Vanda in coco coir - opinions/thoughts

[vondaix]

Happy Saturday, everyone!

I've started an experiment with my hanging vandas this year and wanted to get some opinions/thoughts.

Last year, I grew my vandas bare-rooted in the baskets I made. I found that I could not keep up with the watering everyday in the summer and that made me burnout. Last year's summer in Montreal(zone 6b) was quite dry in my opinion.

I put my vandas on my southwest facing balcony in the summer with a 30% shade cloth to protect them from the harsh mid-day sun. I'm hoping the coco coir would provide enough water retention throughout the warm/hot summer day without me worrying while I'm out and about in the city after a morning dousing of water and the occasional baths - while also not drowning the roots. The coco coir is fluffed up around the plants and the basket to achieve this and it holds droplets of water after a spray.

I've had my vandas in the coco coir for about a month and a half now and I'm only watering in the morning instead of morning and afternoon. They seem to be doing well so far and are growing healthy roots and the leaves aren't as dry. I also provide them with air circulation throughout the day.

My main concern is that I have no experience with using this medium for my other orchids and I'm not sure how long it would take for it to go sour/acidic and would need replacing. I've also increased my fertilizer concentration to 1 tsp of 20-20-20 per 2 gallons of water.

How long would coco coir last before breaking down and what are some signs that it has broken down?

Thanks for y'all's input!