Vanda Harkana Tkatchenko

[Ale_V]

Good morning, everyone,

About nine months ago, I bought a Vanda Harkana Tkatchenko. At the time, it was potted in sphagnum moss and bark in a pot with plenty of ventilation holes.

After blooming, I repotted it into a self-watering pot (also with lots of ventilation holes) using the same sphagnum moss and large bark. Everything was fine while it stayed on the windowsill, where it got filtered light through the curtains in the afternoon.

With winter approaching, I moved it to my greenhouse, worried that the dry air from the heating (humidity dropping to 40%) and the low light levels might harm it. It’s been there for three months now. Unfortunately, I’ve realized that the situation has worsened considerably. While the leaves are growing faster, many roots have died.

In the greenhouse, the humidity is at 90%, and the plant receives about 3.46 DLI of light (12h @ 80 µmol/s/m²).

Since I can’t manage fully aerial roots due to the watering frequency required, what are my options?

Additionally, if 40% humidity is acceptable (temperature goes from 22C maximum to 14,5 minimum at night), I’ve now set up a grow light on the original windowsill. I could provide even more light there, specifically 10.76 DLI at the point of highest intensity. What do you recommend?

Thank you very much!

[Ray]

Two comments:

In my experience, vandas do best when they have a full root system hanging below them. You say you cannot handle the watering with such a method, yet you said in another thread that watering for mounted plants would be no issue, so I’m a bit confused.

Second, I think your greenhouse conditions are entirely too cold for a vanda. 22C would be close to the lowest nighttime temperature the plant should experience, not the highest. 30C or higher is more normal.

[Ale_V]

Thanks for the feedback!

I’d love to hang up the Vanda, but I don’t think I have enough vertical space in my greenhouse (which is just a small room, 2m x 1.3m). It’s already packed with other plants, and there’s a shelf limiting the height. So, the trunk project will have to be outside the greenhouse.

As for watering, I imagined using a system that sprays water directly onto the roots (and the wood). The water would then drip off the wood and into a support I’d build to catch it. But if I were to hang the Vanda, spraying it would create a mess since there’s no wood backing to control the water, and I’d still need a solution for collecting the water dripping off the roots.

One idea might be to attach it to a piece of bark (I found two pieces of conifer bark on the ground—they seem thick enough to hold up for a while). That way, I could spray it, and the bark would act as a “shield” to prevent water from going everywhere.

The big issue is still finding a place to hang it: I might attach it the red spot I've marked in the picture, but it would be very close to the light (between 11,20 and 15,40 DLI - being so close a small difference in distance makes a great difference in light intensity). Even inside the greenhouse it’s already cold, and outside it’s worse, with temperatures ranging from 20°C during the day to 14.5°C at night.



I’m attaching two charts showing the temperature and humidity for both locations (greenhouse and the outdoor windowsill with the orchids).

Window:


Green House: