Anyone growing vandas in intermediate temperatures?

[epiphyte78]

A couple days ago I talked with Butch from the Rowland Collection down here in Garden Grove. He says that there's a Vanda tricolor in Solana Beach that fairly regularly tolerates temperatures below freezing. When the temp hits 29 degrees the owners turn misters on that encase the orchid in ice.

Both Roberta Fox and Don Brown also grow this one outdoors year around.

A member of the Orchid Society of Southern California has also been growing Vanda tricolor outside year around for many years. Personally, my Vanda tricolor v. suavis had no problem with this last winter's low of 33F and bloomed ok...



An orchid grower down in San Diego has been growing Vanda javierii outdoors for several years. It was the first time I'd heard of anybody growing that particular species outdoors here in Southern California.

[smweaver]

Thanks for the information about--and beautiful picture of--V. tricolor var. suavis. I have one of these that I got from Santa Barbara Orchid Estate. They said that it kept their cymbidiums company. I thought they were kidding around with me a little, but apparently they weren't. I've been leaving it outside anyway and it hasn't shown any damage from our nights in the mid to high 50s. I think, however, that I might be giving it too much light. Although it's growing out with the cattleyas and other vanda species, the newer leaves keep getting reddish-purple blotches and speckling (yes, not a great description, I know) around the stem as they're emerging from the growing point (I noticed that your plant didn't show anything other than a nice uniform green color, which is why I mentioned this). I might move it into slightly lower light levels.

[epiphyte78]

Oh yeah, they weren't kidding around with you. That monster is waaay too huge to fit inside their greenhouse. Dang, not sure why I've never taken a picture of it.

I gave that Vanda in the picture to my friend who lives more inland than I do...she also grows exclusively outdoors and experiences temperatures colder and hotter. It will be interesting to see how it fairs for her.

I have another one mounted low on my Cedar tree that received way too much sun during early spring and displayed those reddish/purplish blotches you describe. Quite a few of the leaves were burnt to a dead dried brown as well. During winter and early spring the sun is lower in the sky so it received several hours of direct sun and I never really acclimated it to receiving that much sun. I thought it was a goner but fortunately it held on a little longer and now the sun is high in the sky so the Vanda is lightly shaded during the mid part of the day. It's developing plenty of new roots that are attaching themselves nicely to the tree so it seems to be out of the woods.

[Burgos]

i think nobody has talked about trudelia (vanda) cristata, it comes from the himalaya so it´ll probably stand cold temps. i read sth. like that forom people who grow it

[MattWoelfsen]

Old thread but GREAT information.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Yeah, this may have been an old thread, but this does shed some light on some Vanda species doesn't it? lol

When I first started growing orchids, I thought that all Vandas grew warm. The amount of research materials available at the time was very limited because the internet was just starting out, (I started growing orchids when I was around 13 years old, and that was around 1990). All I had to go on were books written in the 1960's or 1970's. It wasn't until I was able to grow and bloom Vanda Princess Mikasa 'Blue' and I kept striking out with Mokaras that I was getting a clue that different types of Vandas grew in different kinds of temperature ranges and light levels. When I actually started to grow Vanda species and do research on them on the internet around 2005, I became even more certain that different Vandas grew under different temperature ranges. I eventually figured out that most Vanda species can definitely tolerate intermediate temperatures quite well. I also found that some Vandas grew on the cooler side, while some other Vandas tended to grow on the intermediate to warm or warmer side. It really depended on what was being grown.

[estación seca]

The recommendation for most hybrid Vandas is not below 50F / 10C at night, which is cooler than the usual intermediate range. I have read they are intermediate orchids that prefer warmer days than most intermediate orchids. My hybrid Vandas certainly grow much faster during the warm to hot summer than the intermediate winter.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

If those hybrids contain more Vanda coerulea or Vanda tricolor in them, cooler temperatures are usually not a big deal. If they have more Vanda sanderiana in them, those hybrids tend to not be so tolerant of cooler temperatures.

Yes, even Vandas that do well in cool or intermediate temperatures do put on more growth during the warmer months. Growth during the cooler months does either slow down significantly or halt altogether depending on the Vanda.