, it can be a problem.

What do the roots look like, pictures would be helpful, how much air movement are the roots receiving?

I think it's important that the roots get plenty of air movement, that they aren't just sitting in a stagnant environment, so once they do get soaked, they are able to exchange gases across the vellum to produce energy for the plant?

I don't mean for this post to come across as well, cross, but I just wanted to stand up for some methods others have shared, and I have used to my benefit. Here are some pics of my setup, and maybe this might assist...


March 26th, 2008





Here is the Vanda Bensonii which I've been soaking for half an hour each day, for about 3 months. The pictures above of it are from 4/26/08 and the ones below are from 4/8/08. So it does take a long time sometimes if there is no good root system, but you shouldn't see a major decline if things are going in the right direction. They should at least be staying the same or getting a tad better. By utilizing the glass vase method, you can see in the pictures above, it is working very well. It took 2 months for it to even sprout new roots! which are below, and now it is growing at an ever increasing pace. Look below the first leaves in the latest pictures (yesterday) there are two very plump new roots starting, and in the bottom of the plastic container you can see the first root that sprouted. This should be a very clear indicator of the ability of this method to produce results and save an otherwise very maltreated plant.

I don't want to imply there aren't better methods, but this method works very well for me.


March 8th, 2008:

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[Grandma M]

Ocelaris. I tried your method about 3 weeks ago with a new vanda which was quite pale looking. It has now greened up nicely and I have one new root starting. I do put about 2 or 3 inches of water into the vase for about 20-30 minutes every day. I'm pleased with the results.

I have another of the same variety, same size plant, which I planted the usual method. It is in a wooden basket with large chunks of lava rock. It will be interesting to see how each has done in 6 months.

I have one crazy question for you. You have such neat holes in the upper section of the pot with your hangers threaded through them. I have been trying to imagine how you get such nice holes in there. It almost looks like you have a plug of some sort in there. Will you share your secret?

Marilyn

[caseydoll]

Thanks again for all the great replies!

Ocelaris, I'll try and answer your questions so you can advise further. I do have good air movement. I have a fan running 24/7 and it provides a good breeze. I have it located far enough away not to dry out anything but close enough that leaves sway gently. I actually am doing the glass vase method taken from advice in previous posts. I take the Vanda out of the vase to soak but then it goes back in to drip dry until the next soak. It's in a basket but the rim of it sits perfectly in the vase so all but the very rim of the basket is in the vase. But not touching the bottom. Hope that makes sense.

I wasn't sure about the lighting. I was thinking that maybe I shouldn't put it under the lights directly until I saw new root growth. If it's better to put it under lights I will do that. I have 3 four foot t-5 fluorescents on the shelf where it would go. I can adjust the height of where it would sit to any level. It definately doesn't get too hot under the lights. I have a thermometer clipped to the middle shelf and it has never gone above 78F so far.

Like I said before, I'm mostly just worried because of the sudden leaf drop. I knew that growing new roots may take awhile. But I'm hoping that the all the leaves don't drop off before that happens!

Soooo, I am open to your suggestions. I want to make sure this baby gets some roots. It's now my personal mission!



The pics were taken about 6 weeks ago when I first got it. The spike has since been cut off and there are about 4 or so fewer leaves at the bottom. The roots look the same.

[Ocelaris]

Marilyn, I use a round file which has a tip on it... and trust me, they're not all so perfect! It depends a lot on the type of plastic and how quickly I puncture the plastic. Some pots split very easy, the more rubbery kind seem to take holes better. Kind of like this file, except mine is rather small and came in a pack of 5, harbor freight has a 12 pack for 5$ (plus shipping), but I'm sure you can find one at the local hardware store.

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Hey Sarah, My guess is that the vanda isn't getting enough light. It's true you shouldn't overly light a stressed plant, but on the other hand they need a fair amount of light to grow. If you can get a 30w screw in compact florescent or something like that with clip on, I think Daemos in another thread has something similar. The only problem with T-5 is that they have a very short range, as in anything more that 12" away is insufficient for high light loving plants. A clip on 30watt compact florescent bulb (and I'm talking the ghetto painting type lamps) should only run 15-20$ or so... Or south facing window... basically, without a light meter, it's hard to tell, but my guess is that it's been shocked, and needs some TLC.

The roots look ok to sprout new ones, but a plant of that size should have many more roots. So I guess that it may have shed some leaves in order to put it's energy into roots.

I think you just need a little more light. the leaves will start to shrivel at the top and usually make spots on the leaves, turning red/purple if it's too much light... Anything short of full sun will be fine.

[caseydoll]

Thanks Ocelaris! I will move it under my t-5's for now and also get another light. I was thinking that I would need to do that anyway later on but wasn't sure if it was a goner or not. I figure that this will be my only Vanda so I don't mind going out of my way to make it happy. I'm very determined! Thanks for all your help!